The Life And Reign of William Rufus

 

William II was the third born son of William The Conqueror. He was born around 1057 in Normandy, nearly a decade before his father conquered England. Throughout his early years, becoming a king would have been beyond William's expectations, even when his father launched his invasion of England in September 1066. The odds were heavily stacked against Duke William but overcome those odds he did at the Battle of Hastings and he was crowned king of England on Christmas Day 1066. But for the younger William, the chances of him becoming king were still remote. His older brothers Richard and Robert were ahead of him in the line of succession. But the prospects of a young prince could change rapidly in the Middle Ages and so it would prove for William. In 1070, his oldest brother Richard would die in a hunting accident in the New Forest in an almost eerie foreshadowing of later events. Richard was just 16 when he died. The next in line to the throne, Robert, blew his chances of succeeding William The Conqueror as king of England by going into repeated rebellions against his father. On one occasion, Robert had been angered by his younger brothers William and the youngest of the boys Henry when they decided to throw a chamber pot full of water over Robert's head in a boyish prank. Robert protested to his father who may have disregarded this incident as boys being boys but it's safe to say Robert didn't see it that way and not long after relations between he and William The Conqueror broke down with Robert perhaps being guilty of listening to people he shouldn't have been. Things got so serious between the king and Robert that Robert even got close to killing his father but lost his nerve and fled. Giving all this, it's hardly surprising the Conqueror only made Robert his heir to the Duchy of Normandy and the king of England would pass to the third son William. William The Conqueror died in 1087 and England had a new king, William II.

As a boy, William spent much of his time doing what was expected of a prince by learning the art of warfare and he would grow to be a very capable warrior. His education was overseen by Lanfranc who would become Archbishop of Canterbury. Growing up, William was, unlike Robert, loyal to his father. Famously, he had a ruddy complexion with redish hair and was, like his father, a strongly built man. It wasn't long before William faced challenges in his kingdom and it came in the shape of his uncle, Odo of Bayeux, half brother of William The Conqueror, who persuaded a number of nobles that the kingdom of England really should have been inherited by Robert. This grew to be a potentially serious problem for William but he acted swiftly and drove Odo overseas where he remained in the service of Robert in Normandy and would, like Robert, take the cross and join the First Crusade. Unfortunately for Odo, he died on the journey to the Holy Land. William, not without good reason, suspected Robert of being behind Odo's actions so William crossed the Channel and attempted to take revenge by stealing some of Robert's territories. However, this came to very little as William's attentions were required at home with both the Scots and Welsh posing a threat and so the king returned to England.

William's expeditions were not overly successful, particularly against the Welsh. He lost large numbers of his men and the weather and difficult Welsh terrain meant William accomplished very little militarily. William had a bit more tangible success with Scots and a peace was agreed in 1091. Interestingly, William's reign seem to coincide with extreme weather across England. Dramatic floods and storms were reported with a church at Salisbury having it's roof destroyed by a storm. In 1092, there was terrible lightning and a whirlwind which caused buildings to be uprooted and piled on top of other buildings leaving much destruction. And very early on in William's reign, most dramatically of all, an earthquake struck which led to a very slow harvest.

As his reign went on, William's reputation began to decline. Having previously been praised for being a liberal young man, as he reached middle age, he was accused of becoming cold. It was claimed that Archbishop Lanfranc  had a moderating effect on him but on the Archbishop's death in 1089, William supposedly began to change. William delayed appointing a new archbishop of Canterbury until 1093 when a man named Anselm was given the job.  However, Anselm and William clashed regularly which ultimately led to Anselm going into exile. With the chronicles of the time being written by men of religion, it was only natural William's reputation began to suffer in the light of these events. 

However, William also contributed to his declining reputation. In 1095, Pope Urban preached the First Crusade and, as I mentioned earlier, William's brother, Robert, Duke of Normandy, was one of the most prominent figures to take the Cross. However, Robert knew this was going to be an expensive venture and he turn to William for aid. Robert essentially pawned his duchy to William to raise the required finances but William himself needed money to make the agreement happen and as a result he imposed a brutal tax on the English people.which caused much dismay among rich and poor, clergy and laymen alike. Tensions rose across the country with the Earl of Northumberland banished out of the country having had a fierce argument.  Others were accused of plotting against William and his taxes with one man said to have been hanged naked.

 But William's reign was cut short in August 1100, whilst out hunting, he was struck by an arrow and killed, dying in the New Forest just as his oldest brother Richard had done 30 years earlier. Also in the New Forest that day was Henry, the youngest son of William The Conqueror and William II's youngest brother. Did he have the king murdered? It's possible. Henry had only inherited money on the death of The Conqueror in 1087 but with William II now dead, he suddenly had a convenient opportunity to elevate himself to the highest position in the land. But Henry had to act quickly with Robert soon to return to the west from Crusade and only 3 days after William's death, he was crowned king of England. On the surface, this looks like fairly damning evidence but it is purely circumstantial evidence all the same. Cast your mind back to the prank that William and Henry, as young boys, had played on Robert with the chamber pot. It does indicate a brotherly bond between the two. Would Henry really have his brother killed? It's anybody's guess.

What was William II's legacy? To be quite frank, he hasn't really left one. In his 13 year reign, he achieved very little. His military exploits did little good, he alienated his population and, by failing to marry and produce sons and heirs, he left himself vulnerable to potential plots. If Henry did have his eyes set on the throne, he knew his task was made easier by the fact William had no sons to succeed him which perhaps again points to William's death being brought about by murder. William II is one of our more forgotten kings and, to be honest, it's not hard to see why.

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