221-6-21

four, one servant cannot serve two masters

In September p>187, William, the king of England, Duke of Normandy and "conqueror", was accidentally injured on an expedition and finally died in Normandy.

William left three sons. On his deathbed, he gave Normandy to his eldest son "Short Leg" Robert and England to his second son, William Rufus. Henry, the youngest son, got only five thousand pounds of silver instead of land.

William Rufus hurried to England and was crowned king of England with the help of Archbishop Lanfranc. In order to distinguish him from his father, he was called William II and William the Conqueror was called William I.

"Rufus" means red. William II's face is red, or he has red hair, so he got the nickname, which can also be translated as "red hair".

among the three brothers, William II seems to be more popular with old William. More than ten years ago, he was only sixteen or seventeen years old. He played a prank with young Henry and dumped the dirty water in the toilet on his eldest brother Robert. At that time, Robert was an adult and enjoyed the title of Earl. He felt greatly insulted and wanted to punish his two younger brothers, but he was stopped by old William. Robert ran away in anger and raised the flag to rebel. Between father and son, between brothers, from now on buried deep resentment.

William II, as an adult, has a rather strange personality. He is brave and fierce, fierce and violent, and he is quite fatherly. At the same time, he likes gorgeous clothes and male ministers with long hair, so that future generations have many speculations about his sexual orientation. He never married, never had an affair or an illegitimate child, which aggravated people's doubts about whether he was gay or not.

During his lifetime, old William shuttled back and forth between Normandy and England, and never merged the two territories. One of the reasons is that the two places are blocked by the strait and the customs are too different. The more important reason is that Normandy was sealed by the king of France, and once it was merged, it would face difficult legal problems. If England were included in Normandy, it would be tantamount to handing over a large piece of territory to the king of France, and he himself could not keep the title of king, only losing money. If Normandy is incorporated into England, it will not only declare war on the king of France, but also break the recognized feudal tradition, and it is absolutely impossible to take the world by storm.

It can completely separate the two places, which brings new problems. Barons Norman have fiefs in both places, and now they have to serve two lords at the same time. Although these two men are brothers, they are sworn enemies. If one day they fight, which side should the barons take?

This problem troubled almost all Norman barons. Soon, some people made up their minds that what should come will come sooner or later. It is better to take the initiative than to be embarrassed at both ends. They put their money on Robert, Duke of Normandy, to oust William II from the English throne and let Robert rule the two places. In their eyes, Robert is the eldest son and enjoys the priority of inheritance in the French tradition. Besides, he is an excellent knight, fighting bravely, and being generous to others, which is more popular.

Although William II has ascended the throne, many Norman barons have not admitted that he has the right to rule them. After all, this is the first change of throne after the Norman conquest of England, and there is no precedent to follow. The barons surrendered to old William before because of his personal prestige and strength. Although the old Lord is gone, the old minister is still there. Shouldn't barons have their own say in helping the new monarch?

In France, since Hugo Cappe was elected king, every king has been more careful about the succession to the throne. When the old king was in office, he would identify his eldest son as the heir and hold a coronation ceremony for him. The two generations of kings, father and son, attended the ceremony and accepted the oath of allegiance from the bannermen. In this way, the loyalty of the vassals naturally passed from the old king to the young king, and the young king gained the legitimacy of the throne. Once the old king dies, the little king can be in power smoothly. This way of inheriting the throne lasted for nearly two centuries in France, and it was terminated after six generations of kings, until the kingship was stable enough and the eldest son's inheritance was customized.

On the other hand, the kings and queens of Cape Dynasty lived up to expectations, and all generations were able to give birth to male heirs, which ensured the continuation of the dynasty. In contemporary Germany, there was also a king who tried to crown his son while he was alive. However, after several kings' children were not prosperous and there were no men after their death, they had to be elected by governors from time to time, so that there were no definite rules for the inheritance of the German throne, and turmoil often occurred.

