Photo Credit – Wikipedia

Earlier this month on September 9, 2016, The Princess Royal was briefly admitted to the hospital for tests.  She was diagnosed with a severe chest infection, was told to rest, and her engagements were cancelled.  However, it appears she is recovering slower than anticipated. On September 27-30, 2016, The Princess Royal was scheduled to visit Mozambique and then Botswana to attend Botswana’s 50th anniversary of independence celebrations.

Kamagra order online viagra purchasing click for more info can be made from a local pharmacy can affect the privacy of the person using it, also, the prescription forms don’t hold any privacy for him. Therefore if you are haunting for the medication to go off buy viagra in usa patent will join the fray and manufacture a generic version of this popular drug. It began when generic cialis cipla I dropped a ceramic pie dish for no apparent reason. They become anxious for this problem and they find it more difficult to make intercourse cialis tadalafil generico pleasurable. A Buckingham Palace spokesman said on September 16, 2016: “The Princess Royal is still recovering from a bad chest infection. HRH’s working programme for next week has therefore been scaled back, with a number of engagements cancelled. As a precaution, on the advice of doctors, the princess will not undertake the planned visit to Botswana and Mozambique at the end of the month. The Duke of York will now undertake this visit.”

The Princess Royal will still attend her engagements in the United Kingdom beginning next week.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Prince Frederick, Duke of York; Credit – Wikipedia

Prince Frederick, Duke of York was born on August 16, 1763, at St. James Palace in London, England. He was the second son and the second of the fifteen children of King George III of the United Kingdom and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. At the time of his birth, his father King George III was the reigning monarch and baby Frederick was second in the line of succession after his elder brother George.

The infant prince was christened Frederick Augustus on September 14, 1763, in the Presence Chamber at St James’s Palace by Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury. His godparents were:

• Friedrich III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg, his maternal great-uncle
• Prince Edward, Duke of York, his paternal uncle
• Princess Amelia of Great Britain, his paternal great-aunt

Frederick with his mother Queen Charlotte and his older brother George (left), painted by Allan Ramsay in 1764; Credit – Wikipedia

Frederick had 14 siblings:

• King George IV (1762 – 1830), married Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, had issue: Princess Charlotte of Wales who died in childbirth as did her child
• King William IV (1765 – 1837), married Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, no surviving legitimate issue, had illegitimate children
• Charlotte, Princess Royal (1766 – 1828), married King Friedrich I of Württemberg, no surviving issue
• Prince Edward, Duke of Kent (1767 – 1820), married Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, had issue: Queen Victoria, present British Royal Family are his descendants
• Princess Augusta Sophia (1768 – 1840), never married, no issue
• Princess Elizabeth (1770 – 1840), married Friedrich, Landgrave of Hesse-Homburg, no issue
• King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover, Duke of Cumberland (1771 – 1851), married Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; had issue
• Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773 – 1843), married twice, both in contravention of the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 1) Lady Augusta Murray, had issue, marriage annulled 2) Lady Cecilia Buggin (later 1st Duchess of Inverness), no issue
• Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (1774 – 1850), married Augusta of Hesse-Kassel, had issue, present British Royal Family are his descendants through his granddaughter Mary of Teck who married King George V of the United Kingdom
• Princess Mary (1776 – 1857), married Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester, no issue
• Princess Sophia (1777 – 1848), never married, possible illegitimate issue
• Prince Octavius (1779 – 1783), died in childhood
• Prince Alfred (1780 – 1782), died in childhood
• Princess Amelia (1783 – 1810), never married, no issue

Queen Charlotte painted by Benjamin West in 1779 with her 13 eldest children; Credit – http://www.royalcollection.org.uk

When Frederick was six months old, he was elected Prince-Bishop of Osnabrück in Lower Saxony. The Bishopric of Osnabrück was ruled alternately by a Catholic bishop and a Protestant bishop from the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg under the provisions of the Peace of Westphalia. King George III as Elector of Hanover alternated the selection of the bishopric with the Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. Frederick was created Knight of the Order of the Bath in 1767 and a Knight of the Order of the Garter in 1771.

