King William II 'the Just' of England
Lived: 1056 - 1098
Duke of Gloucester: 1072 - 1098
King of England: 1090 - 1098
King William Rufus or William II was a man who inherited the throne under the elective succession system and a man who had to follow after the legendary William 'the Conqueror' , when William took over the throne from his father, there was a general approval rating from his vassals and the populace in England. William's short reign was remembered for the First Crusade, the Welsh campaign, the Lollard uprisings and the First English civil war.
William Rufus was famous for his preference for his own sex and perhaps more famously he was childless at death. William never showed any interest in having any children of his own but to avoid suspicions of his homosexuality he married his already elderly cousin Eleonore, who was far past childbearing age, this left the Kingdom's heir up for election once again, William supported his more supportive younger brother Henry as the heir to the Kingdom of England. Duke Richard of Somerset and Duke Robert of Normandy and Brittany; his older brothers were not happy with their younger brother being king, even though Richard had previously expressed his support for William he had backtracked on the idea.
William was a good, just king who wanted to improve the stature and stability of the kingdom just like his father; William's first agenda was to gain alliances with King Olav of Norway (the son of the late Harald Hadrada) and King Phillipe of France - the boy king, he married his recently widowed sister Constance (last married to the Prince of Denmark) to King Olav and his other sister Agathe to the King of France. Thus gaining non aggression pacts from both countries, ensuring none would attack in the foreseeable future.
King William Rufus faced two immediate problems: the Lollard's of Bedford and the Welsh confederation. The Lollard heresy had recently appeared in East Anglia but was quickly eradicated but soon after the remnants of the East Anglian Lollards arrived in the more densely populated region of Bedford and began to preach on a mass scale, converting the Anglo Saxon residents who already had a problem with the Norman Lords and wanted their kingdom back. One Saxon by the name of Cuthraed was an experienced soldier who fought at the Battle of London alongside Harold Godwinson converted to the Lollard heresy and quickly raised up arms to take on the king, some 8000 men rose up in the name of the false heresy and in the name of Cuthraed, their leader.
Whilst the Lollards were causing trouble, William was leading a campaign in Dyfed alongside his brother Henry, eager to claim the Duchy of Deheubarth in Henry's name, to gain real legitimacy as heir, Henry had to become a proved duke and noble of the Kingdom so the vassals of William acknowledged him. On the 6 July 1091, two memorable events happened; the official alliance of Norway and England and the death of King Duncan II - the ally and enemy of William's father, he died young and was killed by wound that never healed from the Cumberland war, the new Scottish king was a two year old boy called Phillip, barely a threat to English interests.
On the 1 May 1092, the war against Dyfed ended, the English were victorious and William II had won his first war as king, Duke Henry of Deheubarth gained another de jure vassal and both parties were happy. After the war in Wales finished, William's armies were diverted to deal with Cuthraed and his Lollard armies in Bedford. The cities of Bedford and Hertford had already been occupied and the Lollards were now proceeding to take the historic Catholic site of St Albans, this is when the King's army led by his brother Duke Robert intervened with the 10,000 men provided by the Dukes and Duchesses of England.
As Duke Robert camped outside the city of Bedford; ready to strike, an unknown arrow pierced his unarmoured heart - killing him instantly. The assailant escaped unharmed, head intact and tongue still firmly in place. No-one had any idea who ordered the assassination, but people soon started blaming his brothers Prince Richard and Prince Henry, who from his death gained the Duchy of Normandy and the Duchy of Brittany respectively, from his death the troops lost considerable morale, and with the battle against the heretics due to take place tomorrow someone had to take charge and that man was the king's right hand man, the Duke of Lancaster - Bavo. The battle came and the heretics were crushed by Duke Bavo, leading to the collapse of the Lollards in England.
