William II (1056-1100)


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CyrilVladisla

CyrilVladisla

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William II was the son of King William I and Queen Matilda. He reigned 1087 to 1100.
In 1093 William II killed King Malcolm III of Scotland when Malcolm rebelled. Afterwards William maintained the Scottish kings as vassals. Then in 1097 William subjugated Wales.
William's chief interest lay in wresting Normandy from his brother Robert. Hostilities ended when Robert mortgaged the duchy to William II in order to raise money to go on the First Crusade.
 
King William II was intent on trearting the English Church as his personal fifedom, extracting from it as much revenue as he could.
 
The king had a very difficult relationship with Anselm the Archbishop of Canterbury!
 
One reason why William II was given the much richer lands of England than his older brother Robert is that King William I was playing favorites. William II's brother Robert was rebelling against their father at the time of William the Conqueror's demise.
 
Durham said:
Only just read this. Very interesting!!

Thank you!
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Its a reign that's largely overlooked and would make a great mini series if done correctly.
 
An Ard Ri said:
Its a reign that's largely overlooked and would make a great mini series if done correctly.
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Yes indeed. Plenty of drama. I remember reading a historical novel about the sons of William I when I was (just) in secondary school. I can't remember its name though.:sad:
 
Durham said:
Yes indeed. Plenty of drama. I remember reading a historical novel about the sons of William I when I was (just) in secondary school. I can't remember its name though.:sad:
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Wasn't there on on William Rufus by Jean Plaidy?
 
Did King William I have a potential royal bride in mind for his son William Rufus to marry?
 
CyrilVladisla said:
Did King William I have a potential royal bride in mind for his son William Rufus to marry?
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From what I have read ,William Rufus had absolutely no interest in finding a wife,nor did he have a mistress!
 
Whether William’s younger brother, the future King Henry I, was directly involved in ordering Tyrell to kill the King or not, his actions directly following William’s death in the New Forest, have always seemed deeply suspicious to me.

He pretty well immediately scampered off to Winchester with his retinue and was crowned King very quickly afterwards. Nobody stayed behind and William’s body was discovered by a peasant, a tree feller who came on it by chance.
 
Curryong said:
Whether William’s younger brother, the future King Henry I, was directly involved in ordering Tyrell to kill the King or not, his actions directly following William’s death in the New Forest, have always seemed deeply suspicious to me.

He pretty well immediately scampered off to Winchester with his retinue and was crowned King very quickly afterwards. Nobody stayed behind and William’s body was discovered by a peasant, a tree feller who came on it by chance.
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The lives of William II and Henry I would make a very interesting historical TV series!
 
Yes, an excellent suggestion! There have been biographies, films etc about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine’s brood and their relationships with each other, but William the Conquerer’s sons weren’t exactly close and supportive of each other. The tumultuous times in which they lived didn’t help of course!
 
Maryrose said:
Love this history. Such crazy times where you couldn't always be sure who you could trust.
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True. I’ve started listening to Dan Jones’ podcast on the Plantagenets. The amount of family backstabbing/rebellion just in the reign of Henry II was really something.
 
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