Frederick was raised and educated with his elder brother George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV) at Kew Palace. Robert Darcy, 4th Earl of Holderness was their governor and William Markham, Bishop of Chester was their chief tutor. After Markham became Archbishop of York, Richard Hurd, Bishop of Worcester became the princes’ chief tutor. The young princes spent eight hours a day with their tutors and learned to ride and fence.

George, Prince of Wales and Frederick, Duke of York; Credit – Wikipedia

In 1780, King George III decided that Frederick would have a career in the army and made the 17-year-old a colonel. Shortly after Christmas 1780, Frederick was sent off to Hanover for military training under the supervision of Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Fulke Greville. The people of Hanover had not seen their Elector since the reign of King George II, so they enthusiastically welcomed their Elector’s second son.

From 1781 to 1787, Frederick lived in Hanover, where he participated in maneuvers with the Austrian and Prussian armies and attended the University of Göttingen with his brothers Edward, Ernest, Augustus, and Adolphus. While in Hanover, Frederick was swiftly promoted in the army.

• March 26, 1782: Colonel of the 2nd Horse Grenadier Guards (now 2nd Life Guards)
• November 20, 1782: Major General
• October 27, 1784: Lieutenant General
• October 28, 1784: Colonel of the Coldstream Guards

Frederick was created Duke of York and Albany and Earl of Ulster on November 27, 1784, and became a member of the Privy Council. On his return to England in 1787, Frederick, as Duke of York, took his seat in the House of Lords. In the summer of 1788, King George III’s mental health deteriorated, possibly as the result of the hereditary disease porphyria, and Parliament began debating a regency. On December 15, 1788, in the House of Lords, Frederick strongly opposed the Regency Bill proposed by William Pitt in a speech supposedly inspired by George, Prince of Wales.

On September 29, 1791, in the Charlottenburg Palace in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia now in the German state of Brandenburg, Frederick married Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia, daughter of King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia and his first wife Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Lüneburg.  When the new Duchess of York arrived in London, she received an enthusiastic welcome. A second marriage was held on November 23, 1791, at the Queen’s House (now Buckingham Palace) because the Archbishop of Canterbury was not authorized to grant a license for a ceremony held in Prussia. The marriage was unsuccessful. Frederick was unfaithful and the couple was unable to have children. In 1794, the couple separated and Frederica lived out her life at Oatlands Park in Weybridge, Surrey England. Frederick and Frederica remained on good terms and the couple never caused any scandal. Frederica did not like London and did not get involved in the quarrels of her in-laws, instead, she spent her time in Weybridge helping the needy.

Frederica Charlotte of Prussia; Credit -Wikipedia

In 1793, Frederick was promoted to full general. In that same year, the Flanders Campaign began and lasted until 1795. It was a coalition of military forces along the French borders, with the goal to invade France and end Napoleon’s French First Republic. Frederick was the commander of the British forces and took part in the successful Siege of Valencienne in July of 1793. After a few more successes and several defeats, Frederick was recalled to England in 1795. Ultimately, the coalition was unable to advance beyond the French border fortresses and was eventually forced to withdraw.

A well-known nursery rhyme is supposedly about Frederick’s defeat at the Battle of Tourcoing during the Flanders Campaign.

The grand old Duke of York,
He had ten thousand men.
He marched them up to the top of the hill
And he marched them down again.
And when they were up, they were up.
And when they were down, they were down.
And when they were only halfway up,
They were neither up nor down

Frederick was promoted to Field Marshal and made Commander-in-Chief of the Forces of Great Britain and Ireland in 1795. As Commander-in-Chief, Frederick instituted several reforms in the British Army. In 1801, he supported the founding of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst for training infantry and cavalry officers. He was also in charge of the preparations against Napoleon’s planned invasion of the United Kingdom in 1803. Frederick’s program of reforms enabled a stronger British Army to serve with the armies of other countries in the Peninsular War that finally defeated Napoleon.

In 1803, Frederick started an affair with Mary Anne Clarke.  In 1809 charges were brought up against Frederick in the House of Commons by Gwyllym Wardle, Member of Parliament for Okehampton, that Frederick allowed Clarke to influence him in the granting of commissions in the army. A national scandal arose when Clarke testified before the House of Commons that she had sold army commissions with Frederick’s knowledge.

