William Rufus – perhaps one of our least known kings. Third son of William the Conqueror. My half-serious standpoint on William is that here we have a man who presents a classic case of Freudian father-killing. He is constantly struggling to outdo his father. The mere fact of the father’s actual death is not enough, from then on he must battle with his father’s ghost.

I see the ‘Conqueror’ as a gigantic figure who threatens all his sons with diminishment. He takes the prize in every field: in conquest, warfare, government, rule, leaving them almost no zone in which to excel. They all suffer from his dominating presence during his lifetime and his colossal absence when dead. 

One thing struck me in trying to create William as a character, something that came up again and again in the chronicles, something I thought might well be true because it was meant to be derogatory – but to me it was a strong indication of an endearing trait in a rather obstreperous temperament. 

William Rufus had a sense of humour. 

He could be flippant, ironic, stinging and had a penchant for confronting serious moments with an inappropriate jest. He struck me as having an almost modern disdain for superstition. One of the reasons he so upset ecclesiastical opinion was because he would joke about things that shouldn’t be joked about. His favourite oath has a Batman ring: ‘Holy Face of Lucca!’ 

The Holy Face of Lucca belonged to the statue of Christ in the church of St Martin in Lucca, Italy. It was said to have been carved from the face of the living Christ by angels. It was immensely holy, an object of awe and reverence. In using this oath, I think William intended to break rules. Every time he does so, he trangresses conventional thought. He hits out. I see this oath as part of the everlasting battle with his father. There is a part of him that is a frustrated boy, defiant, demanding attention. 

It was here, I thought, that I could start to look for his character.