In ancient Europe, kings were a high-risk profession, and countless monarchs died young. The Wessex dynasty of the United Kingdom has only been in a short period of two hundred years, and has experienced 17 kings before and after, with an average term of office of only ten years for each king. Most kings did not live to be fifty years old, either died of illness or battle, and the worst died inexplicably.
Edward, the 13th king of the Wessex dynasty and a healthy martyr, died mysteriously at the age of sixteen, and the theory of being murdered by his stepmother is very loud, and various speculations and reasoning also point to the stepmother. But people did not recognize it, the courtiers were stunned that there was no way to take her, and the stepmother's son Ethelred succeeded to the throne, and no one had the courage and motivation to continue to pursue.
Related reading: Blood spattered England – The death of Edward the Martyr
(Edward the Martyr)
Even stranger and more tragic than Edward's death was William II, the son of William the Conqueror and the 2nd King of England of the Norman dynasty. During his tenure, this person has not heard of any proud achievements, but the way he died has always been talked about. When he was hunting in the Royal Forest Garden, he was actually shot as prey by his close advisers.
Afterwards, the consultant said that he did not see it clearly, thinking that it was a wounded red deer that was running away. Wilhelm II looked like the deer, so it was a manslaughter. Oh, buy hookup! Sister Mao had never heard of anyone who looked like a deer. Wilhelm II also jumped out from under the ground in anger and cursed: "Your mother looks like a deer, and your whole family looks like a deer!" ”
To find out the truth of the matter, we have to start with his father, William, the famous conqueror.
(William the Conqueror)
PART 01: William the Conqueror
In January 1066, Edward the Confessor of England died without leaving any children. The nobles, citing Edward's lack of heirs, elected his brother-in-law, Harold, who was of good character. Harold was able to fight well, was quite talented, and conscientiously governed the country, and was well received by the people of England. But his cousin, William, Duke of Normandy, was unconvinced, believing that he was the closest heir by blood.
Edward grew up in Normandy, France, his way of thinking and living habits are standard French, and his performance during his decades in office is mediocre. The British were already dissatisfied with him, and they finally survived him, and now there is another French-style English king, and everyone will definitely not do it.
In October of the same year, William led a fleet across the English Channel and sent troops to attack England. Harold actively responded to the battle, the two armies met at Hastings, Harold died in battle, William took London and was crowned King of England. England moved from the Wessex dynasty to the Norman dynasty, and William was also called the conqueror by later generations.
Related reading: The Counterattack of the Bastard – William the Conqueror
(Battle of Hastings)
Compared to William's brilliant career, his family education is rotten. William had four sons, Robert, Richard, William Jr. and Henry, Richard hung up early, and among the remaining three sons, William Sr. loved the most and his third son, William Jr., who had the same name as him.
There is a popular truth, the average family where parents are biased must have children discord. William the Elder was partial to the third son, he divided the territory of Normandy to the eldest son Robert, so that William the younger would inherit the throne of England, and as for the younger son Henry, he gave a sum of money. Old William's partiality made the other two sons very dissatisfied.
William the Elder, as a French duke, was king in England, so the territory of the Norman dynasty, in addition to England itself, also included the Duchy of Normandy on the lower Seine River in France. In this regard, the French king has a very good opinion, you have become the lord of England, how come you still occupy the land of France?
(Location of the Duchy of Normandy)
The French king urged old William to return French territory every day, and old William was annoyed. Since ancient times, I have only seen noble people who have desperately fought for territory, and who have returned the territory with both hands? In ancient China, there was also Liu Bei borrowing Jingzhou, do you think he returned it?
The territorial dispute between the French king and the Duke of Normandy gradually developed into a major conflict, and in 1087, the 60-year-old William Sr. went to fight with the French king, and as a result, the old William fell off his horse and died within a few days. It is said that in his later years, the old William was blessed and fat like a ball, so that the war horse under his crotch could not stand it, and he launched a fierce attack and threw the owner to death.
The father died, and the three sons took their places according to the will. Robert became the 8th Duke of Normandy; William the Younger entered England and became William II; Henry took a huge sum of money and followed his third brother William to London to mix.
PART02: Brothers on the Wall
Wilhelm II had a bad time, and the English did not take the French as their own king. When William Sr. was alive, he mainly suppressed by force, and William II did not have the ability of his father, and this English king was particularly depressed. The eldest brother Robert could not get along with him every day, and often sent people to England to spread rumors, sow discord, and instigate them to oppose William II.
Wilhelm II was often so angry by his eldest brother that his face was red and thick-necked, and he was hot-tempered, and his face was red when he was angry, earning him the nickname "King of Red Faces". From the beginning of his presidency, Wilhelm II suppressed the rebellion in England while sending people across the sea to Normandy to fight his eldest brother. These two brothers are also strange, you have been fighting back and forth for seven years, and they have no time to please their wives, and they have become old bachelors.
