William II of England

William II (called "Rufus", perhaps because of his red-faced appearance, or maybe his bloody reign) (c. 1056 - August 2, 1100) was the second son of William the Conqueror and was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers also over Scotland, Wales and Normandy. Although an effective soldier, he was a ruthless ruler and was little liked by those he governed; according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, he was "hated by almost all his people." However, it is not surprising that the chroniclers of his time took a dim view of Rufus, because all literate men of the day were men of the Church, against which Rufus fought hard and long.

William himself seems to have been a flamboyant character. His short and violent reign was marked by his mercurial and bellicose temperament, which led to a period of turmoil, even by the standards of the time. He never married or had illegitimate children; it has been suggested that he was homosexual.

Early years

William's exact date of birth is unknown, but it was some time between the years 1056 and 1060. He was born in his father's duchy of Normandy, which would be inherited in due course by his elder brother, Robert Curthose. His father's favourite son, William succeeded to the throne of England on his father's death, but there was always hostility between him and his eldest brother, though they became reconciled after an attempted coup in 1091 by their youngest brother, Henry. Of the three, William appears to have been the peacemaker.

England and France

The division of William the Conqueror's lands into two parts presented a dilemma for those nobles who held land on both sides of the Channel. Since the younger William and Robert were natural rivals, these nobles worried that they could not hope to please both of their lords, and thus ran the risk of losing the favor of one ruler or the other (or both of them). The only solution, as they saw it, was to unite England and Normandy once more under one ruler. The pursuit of this aim led them to revolt against William in favor of Robert in the Rebellion of 1088, under the leadership of the powerful Bishop Odo of Bayeux, who was a half-brother of William the Conqueror. William, however, managed to rally the English and defeat the rebellion, thus securing his authority in this precarious early period after becoming king. In 1090 he invaded Normandy, crushing Robert's forces and forcing him to cede a portion of his lands. The two made up their differences and William agreed to help Robert recover lands lost to France, notably Maine.

Power struggles

Much of William's reign was spent feuding with the church; after the death of Archbishop Lanfranc in 1089, he appropriated ecclesiastical revenues to which he was not entitled, and for this he was much criticised. In 1093 Anselm was made Archbishop of Canterbury, and this led to a long period of animosity between church and state. William and Anselm disagreed on a range of ecclesiastical issues, and in October 1097, Anselm went into exile. The problem was somewhat mitigated for William by his ability to claim the revenues of the archbishopric of Canterbury as long Anselm remained in exile, and Anselm remained in exile until the reign of William's successor, Henry I.

In 1095, Robert de Mowbray, the earl of Northumbria, would not come to William's court, and William subsequently led an army against him and defeated him; the earl was dispossessed and imprisoned. Another noble, William of Eu, was also accused of treachery and blinded and castrated. That same year, William II also made an unsuccessful foray into Wales. He tried again in 1097 with an equal lack of success. He returned to Normandy in 1097 and from then until 1099 campaigned in France, securing and holding northern Maine but failing to seize the French-controlled part of the Vexin region. At the time of his death he was planning to occupy Aquitaine in south-western France.

William also quarrelled with the Scottish king, Malcolm III, forcing him to pay homage in 1091 and seizing the border city of Carlisle in 1092. However, he gained effective control of the Scottish throne after Malcolm's death in 1093 when he backed a successful bid by Edgar Atheling to dethrone Malcolm III's brother Donald Bane in favor of his nephew, also named Edgar. The newly crowned King Edgar, who ruled Scotland from 1097 to 1107, thus owed his position to William.

In 1096, William's brother Robert joined the First Crusade. He needed money to fund this venture and pledged his duchy to William in return for a payment of 10,000 marks; a sum equalling about one-fourth of William's annual revenue. William raised the money by levying a special, heavy, and much-resented tax upon the whole of England. William then ruled Normandy as regent in Robert's absence—Robert did not return until September 1100, one month after William's death.

The unusual death of William Rufus

Perhaps the most memorable event in the life of William Rufus was his death, which occurred while hunting in the New Forest. He was killed by an arrow through the heart, but the circumstances remain unclear.

On a bright August day in 1100, 10 years after his coronation, Rufus organised a hunting trip in the New Forest. The party spread out as they chased their prey, and Rufus, in the company of Walter Tirel, Lord of Poix, became separated from the others. It was the last time that Rufus was seen alive.

By the time Rufus was found (by a group of local peasants) lying dead in the woods with an arrow piercing his lungs, Walter Tirel was on his way to France.

According to the chroniclers, it was not murder. Walter and Rufus had been hunting together when Walter let loose a wild shot that, instead of hitting the stag he aimed for, struck Rufus in the chest. Rufus fell heavily onto the shaft of the arrow, driving it deep into him and sealing his fate. Walter tried to help him, but there was nothing he could do. Fearing that he would be charged with murder, Walter panicked, leapt onto his horse, and fled.

To the chroniclers, such an 'Act of God' was an entirely apt and just end for a wicked king. However, over the centuries, the obvious suggestion that one of William's many enemies may have had a hand in this extraordinary event has been repeatedly made. Even the chroniclers of the time point out that Walter was reknowned as a keen bowman, and unlikely to fire such an impetuous shot. And why did Rufus' brother Henry, who was among the hunting party that day, insist that there should be no pursuit of Rufus' killer? In fact, Henry instead left immediately for London, where he was then crowned king in place of Rufus. William's body was left by the nobles to lie overnight at the place where he fell, the justification for which was that the law and order of the kingdom died with the king, and they had to leave quickly to secure their interests.

Abbot Suger, another chronicler, was Tirel's friend and sheltered him in his French exile. He said later

It was laid to the charge of a certain noble, Walter Tirel, that he had shot the king with an arrow; but I have often heard him, when he had nothing to fear nor to hope, solemnly swear that on the day in question he was not in the part of the forest where the king was hunting, nor ever saw him in the forest at all.

King William II is buried in Winchester Cathedral.

The Rufus Stone

A stone known as the Rufus Stone marks the spot where some believe he fell. (GB Ordnance Survey Grid Ref. SU 270 124 (http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=427050&y=112450&z=3&sv=427050,112450&st=4&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&dn=760))

Fictional treatments

William II is indirectly the subject of two historical novels by George Shipway, called The Paladin and The Wolf Time. The main character of the novels is Walter Tirel (or Tyrell) the supposed assassin of King William, and the main thrust of the plot of the novels is that the assassination was engineered by Henry.

References

• Barlow, Frank. William Rufus. Berkeley, CA : University of California, 1983. ISBN 0300082916
• Douglas, David C. William the Conqueror; the Norman impact upon England. Berkeley, CA : University of California, 1964. ISBN 0520003500
• Hollister, C. Warren. "The Strange Death of William Rufus." Speculum, 48.4 (1973): 637-653.
• Mason, Emma. "William Rufus: myth and reality." Journal of Medieval History, 3.1 (1977): 1-20.
• Warren, W. L. "The Death of William Rufus." History Today, 9 (1959)

de:Wilhelm II. (England) fr:Guillaume II d'Angleterre cy:Gwilym II o Loegr he:ויליאם השני ja:ウィリアム2世 (イングランド王) nl:Willem II van Engeland pl:Wilhelm II Rudy pt:Guilherme II de Inglaterra sv:Vilhelm II av England uk:Вільгельм II Рудий