.

The “White Ship” (also known as the “Blanche Nef” was not sabotaged and burnt, although from all reports the crew were hung over from celebrating the prospect of sailing the newest and fastest addition to he Norman navy. This also meant they left late. In an attempt to catch Henry’s ship, the captain of the White ship (who was the son of the captain that had bought William I to England in 1066, cut a corner on leaving Barfleur and struck a rock called the “Quilleboeuf”. All drowned save for a butcher who was purportedly kept afloat by his goat or sheepskin apron. There was an account, presumably from the butcher that Prince William together with a few friends, had initially managed to get aboard the ship's single small boat and were making their way to safety, before he heard the cries of his sister the Countess of Perche and returned to save her, only for the boat to capsize in the general panic thereby drowning all hands - but no shifty clergy were involved.

Matilda did not claim or style herself Empress, she was an empress in her own right, her first husband having been Henry V the Holy Roman Emperor.

Robert 1st Earl of Gloucester, Henry I’s illegitimate son and half brother of Matilda, was not unhorsed and beheaded in battle as a young man, he actually died aged 57 of a fever in Bristol.

Prince Eustace, son of Stephen I, was neither a callow young man nor was he killed in battle by the soon to be Henry II. By all accounts he was a complete git and a bit of a bastard to boot and died of either a fit of cramps or a heart attack whilst ransacking the Abbey at Bury St Edmunds


And just in case you can’t find them in the atlas, neither Kingsbridge nor Shiring exist.

Trivia
Titles used by Matilda (Maud) include Queen of England (disputed), Lady of the English, Empress (Holy Roman Empire, Germany), imperatrix, Queen of the Romans, Romanorum Regina, Countess of Anjou, Matilda Augusta, Matilda the Good, Regina Anglorum, Domina Anglorum, Anglorum Domina, Angliae Normanniaeque domina.


The inscription on Matilda's tomb at Rouen, France, reads: "Here lies Henry's daughter, wife and mother; great by birth, greater by marriage, but greatest in motherhood."


Stephen’s granny and wife were also called Matilda/Maude


And if you’re confused by the names - Matilda (Latin or Norman form), Maud or Maude (Saxon form)