William II ('Rufus'), King of England 1087-1100

b c1060; d 1100

William I had three sons. He gave the eldest, Robert, the Normandy homelands, and so his second son, William Rufus - known as such because of his ruddy complexion - was granted England. The third son, Henry, was landless but given 5,000 pounds of silver, which he characteristically weighed on receipt. Even as William the Conqueror lay dying William Rufus left his father's bedside, sailed to England and was crowned within two weeks.

The religion chroniclers of the reign detested Rufus. According to them he was 'hateful', injustice was rife, and he was 'very harsh and fierce with his men, his land and all his neighbours, and very much feared'. William II viewed the church as a source of wealth: in some instances the taxation was so severe that church treasures had to be melted down to pay them. The taxes were used to finance expeditions to capture Normandy from his elder brother. In the end Robert decided to go on the First Crusade and pawned the duchy to the king for 100,000 silver marks. By 1100 William Rufus was confident of expanding his empire deep into France.

But William died on 2 August 1100, at the peak of his power. His death has caused speculation ever since: during a hunting expedition in the New Forest he was shot dead by an arrow, rumoured to have been fired by Walter Tirel, although he of course strenuously denied it. Several theories have been given to explain William's death: that he was sacrificed for a devil-worshipping sect; that heretics had arranged his death; and that it was part of a plot by his brother Henry, who was in the hunting party. The truth will never be known, but immediately afterwards it was believed that his death was a simple accident, and this seems the most likely explanation: such accidents were not uncommon in hunting expeditions. Even so, Henry acted with great speed. Without waiting to see William's body removed for burial he galloped to Winchester and seized the Treasury. Three days after William's death he was crowned king.

This article is based on material taken from A Traveller's History of England (© Christopher Daniell), published by The Windrush Press, and is by kind permission of its author Christopher Daniell.