Thursday August 2nd 1100 AD
In a ghastly repetition of the accident in May this year when Richard, love-child of Duke Robert, was killed while hunting in the New Forest, the King yesterday suffered a similar fate.
On Thursday, King William was at his hunting lodge at Brockenhurst in the New Forest. With him were his brother Henry, Robert fitzHaimo and Walter Tirell, Lord of Poix, along with other members of the court. They were due to participate in the ‘fat season’ of red deer stags which runs from the Feast of St Peter in Chains (August 1st) to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (September 14th). According to their usual practice they were preparing to hunt deer with bows and arrows, shooting dismounted from butts. The King, a keen huntsman, usually rises before dawn and starts out early in the morning but yesterday he was persuaded to delay the start on the advice of Robert fitzHaimo and spent the morning conducting business. After lunch he went into the wood with a few companions, among them Walter Tirel, a visitor from France, an important baron and fine soldier, who remained close to the King while the others dispersed to take up their stands as the deer were run towards them. The sun was already low in the sky when the King shot at a stag crossing in front of him. He did not inflict a mortal wound and stood watching the deer run on when Walter Tirell decided to bring down a second stag which happened to appear. He shot off an arrow which passed over the animal and hit the King who was standing opposite in the chest. An eyewitness described how the King broke off the arrow shaft and then fell on the wound, probably driving the head deeper into his body, causing a fatal injury. In the ensuing chaos, the King’s entourage dispersed while his brother, Henry, is thought to have left immediately for Winchester. None of the other participants at the hunt was available for interview today. Walter Tirell is rumoured to have left for Normandy late last night.
The ‘Anglo-Saxon Chronicle’ immediately launched a scathing attack on the King: ‘He was very strong and violent over his land and his men and with all his neighbours, and very terrible’, said a spokesman. The Chronicle, known to hold a partisan Church-biased view, went on to allege: “He humiliated God’s church and in his days when the elders fell in bishoprics and abbacies he either granted them all in return for money or held in his own hand or put out at rent.” Evidently the monks who write for the chronicle are determined to undermine his legacy by painting him as a grasping and miserly King, whereas another view altogether exists among courtiers both here and in Normandy. A source close to the court said today: ‘This is a terrible time. We have lost a strong King and have no government.’
‘He was an exceptionally fortunate King, on the verge of even more splendid triumphs,’ said one commentator. ‘A blunt commander, shrewd and generous, he liked intelligent and witty men. Yesterday was a tragedy of immense proportions.’
An unnamed English source commented: ‘A single arrow has robbed us of a strong leader. It is Hastings all over again.’
Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, is thought to be travelling in Auvergne. It is expected he will release a statement next week. His relations with King William are known to have been strained for some time.