In 1096, the Pope launched the First Crusade. The Pope said that Jerusalem, the holy place of Christianity, has been occupied, and everyone is going to take it back. In medieval Europe, popes were more noble than kings, and nobles were proud to take part in the crusades called by the popes. To put it bluntly, everyone is tight-handed, and they need to go to rich places to stretch their muscles and earn some extra money, which is called the Eastern Crusade.
(Crusades)
When I heard that I was going to rob in West Asia, the nobles were very happy, and everyone signed up enthusiastically. Robert also wants to go, but he worries ah, although the robbery benefits are large, but the early investment is also a lot. Although he is the duke of a country, he still can't make up the cost of robbery. Eh, doesn't my brother Henry have a large amount of money, so ask him to borrow it.
From ancient times to the present, those who owe money are uncles, and creditors are grandchildren, and Henry did not do this unearnable transaction, and he refused his eldest brother's request to borrow money.
While Robert was frowning, the brother William II, who was as deep as the sea, extended an olive branch. Wilhelm II offered to let the eldest brother take the territory of Normandy as collateral and lend him 10,000 marks for military expenses. Robert smiled, and the two brothers shook hands and made peace. William II took Normandy under his command, and the Norman territories of England were briefly united.
(Map of the Kingdom of England)
This time the crusade, Robert grabbed an unknown amount of money, but he had another gain. On the way to the East, he married a very rich wife and received a huge dowry. Robert had plenty of money and immediately demanded the redemption of his territory. Where would Wilhelm II agree, eat the meat in his mouth, and still want me to spit it out?
For Wilhelm II, even if the eldest brother gave ten times more money, he would not agree to return it to Normandy. He was actively preparing for war in England, and if his eldest brother insisted on asking for Normandy, he would cross the ocean to beat him. However, before he could go to his eldest brother to settle the account, God came to clean him up first.
PART03: Dead Hunting Ground
On 2 August 1100, Wilhelm II went hunting with a group of nobles in the Royal Forest Garden, taking his brother Henry and his close advisor Tyrell with him. The group was divided into several hunting groups, with King and Tyrell in the same group. Shortly after the hunt began, a deer broke into everyone's field of vision, and Wilhelm II opened his bow and arrows and hit the target accurately.
But the deer did not die immediately, it fled with an arrow wound, and Wilhelm II carefully observed its escape route, ready to pursue it. At this time, the adviser Tyrell also fired an arrow, but it was not the wounded deer that fell, but Wilhelm II. The arrow plunged deep into the king's chest, and Wilhelm II lost his breath on the spot at the age of 40.
(Royal Hunting Grounds)
While everyone was in chaos, Tyrell quickly ran out of the woods and fled in the direction of France. Henry galloped with his retinue and rushed as fast as he could to Manchester, where all the royal treasures were kept. After Henry took all this wealth into his hands, he immediately rushed back to London and announced his succession as the new King of England, Henry I.
Henry did these things with lightning speed, just 3 days after his hapless third brother died. The crowd left the deer-hunting woods, and Wilhelm II remained in the wilderness. By the time the eldest brother Robert across the strait knew the news, it was too late.
The death of William II is one of the most famous unsolved cases in the history of the British royal family, and it is still full of doubts to this day. There are three theories about the mysterious death of Wilhelm II.
Henry said of intentional murder:
Judging from Henry's subsequent actions in one go, he is most likely to reap the throne by killing his brother. After the murderer Tyrell shot the king, he successfully fled to France, but Henry did not send anyone to arrest him, and even did nothing about his property and family members left in England. This is obviously counterintuitive, so he is the most suspect.
(Henry I)
Tyrrell said by mistake:
In the thick woods, Tyrell did not distinguish between the wounded deer and the king, so much so that he missed and shot William. Later, he tried to save the king, but found that he could not do anything. Because of the fear of being accused of regicide, in panic, Tyrell fled, and this statement also has some truth. Because Tyrell was favored by William and was already an extremely powerful courtier in the court, he could not be a king himself, and there was no need to take risks to help Henry.
Wilhelm II committed suicide:
This claim is the least credible. Wilhelm II was in high spirits and preparing to rob Normandy with his eldest brother. How can you suddenly commit suicide if your ambition is not rewarded? Besides, there are thousands of ways to commit suicide, why choose a difficult one, collude with subordinates, and let him shoot himself to death? What if the genus doesn't cooperate?
Given that William II had already died on the hunting ground, Henry succeeded him as the new King of England, so either way, the truth doesn't matter. Even if someone knows the truth, can they still punish the murderer?
William II was mediocre in ability, he was King of England for 13 years, and his reputation in England was not good. In general, Wilhelm II was not a kind lord, and he died when he died. It's just that he didn't expect that he would die in such a strange way. Of course, he did not expect that his brother Henry, who succeeded him, would die in a more bizarre way.
Next issue of the preview: The tragedy of the foodie - the death of King Henry I
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