“The modern Circe or a sequel to the petticoat” by Isaac Cruikshank, March 15, 1809; Credit – Wikipedia

The scandal was the subject of much humor and mockery, especially by caricaturists such as Isaac Cruikshank who created cartoons making fun of the scandal. Isaac Cruikshank’s cartoon above shows Mary Anne Clarke, wearing the Duke of York’s military cloak, extending it to cover a crowd of miniature soldiers, civilians, and clergymen clustering around her with outstretched arms. Gwyllym Wardle is standing to the right side, gazing at her and declaring his fascination. Frederick was acquitted of any implications, but ten days after the cartoon’s publication, he resigned as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army. Two years later, it was revealed that Clarke had received payment from Frederick’s chief accuser, Gwyllym Wardle. Frederick’s brother George, who had become Prince Regent in 1811 when his father was deemed unfit to reign, reappointed Frederick as Commander-in-Chief on May 29, 1811. Frederick held the position until his death and thereafter exercised strict impartiality with officer commissions and promotions.

• The History of Parliament: The Duke of York Scandal, 1809

In 1817, there was a succession crisis. King George III was still living but not reigning due to his mental incapacity. Eleven of the king’s fifteen children were living, but only four of them had married and only one had managed to produce a legitimate grandchild: Princess Charlotte of Wales, the daughter of George, Prince of Wales. On November 6, 1817, a great tragedy struck the British Royal Family. Twenty-one-year-old Princess Charlotte died after delivering a stillborn son. Frederick was now second in line to the throne. Unless his brother George had another child, Frederick would be the heir presumptive upon the death of King George III. Frederick’s unmarried brothers rushed to find brides, but any children born to them would be behind Frederick in the line of succession.

In 1819, Frederick was entrusted with the care of King George III, blind, deaf, and in a state of dementia, living at Windsor Castle. Under the care of Frederick, King George III lived on until January 29, 1820, six days after the death of his fourth son, Edward, Duke of Kent, the father of the infant Princess Victoria. Frederick’s brother succeeded as King George IV and Frederick became heir presumptive to the throne. Frederica, Frederick’s wife, died on August 6, 1820, and requested to be buried at her Weybridge church.

Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, by John Jackson; Credit – Wikipedia

During January 1827, Frederick was staying at Rutland House, Arlington Street in London, England, the home of his friend, John Manners, 5th Duke of Rutland, while his home was redecorated. It was there that Frederick, Duke of York died on January 5, 1827, at the age of 63. He was buried in the Royal Vault at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle in Windsor, England.

With Frederick’s death, King George III’s third childless son William, Duke of Clarence (the future King William III) became the heir to the throne and Frederick’s seven-year-old niece, the only child of King George III’s fourth son Edward, Duke of Kent, moved a step closer to the throne she would inherit as Queen Victoria.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

Works Cited
Hibbert, Christopher. George III. New York: Basic Books, 1998. Print.
“Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, 21 July 2016. Web. 2 Aug. 2016.
“Princess Frederica Charlotte of Prussia.” Wikipedia. N.p.: Wikimedia Foundation, 28 May 2016. Web. 2 Aug. 2016.
Van Der Kiste, John. George III’s Children. Trowbridge: Alan Sutton Publishing Limited, 1999. Print.
Williamson, David. Brewer’s British Royalty. London: Cassell, 1996. Print.

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

King Stephen of England; Credit – Wikipedia

King Stephen of England, born Stephen of Blois, was born in Blois (now in France) in either 1092 or 1096. The County of Blois was in northern France and bordered the Duchy of Normandy, the County of Anjou, the County of Poitou, and the Ile de France, the area controlled by the King of France.

Northern France around the time of Stephen’s birth; Credit – Wikipedia

Stephen was the fourth of the eleven children of Stephen II, Count of Blois and Adela of Normandy and England, a daughter of King William I of England (the Conqueror).

