William II

William II was the second son of William the Conqueror, and succeeded to the English throne after his father's death in 1087.

William had inherited the crown because his father failed to see eye to eye with his eldest son, Robert Curthose. There were many in both England and Normandy who felt that the disputes between them were insufficient reason for the Conqueror to disinherit his heir, and just before his death, he yielded and named Robert as his heir in Normandy. He remained firm on England, however, and his second son became William II of England some 17 days after the death of the Conqueror.

This division of the Conqueror's realms created difficulties for many of the senior Norman barons, who held lands in both Normandy and England, and were therefore in the unfortunate situation of being forced to acknowledge two separate overlords. William II did his best to prevent this situation from continuing, by working throughout his reign to remove Normandy from Robert's hands. His victory finally came in 1096, when Robert mortgaged Normandy to him in order to raise funds to allow Robert to take a trip to Jerusalem with the First Crusade.

William II was childless when he died aged about 40 in 1100. He was killed when he was shot with an arrow while hunting in the New Forest. His brother Henry was with him on that hunting expedition, and immediately left to stake his claim to the crown. There was never any inquiry into the circumstances of William's death, but his death is commonly attributed to an accident.

William II's earthly remains were interred at Winchester Cathedral, along with a number of the pre-Conquest kings.

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