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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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William II
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(William Rufus, c.1056–1100) King of England from 1087, the third son of *William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders. His eldest brother, Robert Curthose, inherited the duchy of Normandy; the next, Richard, had died hunting. William was an aggressive ruler, putting down with great severity revolts by his barons and pillaging the revenues of the church (one of the reasons for his continuing conflict with *Anselm).
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Like his elder brother he died in the hunting field, in his case hit by an arrow in the New Forest. It has been generally held to have come from the bow of Walter Tirel, and it is likely that the king was murdered on behalf of his brother and successor, *Henry I, who was in the hunting party (see the *royal house). William was unmarried and probably homosexual. His contemporaries called him rufus, the Latin for red, because of his ruddy complexion.
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