User:Wombatmanboy/sandbox1

| moretext = [[Styles of English sovereigns|(more...)]]

| moretext = [[Styles of English sovereigns|(more...)]]

| reign = 26 September 1087 – {{awrap|2 August 1100}}

| reign = 26 September 1087 – {{awrap|2 August 1100}}

| coronation = 26 September 1087{{Citation |author=Tout |title=An Advanced History of Great Britain from the Earliest Times to 1918 |page=94}}

| coronation = 26 September 1087

| cor-type = britain

| cor-type = britain

| predecessor = [[William the Conqueror|William I]]

| predecessor = [[William the Conqueror|William I]]

'''William II''' ({{langx|xno|Williame}}; {{circa|1057}} – 2 August 1100) was [[List of English monarchs|King of England]] from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over [[Duchy of Normandy|Normandy]] and influence in [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]]. He was less successful in extending his control into [[Wales]]. The third son of [[William the Conqueror]], he is commonly referred to as '''William Rufus''' (''{{lang|la|Rufus}}'' being Latin for "the Red"), perhaps because of his ruddy appearance or, more likely, because he had red hair.

'''William II''' ({{langx|xno|Williame}}; {{circa|1057}} – 2 August 1100) was [[List of English monarchs|King of England]] from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over [[Duchy of Normandy|Normandy]] and influence in [[Kingdom of Scotland|Scotland]]. He was less successful in extending his control into [[Wales]]. The third son of [[William the Conqueror]], he is commonly referred to as '''William Rufus''' (''{{lang|la|Rufus}}'' being Latin for "the Red"), perhaps because of his ruddy appearance or, more likely, because he had red hair.

William was a figure of complex temperament, capable of both bellicosity and flamboyance. He did not marry or have children, which – along with contemporary accounts – has led some historians to speculate on his sexuality. He died after being hit by an arrow while hunting. Circumstantial evidence in the behaviour of those around him – including his younger brother [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] – raises strong but unproven suspicions of murder. Upon William's death, Henry immediately seized the treasury and had himself crowned king.

William was a figure of complex temperament, capable of both bellicosity and flamboyance. He did not marry or have children, which – along with contemporary accounts – has led some historians to speculate on his sexuality. He died after being hit by an arrow while hunting. Circumstantial evidence in the behaviour of those around him raise strong but unproven suspicions of murder. Upon William's death, Henry immediately seized the treasury and had himself crowned king.

== Early years (1060–1087)==

===Childhood and education===

William Rufus' birth date is conventionally set to 1158, and he was certainly born by 1160 to [[Matilda of Flanders]], although the first reference to William is much later.{{Harvnb|Mason|2008|p=32}}; {{Harvnb|Barlow|2000|p=3}}; {{Harvnb|Gillingham|2015|p=11}} Rufus' father was William, duke of Normandy, who acceded to the duchy at the age of 7 in 1035. He married Matilda in 1050 or 1051, for an alliance with her father, Baldwin of Flanders,{{Sfn|Mason|2008|pp=25}} and the union was known to be happy and fruitful. Young William was the third son, with his brothers [[Robert Curthose]] and [[Richard (son of William the Conqueror)|Richard]] (d. 1075) coming earlier in the 1050s.{{Sfn|Douglas|1964|p=393}} He was probably named after [[William Longsword]], the third ruler in the Norman ducal line, with his elder brothers being named after the earlier dukes, while his sisters' names were from the more distinguished family of Baldwin of Flanders.{{Sfn|Barlow|2000|p=10}}

William's father, Duke William, secured unambiguous control of his duchy by around 1160, and had already been alerted to the issue of the English succession. In 1051, [[Edward the Confessor]], the king of England, supposedly offered the crown to Duke William after his death, but the historicity of this account is debated. During an incident in 1064, [[Harold Godwinson]] ended up in Duke William's mercy and was made to swear fealty, particularly regarding England, possibly under duress.{{Harvnb|Mason|2008|pp=30–31}}; {{Harvnb|Douglas|1964|pp=169, 176–177}}; {{Harvnb|Carpenter|2004|p=68}} Edward died childless on 5 January 1066, and Harold seized the English throne.{{Harvnb|Huscroft|2005|p=10}}; {{Harvnb|Carpenter|2004|p=61}} William invaded England later in the year and decisively defeated Harold, who fell, at the [[Battle of Hastings]] on 14 October, and was crowned King of England on Christmas Day, 1066. The English resistance lasted for 5 more years and was only defeated in 1071. In 1074, [[Edgar Ætheling|Edgar the Ætheling]] fled for Scotland.{{Sfn|Carpenter|2004|pp=72–73, 75–78}}

