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During his reign he was widely resented by the clergy for his rapaciousness and brutality. Whilst he was probably no worse than his father, he had not his predecessor’s tact. He had a short temper and a rough manner. He never married and there are no records of  children; almost unheard of for royalty in that age. There were rumours of homosexuality. He was a good commander, and successful in most of his campaigns; but had few inclinations of mercy. He was a ruthless pillager of all he could get his hands on.

During his reign he was widely resented by the clergy for his rapaciousness and brutality. Whilst he was probably no worse than his father, he had not his predecessor’s tact. He had a short temper and a rough manner. He never married and there are no records of  children; almost unheard of for royalty in that age. There were rumours of homosexuality. He was a good commander, and successful in most of his campaigns; but had few inclinations of mercy. He was a ruthless pillager of all he could get his hands on.

William Rufus is remembered as an irreligious king who deliberately kept bishoprics vacant in order to collect their revenues for himself, and who openly mocked religion and was a homosexual. More modern theories, such as those of Dr Margaret Murray in the 1920s, have proposed that he was not just an atheist but actually a devil worshipper. Certainly, his death while hunting in the New Forest on August 2, 1100 (he was shot with an arrow by a knight named Walter Tyrrol in what was allegedly an accident), bears all the hallmarks of some sort of pagan ritual, in which the king was sacrificed in order to bring fertility to the land. Suspicion has also fallen on his younger brother Henry, who rushed to London to have himself crowned king as [[Henry I]] (William Rufus was unmarried and childless). Walter Tyrrol, William's killer, fled to France, but later ruturned to England and was never prosecuted.

William Rufus is remembered as an irreligious king who deliberately kept bishoprics vacant in order to collect their revenues for himself, and who openly mocked religion and was a homosexual. More modern theories, such as those of Dr Margaret Murray in the 1920s, have proposed that he was not just an atheist but actually a devil worshipper. Certainly, his death while hunting in the New Forest on August 2, 1100 (he was shot with an arrow by a knight named Walter Tyrrol in what was allegedly an accident), bears all the hallmarks of some sort of pagan ritual, in which the king was sacrificed in order to bring fertility to the land. Suspicion has also fallen on his younger brother Henry, who rushed to London to have himself crowned king as [[Henry I]]. Walter Tyrrol, William's killer, fled to France, but later returned to England and was never prosecuted.

[[Category:UK Monarchs|William II]]

[[Category:UK Monarchs|William II]]