• William, Count of Sully (circa 1085 – circa 1150), married Agnes of Sully, the heiress to the Lordship of Sully-sur-Loire, had issue
• Theobald II, Count of Champagne (1090 – 1152), married Matilda of Carinthia, had issue
• Odo, died young
• Lucia-Mahaut, married Richard d’Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester, both drowned in the sinking of the White Ship on November 25, 1120, no issue
• Agnes, married Hugh III of Le Puiset
• Eleanor (died 1147) married Raoul I of Vermandois, had issue, divorced; Raoul made a second marriage to Petronilla of Aquitaine, the sister of Eleanor of Aquitaine
• Alix (circa 1100 – 1145), married Renaud III of Joigni, had issue
• Adelaide, married Milo II of Montlhéry, Viscount of Troyes, divorced, no issue
• Henry, Bishop of Winchester (circa 1098 – 1171)
• Humbert, died young

Stephen’s family tree, with his mother Adela at the top, and, left to right, William, Theobald, and Stephen; Credit – Wikipedia

Stephen’s father died in 1102 during the Crusade of 1101 fighting in the Second Battle of Ramla. After his father’s death, Stephen and his siblings were brought up by their capable mother who served as regent during the minority of her eldest son. Stephen was raised in his mother’s household rather than being sent to a close relative as was the common practice. He was taught Latin, history, and Biblical stories by his tutor William the Norman.

Stephen’s uncle. King Henry I of England; Credit – Wikipedia

Stephen’s maternal uncle was King Henry I of England. Even though Stephen’s family had regional power, as the third surviving son in the family, he could use the support of a powerful patron such as King Henry I of England. Around 1113 – 1115, Stephen first visited his uncle’s court in England. He soon became a favorite of his uncle who bestowed upon him lands won in battle, the County of Mortain (in France) and Alençon in southern Normandy. In 1125, King Henry I arranged for Stephen to marry Matilda of Boulogne, the only surviving child and heiress of Eustace III, Count of Boulogne and Mary of Scotland, daughter of King Malcolm III of Scotland and Saint Margaret of Scotland.  Matilda would be the Countess of Boulogne in her own right. Boulogne was a county within the Kingdom of France from 896 – 1501, centered on the city of Boulogne-sur-Mer, a coastal city in Northern France.

Stephen and Matilda had three sons and two daughters:

• Baldwin of Blois (circa 1126 – 1135)
• Eustace IV, Count of Boulogne (c. 1129 – 1153) married Constance of France, no children
• Matilda of Blois (circa 1133 – circa 1137), died in childhood
• Marie of Blois, Countess of Boulogne (circa 1136 – 1182) married Matthew of Alsace, had two daughters
• William of Blois, Count of Boulogne (circa 1137 –  1159) married Isabel de Warenne, no children

Five years before the marriage of Stephen and Matilda, a terrible tragedy caused a succession crisis in England.  The White Ship, carrying King Henry I of England’s only legitimate son William Ætheling, sank as it left France to sail to England, and William Ætheling drowned.  Empress Matilda was King Henry I’s only legitimate child, and on Christmas Day of 1126, Henry had his barons swear to recognize Empress Matilda and any future legitimate heirs she might have as his successors.

• Unofficial Royalty: The Sinking of the White Ship and How It Affected the English Succession

The sinking of the White Ship; Credit – Wikipedia

After the sinking of the White Ship, Stephen and his wife Matilda stayed close to King Henry I and lived most of the time in England realizing that Stephen was very close to the throne.  Henry’s daughter Empress Matilda had left England as a child to marry Holy Roman Emperor Henry V.  The marriage was childless and Holy Roman Emperor Henry V died in 1125.  After her husband’s death, Empress Matilda went to the royal court in Normandy (Kings of England were also Dukes of Normandy). Eventually, King Henry I made arrangements for his daughter to marry Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou in 1128.  The marriage was not a happy one.  The couple often lived apart and failed to produce a child until 1133.

Stephen’s first cousin, Empress Matilda; Credit – Wikipedia

On December 1, 1135, King Henry I of England died.  Stephen quickly crossed the English Channel from Boulogne to England, accompanied by his military household.  With the help of his brother, Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, Stephen seized power in England and was crowned king on December 22, 1135.  Matilda of Boulogne was unable to accompany her husband because she was pregnant, so she was crowned on Easter Day, March 22, 1136.  Empress Matilda did not give up her claim to England and Normandy, leading to the long civil war known as The Anarchy between 1135 and 1153.

