William Clito (Guillaume Cliton) (1101-1128)

William was the son of Robert II, Curthose, Duke of Normandy, and the great nephew on his grandmother Matilda's side, of Baldwin VI of Flanders. On being defeated at the Battle of Tinchebray (1106) by his brother Henry I, Robert Curthose lost Normandy and was taken captive to England with his family. Entrusted to Helias of Saint-Saëns, William Clito was to become a puppet in all the plots against Henry I. Count Fulk of Anjou made William Count of Maine and promised him his daughter in marriage. Henry I had the marriage dissolved and William took refuge with the Count of Flanders. In 1119 he fought on the French side at the Battle of Brémule at which Henry I Beauclerc was victorious. The same year, at the Council of Reims, the King of France put William’s case as the legitimate heir to Normandy, but without success. In 1127 William married a sister of Adelaide, Queen of France, and King Louis VI gave him the Vexin region. After the murder of Count Charles the Good (1127), Louis VI supported the claim of William Clito to inherit Flanders through his relationship to Matilda. Initially the towns of Flanders recognised him but soon turned against him and called upon Thierry of Alsace to support them. William died in 1128 and was buried in St Bertin.

Bibliography :

- François Neveux. - La Normandie des ducs aux rois, Xe-XIIe s. - Rennes : Ouest-France, 1998.
- Jean Favier. - Dictionnaire de la France médiévale. - Paris : Fayard, 1993.