William II: The English King…Who Was Murdered by His Brother?

The son of legendary English king, William the Conqueror, William II is one of the lesser-studied English monarchs. Despite this, his thirteen-year reign included some key events, as well as one of the most highly debated monarchical deaths in English history. Read on to find out more about this largely underappreciated King of England.

William was born somewhere between 1157 and 1160—his exact date of birth is unfortunately unknown. His father was William I of England (better known as William the Conqueror), and he was not actually the oldest of his children.

William was the third of four sons born to William I and his wife, Matilda of Flanders. His eldest brother, Robert, inherited his father’s position as Duke of Normandy, and was an unsuccessful claimant to the throne of England. The second-eldest son was Richard, who died while hunting in the New Forest around 1075. William also had a younger brother, Henry, who himself would go on to become king as well as five or six sisters.

William was also well-known for his nickname, “William Rufus.” The word Rufus comes from the Latin translation of the word red, which was either a reference to his allegedly ruddy complexion, or the red hair he had as a child. Either way, this nickname stuck for life.

Accession to the Throne

Robert, William’s eldest brother, rebelled against William I and attempted to take England. William, alongside his youngest brother Henry, sided with their father, and fought valiantly beside him, ending Robert’s rebellion. It was for this act of valor that William was reputedly his father’s favorite son.

William I died on September 9, 1087, while on campaign in France, and in his will he left Normandy to Robert, a large sum of money to Henry, and England to William Rufus. On September 26 of the same year, William’s coronation was held, and he was duly crowned King William II of England.

One problem that William faced in his reign was the same that had also plagued his father—his kingdom was split in two. Naturally, being a Norman, William owned land in Normandy as well. William’s brother Robert ruled in Normandy and William ruled in England—although technically he owned the land in Normandy as well, despite Robert ruling in his name.

Some nobles who held land in both England and Normandy often ran the risk of displeasing one of either William or Robert at the expense of pleasing the other. A group of nobles saw that the only way they could possibly rectify the situation was to unite England and Normandy under one ruler.

They banded together in Normandy, to revolt against William in favor of Robert in what came to be known as the Rebellion of 1088. However, Robert failed to appear in England. William capitalized on this, and won over supporters with money and promises of a better government. Supporters flocked to his side, and helped him to defeat the rebellion. In turn, this secured his superiority. In 1091, William visited Normandy and crushed Robert’s forces for good, before reconciling with him on good terms.

The two brothers, now on good terms, agreed to campaign together to take land in Maine that their youngest brother, Henry, had taken. After a siege that lasted fifteen days, the land was back in Robert’s hands and Henry was defeated.

William Rufus and Scotland

Like with many English kings from the Middle Ages, conflicts happened on two fronts—France, and of course, Scotland. Not unusually for a medieval English king, William faced hostility from Scotland for the majority of his reign.

In 1091, King Malcolm III of Scotland attempted to invade England, which William fought off successfully, eventually forcing Malcolm to pay him homage. To strengthen England’s northern defenses, William built Carlisle Castle. The building of this castle also helped him to take land in Cumberland and Westmorland, which had previously been controlled by the Scots.

Naturally, Malcolm was not happy about this, and the two kings clashed once more, which resulted in Malcolm attempting another invasion of England. This time, it resulted in the Battle of Alnwick on 13 November 1093.

The result of the Battle of Alnwick was a decisive victory for the English forces. During the battle, Malcolm III was ambushed by English soldiers, led by Robert de Mowbray. Malcolm, alongside his son Edward, was killed.

This victory was good news for William as it threw the Scottish succession into disarray—and William did what he could to make sure that it stayed that way as long as possible. Following the death of the Scottish king and his son, Malcolm’s brother Donald seized the throne, and was crowned as King Donald III of Scotland. Naturally, William supported Donald’s rival claimant to the throne—who was another son of Malcolm III’s, called Duncan. Duncan was briefly crowned as King Duncan II of Scotland, before Donald took the crown back from him.

William II then turned to another of Malcolm III’s sons, Edgar, and supported him in his claim for the crown. Finally, in 1097, Edgar claimed the crown for himself, being crowned King Edgar of Scotland. Because of the support that William had shown him over the years that his uncle Donald was king, Edgar respected William, recognizing his authority over Lothian, and attended William II’s court.

This example of William’s interference in Scotland shows how much of a clever diplomat he was. When it comes to Anglo-Scottish conflict, particularly in the Middle Ages, our thoughts are often drawn straight to the Edwardian period—to Edward I, the “Hammer of the Scots,” or Edward II’s disastrous defeat at Bannockburn, or even Edward III’s victories at Dupplin Moor and Neville’s Cross. However, very few of those aforementioned kings had the diplomatic skills that William Rufus did—proving that he really is one of the most underappreciated kings in English history.

As with many English monarchs, William II had his struggles with the Church. It was unusual for the time for the king to not be wholly devoted to the Church, especially as William was a younger son, it was almost expected of him that he should be devoted to the Church. However, it was not just William who did not like the Church—the Church did not like William Rufus either.

William had a habit of keeping bishop’s positions empty for prolonged periods of time, much to the annoyance of the Church, who viewed it as William’s way of openly admitting that he couldn’t care less about the Church. A notable example of William II’s fractured relationship with the Church comes from the following anecdote. Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was so aggrieved at William’s rule that he fled England into exile, going straight to Pope Urban II to seek his help and advice on how to deal with the King.

Pope Urban II did in fact intervene and negotiate with William, and the issue was eventually resolved. However, William was never one to let an opportunity slip away. Anselm remained in exile until the end of William’s reign in 1100, but William had already seized the opportunity in the absence of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Because Anselm was self-exiled, this left the revenues of the Archbishop of Canterbury vacant, meaning that William was able to claim these funds until Anselm returned—which was the end of William’s reign, upon his death. William essentially had free money coming into the crown from the vacant Archbishop of Canterbury’s seat for three years of his reign!

Another reason that the Church was not fond of William was the rumor that he was homosexual. He never married nor had children (even illegitimate ones), and male fashion during William’s reign became much more flamboyant and effeminate, which greatly disgusted traditional churchmen.

Some contemporaries as well as modern historians have swallowed the rumors that he was homosexual, as there is no evidence of his being infertile or impotent.

There were also rumors that Ranulf Flambard, one of William II’s closest friends and advisors, was William’s sexual partner. He was appointed Bishop of Durham in 1099, much to the Church’s displeasure. Despite these stories, there is no solid evidence as to whether or not William or Ranulf was in fact homosexual.

Death and Legacy of William II

One of the events that William II is most well-known for is sadly his death. On 2 August 1100, William and his brother Henry, among others, went on a hunting trip into the New Forest. At some point during the trip, an arrow pierced William’s chest and penetrated his lung. He died shortly afterward.

Naturally, his death was described as a “hunting accident,” although numerous theories as to who killed him have been around almost since the day that he was killed. Perhaps the most famous is that it was an assassination plot set up by his brother Henry, who raced back to London to claim the crown for himself before anyone else could.

Another is that the murderer was a man called Walter Tirel. One story goes that William had shot a stag, and another stag ran in front of William and his targeted stag. Tirel fired an arrow, which missed the second stag and instead hit William, in a freak accident. Tirel fled to France following William’s death, which many people viewed as an admission of guilt, despite the fact that hunting accidents occurred regularly and were often fatal in the Middle Ages.

Whatever happened to William II will likely never be discovered, but as a king and ruler he left behind a legacy of an underrated and largely underappreciated king. A king who strengthened borders on the north of the country, and built castles which still stand today, almost one thousand years later.