Blanche-Nef : diforc'h etre ar stummoù

[[Stephen I of England|Stephen of Blois]], King Henry's nephew by his sister Adela, had allegedly disembarked just before the ship sailed. [[Orderic Vitalis]] attributes this to a sudden bout of diarrhea.

As a direct result of William's death, Stephen later usurped the English throne, resulting in the period known as [[the Anarchy]].

 

Robert Lacey has observed that "The White Ship was the Titanic of the Middle Ages, a much-vaunted high-tech vessel on its maiden voyage, wrecked against a foreseeable natural obstacle in the reckless pursuit of speed,".<ref>Lacey, ''Great Tales from English History'' (2003)</ref>

 

The ship's sinking sets the stage for the entire background of the story, which is based on the subsequent civil war between [[Empress Matilda|Matilda]] (referenced as Maud in the novel) and [[Stephen of England|Stephen]]. In Follet's novel it is implied that the ship may have been sabotaged. It is also described in detail by [[Sharon Penman]] in the historical novel ''When Christ and His Saints Slept'' (1994). The ship resurfaces in [[Geoffrey Hill]]'s poem "The White Ship" in ''[[For the Unfallen]]''.

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== Lennegezh ==