William Rufus

King of England, the Red King

William Rufus is the middle surviving child of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. He was raised, educated and knighted by Lanfranc, prior of the Benedictine abbey of Bec.

When William the Conqueor died, he bequeathed his new kingdom on England to Rufus. He was crowned by his old tutor, Lanfranc, now Archbishop of Canterbury. As king, he promised good government and law to the people of England and began by giving lavishly to the church and the poor. Rufus quickly proved to be a stern and masterful ruler, his harsh nature tempered by Archbishop Lanfranc's good council. Within the first year of his reign, Rufus was forced to put down a rebellion by his uncle, Odo of Bayeux, and many of the leading barons who expressed a preference for his more tractable brother, Robert of Normandy. Embittered by this betrayal, Rufus fiercely put down the rebellion but, on Lanfranc's advice, spared the lives of the leading conspirators.

Sadly, Archbishop Lanfranc died soon afterward. Without his mentor's good council, Rufus has succumbed to the darkest nature of the Conqueror's blood.

The king is much feared, being harsh and fierce with his own men and lands and crueler still to his enemies. In his greed he levies many unjust taxes and permits great injustice. The Red King surrounds himself with evil counselors, chief among them the wicked Ranulf Flambard, and his court is a place of intrigue, cruelty and licentiousness.