Historian [[Frank Barlow (historian)|Frank Barlow]] writes that William was a "rumbustious, devil-may-care soldier, without natural dignity or social graces, with no cultivated tastes and little show of conventional religious piety or morality – indeed, according to his critics, addicted to every kind of vice, particularly lust and especially sodomy." On the other hand, he was a wise ruler and victorious general, Barlow writes: "His [[chivalrous]] virtues and achievements were all too obvious. He had maintained good order and satisfactory justice in England and restored good peace to Normandy. He had extended [[Anglo-Normans|Anglo-Norman]] rule in Wales, brought Scotland firmly under his lordship, recovered [[Maine (province)|Maine]], and kept up the pressure on the [[Vexin]]."{{Cite ODNB |author-link=Frank Barlow (historian) |first=Frank |last=Barlow |title=William II (c.1060–1100) |series=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |date=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/29449 |access-date=28 November 2013}}

According to [[William of Malmesbury]], Young William was put into the care of the erudite [[Lanfranc]], and he was likely moved to Caen. Lanfranc likely presided over his secular and moral education. He would not have learned Latin, in which literacy remained a rare and unnecessary skill for the nobility.{{Harvnb|Mason|2008|p=32}}; {{Harvnb|Barlow|2000|pp=21–22}} For noble boys, serious military training seems to have begun around twelve, and included horse-riding, fighting on horseback, using a shield and spear, hunting, and other skills. William was supposedly knighted by Lanfranc in 1076, around the age of 16, ending his apprenticeship. [[Orderic Vitalis]] describes the process of dubbing in relation to [[Henry I of England|Henry]], Rufus' younger brother: Lanfranc dressed Henry in a suit of mail, put a helmet on his head, and girded him with the belt of knighthood. Malmesbury claimed that William, as a young man, was competitive in military exercises, and thought less of himself if he was not the first to issue a challenge.{{Harvnb|Barlow|2000|pp=21, 23–24}}

== Early years ==

===Sibling rivalry===

William Rufus' birth date is conventionally set to 1158, and he was certainly born by 1160 to [[Matilda of Flanders]], although the first reference to William is much later.{{Harvnb|Mason|2012|p=32}}; {{Harvnb|Barlow|2000|p=3}}; {{Harvnb|Gillingham|2015|p=11}} Rufus' father was William, duke of Normandy, who acceded to the duchy at the age of 7 in 1035. He married Matilda in 1150 for an alliance with her father, Baldwin of Flanders,{{Sfn|Mason|2012|pp=25}} and the union was known to be happy and fruitful.{{Sfn|Douglas|1964|p=393}} Duke William secured unambiguous control of his duchy by around 1160, but had already been alerted to the issue of the English succession. In 1051, [[Edward the Confessor]], the king of England, supposedly offered the crown to Duke William after his death, but the historicity of this account is questionable. In 1064, Harold Godwinson ended up in the duke's position and was made to swear fealty, particularly regarding England, possibly under duress.{{Harvnb|Mason|2012|pp=30–31}}; {{Harvnb|Douglas|1964|pp=169, 176–177}}

== Notes ==

== Notes ==

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Bosanquet, G. |title=Eadmer's History of Recent Events in England |publisher=Cresset |date=1964}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Bosanquet, G. |title=Eadmer's History of Recent Events in England |publisher=Cresset |date=1964}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Cantor, Norman F. |title=The Civilization of the Middle Ages |publisher=Harper Collins |date=1993 |isbn=0-06-092553-1}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Cantor, Norman F. |title=The Civilization of the Middle Ages |publisher=Harper Collins |date=1993 |isbn=0-06-092553-1}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Carpenter, David |title=The Struggle for Mastery: The Penguin History of Britain 1066–1284 |publisher=Penguin |date=2004 |isbn=0-14-014824-8 |location=New York |author-link=David Carpenter (historian)}}

