CHAPTER VIII.

WILLIAM II., RUFUS. A.D. 1087-1100.


William the Conqueror was obliged to let Normandy fall to Robert, his
eldest son; but he thought he could do as he pleased about England,
which he had won for himself. He had sent off his second son, William,
to England, with his ring to Westminster, giving him a message that he
hoped the English people would have him for their king. And they did
take him, though they would hardly have done do if they had known what
he would be like when he was left to himself. But while he was kept
under by his father, they only knew that he had red hair and a ruddy
face, and had more sense than his brother Robert. He is sometimes
called the Red King, but more commonly William Rufus. Things went
worse than ever with the poor English in his time; for at lest William
the Conqueror had made everybody mind the law, but now William Rufus
let his cruel soldiers do just as they pleased, and spoil what they
did not want. It was of no use to complain, for the king would only
laugh and make jokes. He did not care for God or man; only for being
powerful, for feasting, and for hunting.

Just at this time there was a great stir in Europe. Jerusalem--that
holy city, where our blessed Lord had taught, where he had been
crucified, and where he had risen from the dead--was a place where
everyone wished to go and worship, and this they called going on
pilgrimage. A beautiful church had once been built over the sepulchre
where our Lord had lain, and enriched with gifts. But for a long time
past Jerusalem had been in the hands of an Eastern people, who think
their false prophet, Mahommed, greater than our blessed Lord. These