Forever in my Heart

Forever in my Heart
Mom

Thursday, March 15, 2018

A Medieval Murder Mystery


On August 02, 1100 about sunset, a group of men were finishing a stag hunt. On any other day in medieval England, a party of nobles searching for a deer probably wouldn’t have turned any heads but in this case the group included William Rufus, also known as King William II. Along with William was his brother Henry, Walter Tirel, the Count of Poix, and William de Breteuil. At the end of the hunt, one of the men would be lying on the forest floor, dead, with an arrow impaled in his chest.

King William Rufus


William had been the favorite son of his father, the legendary William the Conqueror. William the First had three possible heirs to the throne:  his namesake: William Rufus (called that for his red hair and equally hot temper), Robert Curthose (named for his style of dress), and Henry.  The King’s plan had been to split his kingdom, giving England to Rufus and Normandy (the mainland) to Robert. Poor Henry would be left with nothing but a bequest of 5,000 pounds in silver (oh, the shame of it).

William II was crowned King on the 26th of September, 1087.

Great Seal of William Rufus



It’s easy to be an armchair quarterback and look on Rufus’ decisions now. The new King took his dying father’s advice instead of making his own choices. William I advocated freeing Bishop Odo (the brother of William I) and gaining the support of the people. Of course, with the coronation came the normal uprisings and protests from those on the sides of the opposition (hey, wouldn’t Robert or Henry make a better King?). One wonders why William the First split hairs (and his realm) and why he put off making the tough choices. The Conqueror couldn’t be bothered letting Odo out himself after arresting him for corruption. These decisions took a toll on the Crown coffers. Even worse, Odo turned traitor when he joined with Curthose in a rebellion in 1088.


So much for loyalty.


Then there were those whispers about the red-haired wonder King and his special friends. Why hadn’t William taken a wife yet? Was it possible William was just focused on getting his real in order or was he a homosexual? No one truly can say and we certainly can’t judge people from one age by our modern standards. Comparisons can be made between Rufus and Edward II. Both Kings enjoyed nice clothes (the horror!) and pursued activities of leisure. William’s Court was known for colorful and fancy clothing and long hair worn by the men. The Church frowned on the frivolous behavior – going as far as to ban long hair on men!




Modern books and movies tend to think that feudalism was the mainstay of life throughout the ancient world, especially medieval Europe but that’s not the case. Feudalism was getting its start in the early eleventh century. William Rufus made changes to the laws of the land. One of the harshest was to put in tougher penalties for poaching by torture or death. Considering the lands had been experiencing a series of droughts, this didn’t go over very well. He increased taxation on the lands owned by the church. Again, not a popular ruling by a less than pious leader. The King did treat his favorite, Robert fitz Hamo Lord of Gloucester and Bristol, better than many of the other barons. Contemporaries claimed the two were closer than brothers and never far apart. William even granted fitz Hamo lands that belonged to his mother. That must have irked Robert and Henry a tad.


So, this brings us back to the day in the forest. It is said prior to the fateful day Rufus had nightmares which included a bloodied monk.  The final night if his life, Rufus partied hard and ordered candles burnt all night to stave off nightmares. The group split up: Rufus and Tirel together and the others in a second group.




According to the official story, Tirel saw a stag and took aim. He missed with his first arrow and lined up with a second arrow to try again when a different deer ran by the royal party. The projectile was drawn with enough force it took hair from the stag as it passed over its back and slammed into the chest of the King. Rufus was said to try and remove the arrow in shock but soon toppled over dead.


Tirel panicked and fled the country for France. Henry saw an opportunity. Spurring his horse, he stopped briefly in Winchester, where he snatched up the royal treasury and then rode on to London and was crowned the new King on August 5th before Robert could even make a claim (he was older than Henry and was the heir to Rufus). Sadly, the body of Rufus was left on the forest floor. A couple of servants gathered up the corpse of their former monarch and brought the body to St. Swithan, Winchester.


Which brings us to the big question: was William’s death an accident or was it murder? Did a conspiracy to kill Rufus exist? The King was heard to say he’d had premonitions of his death and he was told not to go hunting that day. Did the person who told him to stay home have knowledge of the plans?

Death of Rufus



Henry had a motive and he certainly didn’t waste any time leaving the scene of the incident. Remember that as the youngest, he was only given silver by his father. By all rights, the crown should have gone to Robert but he was on Crusade and had not yet returned to England. The shrewd Henry knew his older brother wasn’t due back any time soon. Henry could claim the incident was strictly an accident and hunting accidents happened frequently. How difficult would it be to arrange one to rid the country of a bad king – especially one the Church and barons disagreed with? We have to consider that in the time period this occurred, the Church declared anyone with a dissenting opinion as immoral in lacking in piety. Again, we can’t judge ancients by our modern standards.

Henry I



There is no record of him displaying any great display of grief over his brother’s death. One can certainly see why Walter Tirel took off. Regicide, whether encouraged by the future monarch or not, was still a crime punishable by death. Tirel later swore he wasn’t even with the hunting party, much less the one who shot the arrow. A chronicler, Geoffrey Gaimer, claimed that another person, Gerald of Wales, was the true suspect. Regardless of which man let the arrow fly, Henry didn’t pursue any actions.







For more about William Rufus and his brothers:



By the face of Lucca

By Stuart Boydell

Medieval History Magazine, Issue 6, February 2004



The Saxon and Norman Kings

By Christopher Brooks

1963 (1996 Barnes & Noble edition)

ISBN # 0-7607-0000-1



For more on Walter Tirel:










Stay safe out there!

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