* {{Cite book |last=Carpenter |first=David |title=The Struggle for Mastery: The Penguin History of Britain 1066–1284 |publisher=Penguin |date=2004 |isbn=0-14-014824-8 |location=New York |author-link=David Carpenter (historian)}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Douglas |first=David C. |title=William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England |publisher=University of California Press |date=1964 |location=Berkeley, CA |author-link=David C. Douglas}}

* {{Cite book |last=Douglas |first=David C. |title=William the Conqueror: The Norman Impact Upon England |publisher=University of California Press |date=1964 |location=Berkeley, CA |author-link=David C. Douglas}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Freeman, Edward Augustus |url=https://archive.org/details/reignwilliamruf00freegoog |title=The Reign of William Rufus and the Accession of Henry the First |date=1882 |publisher=Clarendon Press}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Freeman, Edward Augustus |url=https://archive.org/details/reignwilliamruf00freegoog |title=The Reign of William Rufus and the Accession of Henry the First |date=1882 |publisher=Clarendon Press}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Garmonsway, G.N. |title=The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle |publisher=Dutton |date=1972 |location=Dent, UK}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Garmonsway, G.N. |title=The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle |publisher=Dutton |date=1972 |location=Dent, UK}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Gillingham |first=John |title=William II (Penguin Monarchs): The Red King |publisher=Penguin |date=2015 |isbn=978-0141978550 |location=Harmondsworth, UK}}

* {{Cite book |last=Gillingham |first=John |title=William II (Penguin Monarchs): The Red King |publisher=Penguin |date=2015 |isbn=978-0141978550 |location=Harmondsworth, UK}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Grinnell-Milne, Duncan |title=The Killing of William Rufus: An Investigation in The New Forest |publisher=David & Charles |date=1968 |isbn=0-7153-5839-1 |location=Newton Abbot, UK}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Grinnell-Milne, Duncan |title=The Killing of William Rufus: An Investigation in The New Forest |publisher=David & Charles |date=1968 |isbn=0-7153-5839-1 |location=Newton Abbot, UK}}

* {{Cite journal |ref=none |last=Hollister, C. Warren |author-link=C. Warren Hollister |date=1973 |title=The Strange Death of William Rufus |journal=[[Speculum (journal)|Speculum]] |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=637–653 |doi=10.2307/2856221 |jstor=2856221 |s2cid=162819807}}

* {{Cite journal |ref=none |last=Hollister, C. Warren |author-link=C. Warren Hollister |date=1973 |title=The Strange Death of William Rufus |journal=[[Speculum (journal)|Speculum]] |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=637–653 |doi=10.2307/2856221 |jstor=2856221 |s2cid=162819807}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Mason |first=Emma |title=King Rufus: The Life and Murder of William II of England |publisher=History Press |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-7524-4635-6 |location=Stroud, Gloucestershire}}

* {{Cite book |last=Mason |first=Emma |title=King Rufus: The Life and Murder of William II of England |publisher=History Press |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-7524-4635-6 |location=Stroud, Gloucestershire}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Mason |first=Emma |title=William II: Rufus, the Red King |publisher=Tempus |date=2005 |isbn=0-7524-3528-0 |location=Stroud, UK}}

* {{Cite book |ref=none |last=Mason |first=Emma |title=William II: Rufus, the Red King |publisher=Tempus |date=2005 |isbn=0-7524-3528-0 |location=Stroud, UK}}

* {{Cite journal |ref=none |last=Mason, Emma |date=1977 |title=William Rufus: myth and reality |journal=[[Journal of Medieval History]] |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=1–20 |doi=10.1016/0304-4181(77)90037-9}}

* {{Cite journal |ref=none |last=Mason, Emma |date=1977 |title=William Rufus: myth and reality |journal=[[Journal of Medieval History]] |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=1–20 |doi=10.1016/0304-4181(77)90037-9}}