William II: The Red King

by John Gillingham

William II (1087-1100), or William Rufus, will always be most famous for his death: killed by an arrow while out hunting, perhaps through accident or perhaps murder. But, as John Gillingham makes clear in this elegant book, as the son and successor to William the Conqueror it was William Rufus who had to establish permanent Norman rule. A ruthless, irascible man, he frequently argued acrimoniously with his older brother Robert over their father's inheritance - but he also handed out effective justice, leaving as his legacy one of the most extraordinary of all medieval buildings, Westminster Hall.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Medieval History, British Literature, Medieval

128 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2015

About the author

John Bennett Gillingham is emeritus professor of medieval history at the London School of Economics and Political Science. On the 19th July 2007 he was elected into the Fellowship of the British Academy

He is renowned as an expert on the Angevin empire.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unsurprisingly, given how little extant documentation there is of much of anything in William Rufus’s reign, this is mainly a book about the few sources we do have, Orderic Vitalis, Eadmer of Canterbury, and the great William of Malmesbury, and it’s a book about their shared subject only at a pretty significant remove. Basically an alternation between lengthy citations of each of those texts, this is a much, much less engrossing account than the one in the volume in this series dedicated to Rufus’s father the Conqueror, a problem admittedly made partly unavoidable by the scant records of Rufus’s reign, but a problem not much compensated for here at all by any sort of lively filling in of documentary blanks. And in fact Gillingham says at the outset that he isn’t himself interested in the one interesting and fairly well known fact of Rufus’s life: his suspicious death, a possible assassination while hunting in the New Forest. There’s just a single short, dismissive paragraph about this event, the only one in Rufus’s life to capture the popular imagination. Small wonder, then, that there’s little to capture that imagination here.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this five because the author scrutinises the historical sources and questions them throughout.

When considering monarchs from such a long time ago we are only ever reading the constructed narratives of others.

History is textual and texts are historical. This presents all kinds of problems for the reader. John Gillingham acknowledges this and maintains its significance throughout the book.

Gillingham concludes that William II was the target of an attempted character assassination.

[Truls Ljungström · Rating 3 out of 5]

En kort men spännande härskarbiografi, som efter den kronologiska beskrivningen gör nedslag i kyrkopolitik, krigföring och eftermäle. Lättillgänglig men inte speciellt intressant.

[Bookthesp1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent account of the life and reign of William Rufus. Written with verve and style it is more interested in the character assassination of William than his actual assassination and is skilful in negotiating the minefield of contradictory sources and myriad motivations. Following on from his father, "the conqueror" was always going to be a tall order though Gillingham emphasises both his military skill- not least in spending the right money at the right time to achieve a military victory. The 'problem' of his brothers Robert and Henry was never far from view as was the need to retain command of an empire across the channel coupled with hostility closer to home in Scotland and more problematically in Wales. Gillingham also finds time to focus on other aspects of Williams character that were criticised- not least, his supposedly deviant sexual proclivities. This is all dealt with carefully and with out lapses into prurience. Indeed, Gillingham is crystal clear on the sources he is more likely to trust and the pros and cons of contemporary chroniclers. Overall, despite the brevity expected from this series, Gillingham manages a wide ranging discussion of many aspects and provides a useful bibliography. The death of Rufus is dealt with in a few lines and he is true to his word in seeing this aspect as a possible distraction from the very real achievements of a life lived as a Norman king.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very enjoyable short read on a less well documented monarch. Gillingham clearly makes good use of the limited source material available and provides a concise yet insightful overview. However, it was slightly disappointing purely because I had thoroughly enjoyed the biography in this series on Henry II far more, but this by no means makes this a bad read. Definitely one for those wishing to learn more about early medieval kings.

[Irene · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We cannot say whether or not Rufus was assassinated; we can be more confident that he was the target of an attempted character assassination."

William II seems to be one of the most overlooked monarchs in British history. There is not much information about him as an individual and he is mostly remembered for his conflict with the Church. He was also a king overshadowed by his father and his achievements, depicted by his contemporaries and his own brother as an "oppressor" and thus, with no other surviving evidence, remembered as an "angry" and "unpopular" king.

