William the Aethling was the heir to King Henry I of England. He grew up a spoiled brat and was said to be “destined to be food for the fire”. In 1120, he accompanied his father on a diplomatic mission to France. On Nov. 25, 1120, he was returning to England from Normandy. He was 17 years old and loved to party. So before boarding his ship called the White Ship, he and his entourage got rollicking drunk. When they boarded the ship, they were hours behind his father who had sailed earlier. William challenged the captain and crew to catch up with his father. The crew were drunk too and were cheered on by the inebriated passengers. To make matters ominous, it was nighttime. The drunken ship careened out of the harbor and ran into a sunken rock. It went down quickly. William was hustled into a small boat, but he heard the cries of his half-sister Matilda and turned around to rescue her. Drowning people tried to get in the boat and swamped it. 300 people drowned. Among the dead were Matilda and a half-brother. The only survivor was a butcher from Rouen. He clung to the rock. According to legend the ship was doomed by priests were not allowed on board to bless the ship. The death of William resulted in a succession crisis when Henry died. The period from 1135-1153 is known as the Anarchy. It was a chaotic civil war between Henry’s daughter Matilda and his nephew Stephen of Blois. Stephen had disembarked from the White Ship because of the drunkenness otherwise England would have had its first Queen.
https://historycollection.co/myths-about-the-middle-ages-debunked/25/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Ship
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