Coronation of King Stephen; Credit – Wikipedia

During the civil war, Matilda of Boulogne proved to be her husband’s strongest supporter.  Matilda was as strong and resourceful as Stephen was weak and indecisive. When England was invaded in 1138, Matilda rallied troops from Boulogne and its ally Flanders, and successfully besieged Dover Castle.  She then went north to Durham, where she made a treaty with King David I of Scotland in 1139.  After Stephen was captured at the Battle of Lincoln in 1141, she rallied Stephen’s supporters and raised an army with the help of William of Ypres, Stephen’s chief lieutenant.  It was Matilda of Boulogne who recaptured London for Stephen and forced Empress Matilda to withdraw from the siege of Winchester, leading to Stephen’s release in 1141 in exchange for the Empress’ illegitimate brother and chief supporter Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester.

Battle of Lincoln; Credit – Wikipedia

By the mid-1140s, the fighting had slowed down and there was a stalemate and the succession began to be the focus.  Empress Matilda returned to Normandy in 1147.  In the same year, the Empress’ husband and her eldest son Henry FitzEmpress, the future King Henry II,  mounted a small, unsuccessful mercenary invasion of England.  Empress Matilda remained in Normandy where she focused on stabilizing the Duchy of Normandy and promoting her son’s rights to the English throne.

Matilda of Boulogne died of a fever on May 3, 1152, at Hedingham Castle in Essex, England.  She was buried at Faversham Abbey in Kent, England which she and her husband had established.  Perhaps if she had not died and her husband had not lost his strongest supporter, the result of the civil war would have turned out differently.

On August 17, 1153, Stephen and Matilda’s eldest surviving son Eustace died.  Ironically, this was the same day that the first child of Henry FitzEmpress, the future King Henry II, and Eleanor of Aquitaine was born.  The child, William IX, Count of Poitiers, survived for only two years, but he was followed by seven siblings, two of whom became Kings of England.

King Stephen standing with a falcon, and King Henry II seated on his throne; Credit – Wikipedia

Shortly after Eustace died in 1153, Stephen and Henry FitzEmpress reached a formal agreement known as the Treaty of Wallingford (or Winchester or Westminster).  The treaty allowed Stephen to keep the throne until his death but forced him to recognize Empress Matilda’s son Henry FitzEmpress, as his heir.

The supposed tomb of King Stephen, his wife Matilda, and their son Eustace at St. Mary of Charity Church; Credit – www.findagrave.com

Stephen survived his wife by a little more than two years.  He died apparently of appendicitis at Dover Castle on October 25, 1154, and a line of 14 Plantagenet kings who ruled until 1485 started.  Stephen was buried with his wife Matilda and his son Eustace at Faversham Abbey which Stephen and Matilda had founded. All three tombs were lost when Faversham Abbey was demolished during the Dissolution of the Monasteries during the reign of King Henry VIII. Their remains were reportedly thrown into the nearby Faversham Creek. Their empty tombs were unearthed in 1964 near what had been the center of the choir. At St. Mary of Charity Church, the parish church in Faversham, there is a tomb where it is said that the remains of King Stephen, his wife Matilda, and his son Eustace were reinterred after the destruction of Faversham Abbey.

Sharon Kay Penman’s excellent historical fiction novel When Christ and His Saints Slept deals with The Anarchy and most of the historical figures mentioned here are characters.

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

England: House of Normandy Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Index
• House of Normandy Index
• Coronations after the Norman Conquest (1066 – present)
• History and Traditions: Norman and Plantagenet Weddings
• House of Normandy Burial Sites
• The Sinking of the White Ship and How It Affected the English Succession

by Susan Flantzer  © Unofficial Royalty 2016

Credit – Wikipedia

King William II Rufus of England was born in Normandy (now in France) between 1056 and 1060. He was the third of the four sons of King William I of England (the Conqueror) and Matilda of Flanders.  At the time of William Rufus’ birth, his father was the Duke of Normandy.

