“d
WILLIAM 11,
18. To his eldest son, Robert, the Conqueror bequeathed Normandy;
His sons to the second, William, England; and to the youngest,
* Henry, 5,000 lbs. of silver, The Channel Islands, a part
of Normandy, remained attached to the Crown of England,
CHAPTER XI.
THE NORMAN LINE CONTINUED.—WILLIAM IL
1087 to 1100 A.D.
1. William, surnamed Rufus, or ‘the Red,” from the colour of his
hair, hastily left his father’s death-bed in France to secure
Yan in person the carrying out of the latter’s wishes as to the
erowned. 3uccession, Landing in England, he at once asserted
his claim, seized the royal treasures, and was crowned by
Archbishop Lanfranc (September 1087) as rightful King of Kngland,
2. William encountered strong oppositio from the Norman barons,
040’s A- who generally sympathized with his eldest brother, Robert,
anPPOCHON as the proper successor of the Conqueror, Under the
* Jeadership of Odo of Bayeux, this opposition took the
form of a direct attempt to dethrone Rufus, "The King was able to
maintain his position only by appealing to his native English subjects,
and by promising to restore and respect their old laws and customs. The
appeal was successful, The English rallied to his standard, and with
their help the rebellion of the nobles was subdued. Odo was banished
from the kingdom,
3. William Rufus was a bad king and a worse man. He but indif
ferently fulfilled the promiser made to his English sub-
Channoten jects, while to gain the indulgence of his passions he
* freely plundered both Church and State. The excellent
Lanfranc held him in check, but the death of that prelate in 1089
freed him from restraint. For four years he allowed the archiepiscopal
see of Canterbury to remain vacant. The revenues, as well as those
of other vacant sees, were appropriated to his own use, In 1093,
Anselm, a learned and godly Italian, accepted with great reluctance
the primacy, as successor to Lanfrane, Finding it necessary to
engage in constant quarrels with William, in defence of the rights of
the Church, he withdrew from England in 1097,
4, In 1090, William invaded Normandy, but a compromise between
Robert and himself was effected, under which it was
Invasions „preed that if either should die CDHULEAR Arm nnd
of NoOr- — ehaunld inberit both Normandy and England. Orhis
nnd return in 1091, the King led an army against Malcolm of
“ Scotland, who had invaded England in his absence.
Malcolm was compelled to suhmit, and to do homage for Cumberland;