Opening the text

Cassell's History of England, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the RosesAnonymous

History

Cassell's History of England, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the Roses

Name: Cassell's History of England, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the Roses
Author: Anonymous

Anonymous

Great Britain -- History

King William had issue, besides his three sons who survived him,
five daughters, namely--1. Cicely, a nun in the monastery of Fécamp,
afterwards abbess in the Holy Trinity at Caen, where she died in 1127. 2.
Constantia, married to Alan Fergent, Count of Brittany: she died without
issue. 3. Alice, contracted to Harold. 4. Adela, married to Stephen,
Earl of Blois, by whom she had four sons--William, Theobald, Henry, and
Stephen--of whom the eldest was neglected on account of the imbecility of
his understanding. 5. Agatha, who died a virgin, but was betrothed to the
King of Galicia: she died on her journey thither, before she joined her
bridegroom.




CHAPTER XIII.

REIGN OF WILLIAM II.

     William's Surname--How he obtained the Throne--Rising in favour
     of his Brother, Robert--Bishop Odo's Ill-fortune--Surrender of
     Rochester Castle--Flight of Odo--Failure of the Conspiracy--Death
     of Lanfranc--William's Misrule--Randolf the Firebrand--Appointment
     of Anselm to Canterbury--Rufus invades Normandy--Treaty between
     the Brothers--Siege of Mount St. Michael--Malcolm Canmore's
     Inroad into England--Building of Castle at Carlisle--Death of
     Malcolm--Illness of William--His Treachery towards Robert--Welsh
     Marauders--Earl Mowbray's Hard Fortune--The King's Exactions--He
     obtains possession of Normandy--The Hunt in the New Forest--Death
     of the Red King.


William, whose surname of Rufus was derived from the ruddiness of his
countenance, no sooner found himself in possession of his father's letter
to the primate Lanfranc, than he fled from the monastery of St. Gervais,
where William was dying, and hastened to England, in order to secure
possession of the crown.

Sensible that an act so opposed to the laws of primogeniture and the
feudal rights might meet with great opposition from the nobles, he
trusted to his celerity for success, and reached the kingdom before
the news of the king's death arrived. Pretending orders from the dead
monarch, he secured the strong fortresses of Dover, Pevensey, and
Hastings. On his arrival a council of prelates and barons was summoned
to proceed to the election of a sovereign. Robert, who would naturally
be chosen, and his partisans, were in Normandy, while William and his
adherents were on the spot. Besides, Archbishop Lanfranc, who felt
himself bound to obey the last injunction of his benefactor William,
exerted the whole influence of the Church in his favour. Three weeks
after his father's death William II. was proclaimed king, and crowned
with the usual formalities.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Opening the text

Cassell's History of England, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the RosesAnonymous

History

Cassell's History of England, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the Roses

Anonymous

Great Britain -- History

King William had issue, besides his three sons who survived him,
five daughters, namely--1. Cicely, a nun in the monastery of Fécamp,
afterwards abbess in the Holy Trinity at Caen, where she died in 1127. 2.
Constantia, married to Alan Fergent, Count of Brittany: she died without
issue. 3. Alice, contracted to Harold. 4. Adela, married to Stephen,
Earl of Blois, by whom she had four sons--William, Theobald, Henry, and
Stephen--of whom the eldest was neglected on account of the imbecility of
his understanding. 5. Agatha, who died a virgin, but was betrothed to the
King of Galicia: she died on her journey thither, before she joined her
bridegroom.




CHAPTER XIII.

REIGN OF WILLIAM II.

     William's Surname--How he obtained the Throne--Rising in favour
     of his Brother, Robert--Bishop Odo's Ill-fortune--Surrender of
     Rochester Castle--Flight of Odo--Failure of the Conspiracy--Death
     of Lanfranc--William's Misrule--Randolf the Firebrand--Appointment
     of Anselm to Canterbury--Rufus invades Normandy--Treaty between
     the Brothers--Siege of Mount St. Michael--Malcolm Canmore's
     Inroad into England--Building of Castle at Carlisle--Death of
     Malcolm--Illness of William--His Treachery towards Robert--Welsh
     Marauders--Earl Mowbray's Hard Fortune--The King's Exactions--He
     obtains possession of Normandy--The Hunt in the New Forest--Death
     of the Red King.


William, whose surname of Rufus was derived from the ruddiness of his
countenance, no sooner found himself in possession of his father's letter
to the primate Lanfranc, than he fled from the monastery of St. Gervais,
where William was dying, and hastened to England, in order to secure
possession of the crown.

Sensible that an act so opposed to the laws of primogeniture and the
feudal rights might meet with great opposition from the nobles, he
trusted to his celerity for success, and reached the kingdom before
the news of the king's death arrived. Pretending orders from the dead
monarch, he secured the strong fortresses of Dover, Pevensey, and
Hastings. On his arrival a council of prelates and barons was summoned
to proceed to the election of a sovereign. Robert, who would naturally
be chosen, and his partisans, were in Normandy, while William and his
adherents were on the spot. Besides, Archbishop Lanfranc, who felt
himself bound to obey the last injunction of his benefactor William,
exerted the whole influence of the Church in his favour. Three weeks
after his father's death William II. was proclaimed king, and crowned
with the usual formalities.

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

Cassell's History of England, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the Roses

Cassell's History of England, Vol. 1 (of 8): From the Roman Invasion to the Wars of the Roses

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