William Rufus had at least nine siblings. The birth order of the boys is clear, but that of the girls is not. The list below is not in birth order.  It lists William’s brothers first in their birth order and then his sisters in their probable birth order.

• Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy (1051-1054 – 1134), married Sybil of Conversano, had one son
• Richard of Normandy (circa 1054 – circa 1070), died in a hunting accident in the New Forest
• Henry I, King of England (1068 – 1135), married (1) Edith of Scotland, had one son and one daughter (2) Adeliza of Louvain, no children
• Agatha of Normandy died before 1074, unmarried
• Adeliza of Normandy (circa 1055 – before 1113), probably a nun at the Abbey of St Léger in Préaux, Duchy of Normandy
• Cecilia of Normandy (circa 1056 – 1127), Abbess of Holy Trinity in Caen
• Matilda of Normandy (circa 1061 – c. 1086)
• Constance of Normandy (1057-1061 – 1090, married Alan IV, Duke of Brittany, no issue
• Adela of Normandy (circa 1067 – 1137), married Stephen II, Count of Blois, had ten children including King Stephen of England

William Rufus had red hair and a ruddy complexion which earned him the nickname Rufus, by which he was known. He was educated with his brothers by Lanfranc, then the abbot of the Abbaye aux Hommes in Caen, later Archbishop of Canterbury. As the third son of the Duke of Normandy, William Rufus was destined to enter Holy Orders. However, the death of Richard, the second son, between 1069 and 1075, changed the situation. William Rufus was knighted and then served with his father in preparation for eventually being the heir to a portion of his father’s land. Chroniclers of the time described William Rufus as a good boy and respectful, loyal, and faithful to his father.

In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy invaded England and defeated the last Anglo-Saxon King, Harold II Godwinson, King of England at the Battle of Hastings. The Duke of Normandy was now also King William I of England. Even before the division of land occurred, William Rufus and his brothers had a strained relationship. The contemporary chronicler Orderic Vitalis, wrote about an incident that occurred at L’Aigle in Normandy in 1077. William Rufus and Henry grew bored with playing dice and decided to make mischief by emptying a chamber pot on their brother Robert from an upper gallery. Robert was infuriated, a brawl broke out and their father had to intercede to restore order. Angered because his father did not punish his brothers, Robert and his followers then attempted to siege the castle at Rouen (Normandy) but were forced to flee when the Duke of Normandy attacked their camp. This led to a three-year estrangement between Robert and his family which only ended through the efforts of Robert’s mother.

In 1087, King William I divided his lands between his two eldest surviving sons. Robert Curthose was to receive the Duchy of Normandy and William Rufus was to receive the Kingdom of England. Henry was to receive 5,000 pounds of silver and his mother’s English estates. King William I of England (the Conqueror) died on September 9, 1087. Robert Curthose became Robert II Curthouse, Duke of Normandy, and William Rufus became King William II Rufus of England. Henry received the money, but no land. William Rufus never married and had no children.

William Rufus and Robert Curthose continued having a strained relationship. William Rufus alternated between supporting Robert against the King of France and opposing him for the control of Normandy. Henry was constantly being forced to choose between his two brothers and whichever brother he picked, he was likely to annoy the other. After William I died and his lands were divided, nobles who had land in both Normandy and England found it impossible to serve two lords. If they supported William, then Robert might deprive them of their Norman land. If they supported Robert, then they were in danger of losing their English land.

The only solution the nobles saw was to reunite Normandy and England, and this led them to revolt against William in favor of Robert in the Rebellion of 1088, under the leadership of the Bishop Odo of Bayeux, the half-brother of William the Conqueror. The rebellion was unsuccessful partly because Robert never showed up to support the English rebels.

In 1096, Robert left for the Holy Land on the First Crusade. In order to raise money for the crusade, he mortgaged the Duchy of Normandy to his brother King William II Rufus. The two older brothers made a pact stating that if one of them died without heirs, both Normandy and England would be reunited under the surviving brother. William then ruled Normandy as regent in Robert’s absence. Robert did not return until September 1100, one month after William’s death.

