Category: William Rufus

Coronation of William Rufus

17/9/2022

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, it was on this day in 1087, that William Rufus, the second son of William the Conquer was hastily crowned King William II at Westminster Abbey by Bishop Lanfranc. The records state that 'all the men in England bowed themselves before him and swore oaths.' That wasn’t entirely true.

William arrived in London two weeks after the death of his father, enough time, writes historian Franck Barlow for those English men of importance to have their say but not enough time for rebel barons to cross to Normandy, to muster support from Robert Curthose, Rufus's older brother.

On their father's death bed, Curthose and Rufus had agreed to be each other's heir, but this peace did not last long, by 1088 Curthose was on his way to join the rebellious barons and remove Rufus from the throne.

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Matilda of Scotland

10/11/2016

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On the 11th November 1100 Edith, or as history knows her Matilda, married Henry I of England.

Their marriage followed the death of Henry's brother William Rufus in the New Forest just three months before.

It is unknown if Henry had met Matilda before their marriage, but the suggestion is that he may have first seen her at William's court. Previous to her marriage, Matilda had resided in Romsey Abbey in Hampshire, living there under the guidance of Christina, her 'wicked' aunt. Christina had been Abbess of Romsey since 1086 and was Matilda's mother, Margaret of Scotland's sister. Following this Matilda lived at Wilton Abbey, a Benedictine convent in Wiltshire, where she was well educated.

Because Matilda's home for the previous fourteen years had been a convent there was a worry that she had taken vows and was a nun, however any objections to the marriage came to nothing and the marriage went ahead.

Matilda gave Henry two children, William, whose death in 1120 plunged the country into what has become known as The Anarchy in which Matilda's daughter, also Matilda was embroiled in power struggle with her cousin Stephen over the empty throne of England.

Henry I was, to put it politely, a bit of a ladies-man, having numerous illegitimate offspring and as many mistresses, I have often wondered if Henry's philandering was the reason Matilda's children were born in the first four years of their eighteen
year marriage. However, it is more than likely that the lack of other children was a result of a difficult birth.
Another thought is that following her fourteen years in a convent she believed, as she was taught, that sex was for the procreation of children and not for pleasure and returned to a life of celibacy or was it the other way around, maybe Matilda's
lack of interest in the bedroom was part of the reason Henry went looking else where.

Of course, a wife of a king had to accept that his affections were often given to other women and the medieval woman didn't
necessarily see sex as a sin, whatever the real reason by her death in 1118 Matilda had only one surviving child but
was regarded by her people as a good and saintly woman.

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Death of William Rufus

2/8/2016

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With the arrival of William the Conqueror, many of England's forests were used by the Norman kings for hunting and hawking. The New Forest in Hampshire was one of these. Today, the New Forest is one of the largest remaining areas of open pasture land, heath and forest, and in the 12th century most of England would have looked something like this.

It was on the 2nd of August in 1100 that William Rufus, the Conqueror's second son, died whilst hunting, murdered, it has been suggested by Walter Tirel on the orders of William's younger brother the future Henry I. However the Anglo Saxon Chronicle states that the king was slain by one of his own men. Another theory is that he was killed on the order of Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury.

There are lots of interesting theories as to who ended the life of the king, and there are even more fascinating reasons why it was done, all have one thing in common though, that is William Rufus was an angry, over confident and nasty man who history deems got what he deserved.

As a child I was told by my grandfather that it was an ancestor of ours who found William Rufus on the floor of the forest. Intrigued, I searched among books to see if this was true, and indeed my grandfathers tale has a basis in fact for, legend has
it, that a man did come across the dead king and took him to Winchester in his cart, his name was Purkis.

My family story may or may not be true, however my grandfathers surname was Purches, and his grandfather's family are all Hampshire born and their surname of Purches is derived from the surname Purkis.

Maybe it's a true story after all.

William Rufus remains lie in Winchester Cathedral.

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Coronation of William Rufus

Matilda of Scotland

Death of William Rufus

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