Henry I, also known as Henry Beauclerc, commissioned Reading Abbey and laid the foundation stone in 1121. He did not live to see it completed as he died in France in 1135, from eating too many eels! He was sewn inside a Bull’s hide for the journey back to England and was buried in the Abbey. Henry’s name ‘Beauclerc’ denoted his good education and Henry was probably the first Norman king to be fluent in English.
The Beauclerc Cross was erected in Forbury gardens in 1909, close to where Henry I was believed to be buried. However, scholars are not sure of the exact location of Henry’s remains. Ground penetrating radar has been used by archaeologists to refine the search. Maybe Reading will soon do what Leicester did with Richard III and find King Henry I and prove that it is his remains.