Oath was of great significance in the Middle Ages. As a Christian, after taking an oath in the name of God, breaking the oath is a felony, even worse than murder and adultery. Swearing constitutes a legal relationship, which is not as simple as personal integrity or moral issues. Although vows are often not kept, there is one more constraint after all.

William II's hasty coronation is not clearly recorded, but it is speculated from the time that many Barons Norman didn't attend, so naturally they didn't take the oath of allegiance, and naturally they didn't have to worry about breaking their vows because of rebellion.

in the spring of 188, the rebellion began. William II's two uncles, old William's half-brother, Oddo, and the Earl of Mortain, Robert, took the lead.

Oddo was previously imprisoned for rebellion, and was not released until William Sr. died. According to the Doomsday Book, he still holds a lot of real estate and his strength is still there. Robert's real estate in England is second only to that of King William. He is loyal to old William, but it seems that he is not too clever and has not been entrusted with an important task.

barons who participated in the rebellion were mainly concentrated in the south of England. They rebelled in a strange way. Instead of rallying an army to attack William II, they split up. From their respective territories, they robbed and destroyed the neighboring royal territories or barons loyal to William II, and then quickly retreated to their own territories, hiding in castles and forts, waiting for the reaction of their opponents.

This clearly shows that we are going to wage a war of attrition and indirectly achieve the goal of letting William II step down by creating chaos. This is actually helpless, because the enfeoffment system of "you have me and I have you" designed by old William really makes it difficult for the rebels to concentrate the forces of large groups.

William II acted quickly. He was firmly supported by the church, and Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, appealed to the English people to support William, who promised to govern England fairly. William promised more land and wealth to Norman barons, arrested a number of barons and successfully rebelled against some rebels. The situation improved slightly, and William led an army to attack Oddo, captured Oddo's castle and captured him.

the rebellion was quickly put down. The victorious William forgave most of the rebels and even kept their fiefs and property, including Robert, the Earl of Mortain. As for Oddo, he was sent to Normandy and all his fiefs were deprived.

William finally won England by force. This is equivalent to another conquest, establishing the authority of the new king, winning the loyalty of the barons and securing the throne.

however, William wants more.

In 189, Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, died. He crowned William, put him on the throne, and helped him put down the rebellion. In return, William put the archbishop's fief under the royal management after his death, and delayed appointing a successor, so that he could enjoy the benefits of the fief alone. It was not until 193 that William became seriously ill. In order to pray for God's forgiveness and care, a new archbishop was appointed, and it took a long time to return the fief.

The new archbishop, named Anselm, was an Italian and a famous religious scholar. After his death, he was made a saint. He agreed with the Pope's supreme power over religious affairs and clashed with William. William firmly defended the king's jurisdiction over the Church of England and restricted Anselm and bishops from communicating with Rome. Anserme finally had to leave England to protest against William in the form of self-exile.

Then, William set his sights on Normandy. In 191, there was chaos in Normandy, and William took the opportunity to send troops across the sea. The accompanying barons were not sure whether William wanted to grab some benefits or drive Robert away, but they were all worried about fighting with relatives and friends in Normandy. They tried their best to fix things up and finally brought the two brothers to an agreement. William got part of the land in Normandy, and in return, he helped Robert to fight against the French king Philip I.

William has the upper hand in this round of sibling contest. Aside from personality, William obviously has more political mind and military talent. In the following years, he focused on dealing with the harassment in Scotland and won.

in the conflict with Scotland, Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumbria, made great achievements and gained great strength. He participated in the rebellion in 188 and was pardoned by William, but now he has relapsed. He colluded with some barons in secret and tried again to overthrow William and put William's cousin Stephen d'Aumale on the throne.