England at peace
England was at peace for the first time under King William II and the vassals were starting to warm under Norman leadership in England. The only current problem was the collapse of the Norwegian alliance, at the sudden death of King Olav, but William had other things to care about. House de Normandie was starting to experience rivalry, in the form of assassinations but King William was assured his life was safe, he was further at ease when news came from the dungeons that Harold Godwinson had died in his cell. King William was also a cynical man and did not enjoy the company of bishops and God, so whilst the Crusades were being fought he merely watched as the Pope and his league of Italian Dukes were fighting for the holy land. The Holy Roman Empire, France and England all refused to be part of the First Crusade, instead focussing on the stability of their own realm and in England there was no problem on that front...
In 1097 the first English civil war began to lower the crown authority. Warwick, Kent, York and East Anglia all teamed up to see an end to the 'oppression'. The leader of the revolt was none of then the hero of the Norman conquest, friend of the late William 'the conqueror' and now Duke of Warwick; Frederick van Oosterzele, the revolt was 12,000 men strong and the King's forces were badly outnumbered and this was shown at the Battle of Wiltshire, where the King's forces were wiped out. The 'Wise' King was for the first time in his reign under threat, to stop the rebels he borrowed money from the Jewish and hired mercenaries, it was a bad investment and no sooner had the mercenaries been hired than the King had gone bankrupt and in debt. He was in trouble, but what he did next goes down in history as an act of genius.
Bankrupt and soldierless, the King of England did the unthinkable, he asked fellow cynics France and The Holy Roman Empire for an alliance, they accepted and the first European Coalition was formed that year. It wasn't long before German and French reinforcements arrived 25,000 men strong they arrived on English shores and 14,000 of those took part in the Battle of Northampton. The turning part in the war.
The battle resulted in the destruction of the rebel army and confirmed King William II as a master diplomat and because of this strategy, his wisdom became something of a legend, men and scholars came to his court, just to catch a glimpse of the man. He was ahead of his time, he was a God sceptic yet people claimed he had God's wisdom. The war finished shortly after the battle and the Rebels were crushed, William's reign as king was now acknowledged as a good one, the rebel dukes and duchesses were stripped of their dukedoms and peace was restored to the kingdom. Divine or not, the Crusades ended a day after the rebellion was defeated; Popeface and his minions had failed horrendously and more than 30,000 Christians were dead in the Holy Land, civilians and soldiers laid dead in Jerusalem.
The First Crusade was a failure, yet King William didn't care; one thing that he did care about however was the death of his wife: Eleonore, who died infirm in bed. Although this was not a marriage of romance, a bond grew between Eleonore and William, she became a valuable friend of William and someone to comfort him, she knew that his preferences were not with women yet she understood him and knew how to make suspicious Lords look the other way. It was a sad loss for the Kingdom, she never bore him any children, yet he didn't care unlike some Kings. King William never remarried in his life.
King William's attention turned to a ruined Scotland, it was now fractured with several independent states, he first port of action was the lonesome Isle of Man, his chancellor was sent there and it was only a matter of time before a legitimate claim was forged. It was mid 1098 when troubling news arrived, Prince Henry of England, spymaster of England and heir to the Kingdom brought news to the King that their was a plot concerning the King's life. The King however charming as he was, was not immune to enemies it seemed. The King took no precautions to stop the plot, he continued to live his life the way he intended, justly, wisely and just the way he wanted.
In late 1098 the claim was forged on the Isle of Man and England went to war, this time the King was on the front lines of his army, heading the right flank. The Coalition joined the war too, providing useful support and it wasn't long before the city of Rushen fell to English hands. It was now the 21 December, almost the end of the year and almost Christmas and the King was eager to meet the residents of Rushen, patrolling the streets before coming across an old, rustic inn. Inside he found no man except the Innkeeper, the King found nothing unusual about this as he entered the Inn around mass, so most people would be at the church. The King, not wanting to seem unfriendly to the innkeeper, sat down and had a drink...
The Inn went up in flames, killing the King instantly. The assassins had won, but who ordered them and killed the beloved King was a mystery.
R.I.P King William Rufus, gone too soon.
