38. The Death of William Rufus, New Forest, England, August 2, 1100
19th C. artists loved the death of William Rufus, as a subject. Here, Alexander Davis Cooper gives us all the best embellishments of the tale: the fallen King gets ready to pull the arrow out of his own breast; Tyrell is escaping on his way to France; and the stag seems to be not anywhere near. Additions are the two horrified companions and the distraught hunting dog. Some versions of the New Forest, though, have lots more trees.
One day the King of England went out hunting, and did not come back, on account of having been shot by one of his hunting companions. Henry, his younger brother, became King in just a few days, and there was no inquest. Nobody at the time thought anything of this, really, because dying whilst hunting in the New Forest was pretty common, but later, lots of people Got Suspicious. We discuss this. Also the fact that the Face of Lucca doesn’t really have anything to do with the Face of Bo.
I liked Margaret Murray’s theory (now sneered at) that he was a willing sacrifice.