Probably the most famous part of William Rufus’ life was his death. On August 2, 1100, King William II Rufus rode out from Winchester Castle on a hunting expedition to the New Forest, accompanied by his brother Henry and several nobles. His elder brother Richard, in circa 1070, and his nephew Richard, the illegitimate son of his brother Robert, in May 1100, had both been killed in hunting accidents in the New Forest.

According to most contemporary accounts, William Rufus was chasing after a stag followed by Walter Tirel, a noble.  William Rufus shot an arrow but missed the stag. He then called out to Walter to shoot, which he did, but the arrow hit the king in his chest, puncturing his lungs, and killing him. Walter Tirel jumped on his horse and fled to France.

The next day, William Rufus’ body was found by a group of local farmers. The nobles had fled to their Norman and English lands to secure their possessions and ensure law and order following the death of the king. The farmers loaded the king’s body on a cart and brought it to Winchester Cathedral where he was buried under a plain flat marble stone below the tower with little ceremony.

• Unofficial Royalty: Suspicious Death of William II Rufus, King of England

William Rufus’ elder brother, Robert Curthose, was still on Crusade, so Henry was able to seize the crown of England for himself. Henry hurried to Winchester to secure the royal treasury. The day after William’s funeral at Winchester, the nobles elected Henry king. Henry then left for London where he was crowned three days after William’s death by Maurice, Bishop of London because there was no Archbishop of Canterbury at that time.

Was there a conspiracy to assassinate William Rufus? Walter Tirel was an excellent archer, but he badly missed his shot. William’s brother Henry was among the hunting party that day and would have benefited directly from William’s death. Some modern historians find the assassination theory credible. Others say that hunting accidents were common (William’s brother and nephew did die in hunting accidents) and there is not enough hard evidence to prove murder. In the New Forest, a memorial stone, known as the Rufus Stone, claims to marks the spot where William Rufus died.

Rufus Stone; Photo Credit – By Adem Djemil, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=56115617

In 1107, the tower at Winchester Cathedral near William Rufus’ grave collapsed and the superstition at that time said that the presence of William Rufus’ remains was the cause. Around 1525, the royal remains in Winchester Cathedral were rearranged. William Rufus’ remains were transferred to one of the mortuary chests next to the mortuary chest of King Cnut the Great atop the stone wall around the high altar.

King Cnut the Great’s mortuary chest atop the wall; Photo Credit – http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/

In 1642, Winchester Cathedral was sacked by Parliamentary Troops during the English Civil War. The remains in the mortuary chests were scattered around the cathedral. Later the remains were returned to the mortuary chests in no particular order. On February 3, 2015, this press release was published: “The Dean and Chapter of Winchester has announced that, as part of an initial assessment of the Cathedral’s Renaissance Mortuary Chests and an inventory of their contents, a project to record and analyze the contents has begun. The Chests are thought to contain the mortal remains of some of the early Royal Families of Wessex and of England, and three bishops, amongst other artifacts and mortal remains.” All the mortuary chests were brought to the Lady Chapel at Winchester Cathedral where a laboratory was set up. The chests are to be restored and conserved and modern technology will attempt to identify the remains. In 2012, an examination of the remains in the chests began and the project is still ongoing. The examination included DNA testing, reassembly of the skeletons, and analysis to determine the sex, age, and other characteristics of the remains. The six mortuary chests were found to hold the remains of at least 23 individuals, more than the 12 – 15 remains originally thought.

• Current Archaeology: Unlocking the secrets of the Winchester Cathedral mortuary chests

Mortuary Chests in the Lady Chapel at Winchester Cathedral; Photo Credit – http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/

This article is the intellectual property of Unofficial Royalty and is NOT TO BE COPIED, EDITED, OR POSTED IN ANY FORM ON ANOTHER WEBSITE under any circumstances. It is permissible to use a link that directs to Unofficial Royalty.

England: House of Normandy Resources at Unofficial Royalty

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Index
• House of Normandy Index
• Coronations after the Norman Conquest (1066 – present)
• History and Traditions: Norman and Plantagenet Weddings
• House of Normandy Burial Sites
• The Sinking of the White Ship and How It Affected the English Succession