This book, however, offers compelling insight into William's military exploits and skill, giving us a glimpse of his ambition and schemes. We cannot be certain about his character, but his actions prove that he was a competent and resourceful ruler. He engaged in numerous campaigns and became thoroughly exprienced in warfare. He might not have been particularly admired in England, but in France he was quite popular. He employed a chivalrous style of fighting and was quite merciful, an aspect of his character which proved dangerous for him in the end.

For me, this book was a first since I'd never read anything about William Rufus before. I hope that at some point in the future, historians will be in a better position to evaluate this almost-forgotten king and present a more complete image of his reign. Reading the book made me wonder about all the things that he could have accomplished if his life hadn't ended so soon.

[Olga · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting highlight of the reign and surprising historical relevance of a fairly obscure monarch, but it does feel a bit rough. At times the tone of the book makes it feel more like a William II apologist text than a reasonably impartial history. Additionally, the writing doesn’t really feel like it hits its stride until the penultimate chapter. As another reader pointed out, the author also chose to limit discussion of William II’s (potential) assassination, which is fairly disappointing. As a reader without much background in either English history or William II in particular, I feel like it would have been interesting to read more about how the circumstances of his death impacted his legacy in culture. I do, however, feel like the author does a good job in explaining how William II’s policies would connect to later events (in particular, England’s growing involvement in other kingdoms in Great Britain are highlighted). I thought it was a decent introduction.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good, short introduction to a Norman king that I knew very little about previously. I enjoyed the use of the relatively scarce primary source material, which was well applied and made me want to follow up some of the chronicles in more detail, and as with all the books in this series that I've read, the images at the centre made a valuable contribution to the points made in the book. My criticisms would be that the ending was very abrupt, and I feel like - as a total Norman novice - the events leading up to and following on from his death could have been expanded upon.

[Nick Artrip · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've been working my way back through the monarchy as my prior reading stretched from roughly Edward VI to Charles III. So far, William II has become my new favorite mystery. The author admits that the resources on "Rufus" are scant but he still does an admirable job of providing a balanced, albeit brief, account of his rule.

An expansion on the mystery surrounding his death, however, would have made this a tad less dry.

[Matthew Prissick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I imagine John Gillingham drew the short straw with William II, a man whom I knew two things about - he had red colouring and was shot in a hunting accident. I can’t say I know vastly more about him now though as it seems the sources for his reign are thin on the ground. He certainly enjoyed the curse “by the face of St Lucca”. Some enjoyable anecdotes including urinating on his brother from a high balcony notwithstanding, I found this fairly thin gruel unfortunately.

[Paging Snidget · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spends a lot of time trying to debunk the bad image that has been passed down through history of this king. However, he doesn’t have much else to say besides he was an accomplished soldier. The result is a rather lacklustre and somewhat convoluted portrait.

[Ivan Monckton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best of these Penguin Monarchs books that I have read so far. The story of William the Conqueror’s son, William Rufus, based on the meagre sources available and somehow giving a feel for his actual personality as well as actions.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting, clear-headed and informative book about a king other historians don't write about.

[Abigail Powers]

For history coursework 😍

[Best British Biographies]

One of the things I’m learning from my ongoing effort to read biographies of all of the British monarchs is the importance of scale. When I started this project my preference when it came to histories and biographies was for big books on the subjects in which I was interested. While I did understand the value of the quick overview, usually what I enjoy more is reading a work that provides an all-encompassing account of its subject, one that leaves my interest in it fully sated. As I read multiple works in succession on the same subject, however, I began to appreciate the virtues of a shorter account that trades comprehensiveness for a focus that allows important points to stand out better. Less can indeed be more in that respect.

For the rest of my review, click on the link:

https://www.bestbritishbios.com/2021/...

[Joe O'Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Master historian John Gillingham paints an illustrious picture of a king famous for being assassinated by devoting not more than a couple of paragraphs to his demise. The author focuses instead on William Rufus' hidden record as a powerful ruler much in the model of his father, his rule shaped by the complexity of the new Anglo-Norman world he inherited. Gillingham dispenses a professional assessment of the ways in which the king's near-contemporary monastic biographers sought to damage his character and legacy to further their own narrative praising the archbishop he was often at odds with.