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[n5gooner]

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[n5gooner]

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[n5gooner]

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[n5gooner]

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[n5gooner]

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[n5gooner]

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[n5gooner]

William II (c. 1056 — 2 August 1100), the second surviving son of William I the Conqueror[1], was King of England from 1087 until 1100, with powers also over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending his control in Wales . William was commonly called "Rufus", perhaps because of his red-faced appearance.

[n5gooner]

Although William was 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." The chroniclers of his time took a dim view of Rufus because many literate men of the day were men of the Church, against which Rufus fought hard and long; and in Norman tradition, William Rufus scorned the Anglo-Saxons and their culture. [2]

William himself seems to have been a flamboyant character, and his reign was marked by his bellicose temperament. He never married or had illegitimate children; William's favourite was Ranulf Flambard, whom he appointed Bishop of Durham in 1099, an appointment based on political requirements, for a see that was at the same time a great feudal fief. William was roundly denounced in his time and after his death for his numerous homosexual liaisons.[3]

[n5gooner]

Early yearsWilliam's exact date of birth is unknown, but it was sometime between the years 1056 and 1060. He was the third of four sons, born in his father's duchy of Normandy, which would be inherited in due course by his elder brother, Robert Curthose. During his youth, he was educated under the eye of Lanfranc and seemingly destined to be a great lord but not a king, until the death of the Conqueror's second son, Richard, put him in the line of succession. 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 the youngest brother, Henry.

Relations between the three brothers had never been excellent; Orderic Vitalis relates an incident that took place at Laigle, in 1077 or 1078: William and Henry, having grown bored with casting dice, decided to make mischief by pouring stinking water on their brother Robert from an upper gallery, thus infuriating and shaming him. A brawl broke out, and their father King William was forced to intercede to restore order.

[n5gooner]

According to William of Malmesbury, William Rufus was "thickset and muscular with a protruding belly; a dandy dressed in the height of fashion, however outrageous, he wore his blond hair long, parted in the centre and off the face so that his forehead was bare; and in his red, choleric face were eyes of changeable colour, speckled with flecks of light" (Barlow).