William soon learned about the plot. In 195, William ordered Robert to come to see the driver on the pretext that there was a dispute to be dealt with. Robert had a ghost in his heart and refused to obey. William led an army to conquer Robert's castle and arrested him. This time, William stopped showing mercy, and Robert was put in prison, and all the fiefs were confiscated. Two other Norman barons who participated in the rebellion, one was castrated and the other was executed.

That cousin Stephen was spared because he was in Normandy, but all his fiefs in England were confiscated.

it is puzzling that the conspirators tried to push Stephen, a third party, to the stage. Maybe they are tired of the entanglement between William and Robert, or maybe they are not satisfied with both brothers. William is too tough and rude for barons to bear, while Robert is too casual and lazy, lacking the talent of governing the country, which is disappointing.

In 196, Robert made an unexpected decision and finally solved the dilemma of the barons between the two brothers: he wanted to leave Normandy and go to Jerusalem with the Crusaders.

In that year, under the appeal of Pope UrbanⅡ, the first Crusade began, vowing to liberate Jerusalem occupied by Seljuk Turks. Some nobles from France and Italy attended, and Robert was one of them.

In terms of religious enthusiasm, Robert is more like his grandfather with the same name. Old Robert left the Principality of basse-normandie and his young son to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and never came back. Now, Robert also left the principality and endless disputes with his younger brother to pursue the glory of God.

But Robert doesn't have enough expedition funds, and he has no wife and children to entrust to the Principality. Robert proposed to William that he was willing to mortgage Normandy to him with ten thousand marks of silver.

one mark is two-thirds of a pound, about 24 grams. Based on the fact that Normandy has 4, square kilometers, it only needs 6 grams of silver per square kilometer, which is an absolute friendship price. It's a mortgage. If Robert never comes back like his grandfather, it will be a big concession.

William promised to raise money immediately. Thanks to England's experience in collecting "Danish gold" for many years, the money was quickly collected and delivered. Robert got his wish and William got Normandy as promised.

England and Normandy finally returned to the rule of one person, and the Norman barons breathed a sigh of relief for a while. Many restless Norman barons, such as Stephen, went to the Holy Land with Robert, and their departure also greatly reduced William's opponents.

To take over Normandy, we should always guard against the threat from France. William is surprisingly lucky. At this time, King Philip I of France was excommunicated and isolated because he insisted on marrying a married woman, so he was unable to attack Normandy.

William's life is happier without his internal troubles and foreign invasion. He laid hands on some weak neighbors, such as Wales next to England and the small earl territory next to Normandy. Unfortunately, the results were mediocre and he failed to make a big profit.

he's also addicted to large-scale construction. The hall of Westminster Palace, which he ordered to build, is still in use today.

the rest of the time, he indulged in hunting. The Normans were very happy to do this. Old William set aside a large forest in England, which was owned by the royal family. Those who trespassed would be severely punished, and special officials were set up to manage the royal forest.

On August 2nd, 11, William was killed by an arrow while hunting in a forest in the south of England. The most popular story is that a Norman baron named Walter Tirel shot a deer with a bow, but the arrow grazed a tree, changed direction, and went right through William's chest. The baron hurriedly mounted his horse and fled, and sailed across the sea for France.

was it an accident or a murder? William II's death is always an unsolved case. In Hampshire in the south of England, there is a small stone tablet called Rufus Stone in a place called Minstead, which claims to be where the tree is. But in the eyes of murder theorists, that tree doesn't exist at all.

The death of "red-haired" William has made many people feel glad. First of all, the clergy, in their eyes, William bullied Archbishop Anserme and encroached on church property, which was simply a demon. At that time, the history was still written by priests, and the records about William were evil deeds. For example, he was so rich that he even offered to sell the ribbon given by the Pope to the Archbishop of Anserme. These accounts make William a typical "bad king".

Another person who feels lucky is William's younger brother Henry. Henry was with William when he died. Instead of expressing his grief over his brother's death, he turned and left. He knows that the opportunity has finally come, and he must act quickly, and the goal is the crown!