3rd August 1074
Unbelievable. Just...
Prince Rufus has sent no word or aid to us for Normandy. We, who have destroyed two French armies already to reach the castle in time, have been abandoned.
And why?
Because he was too busy murdering his brother-in-law, the king of Scotland! Now the entire royal family is dead by assassination and the country is in uproar. Rufus is sending Henry to 'keep the peace' (and secure the last free city against his rule on the Isle).
What...what has he done? He has descended into barbarism and slain an entire holy family of Catholic kings for the want of two established settlements and a frozen extension to our kingdom. William would be ashamed. Robert is furious. What's worse, none of our friends and allies are any the wiser. Our good name is intact and stronger than ever. We are not the aggressors in France. We did not fight in Scotland. It merely seems like God is giving us strength to match our conviction.
I know the truth however, and it weighs heavily upon me. Whatever glorious future awaits our kingdom, I and you, dear reader, must remember the horrific acts that brought it into being. Henry surely cannot remain blindly subservient to this monster forever. I know Robert does not. What is to become of this?
At least now William's vision of a United Kingdom is realised. And without (too much) bloodshed either. Our strength is conserved for Europe and our next plan, to learn and rediscover the lost secrets of the Roman world.
I just pray we live that long to see God's work done.
The actions of Rufus created both a United Kingdom for William to rule but also removed his greatest potential threat (or so Rufus no doubt believed). It is difficult for a modern audience to understand but, at the time, not only did the extreme actions of the Prince mean that Scotland became Norman, it also meant no one blamed them for it. Along with most of Rufus's life, his actions here were successfully kept quiet by later monarchs and it is only now that even we historians have understood the true reason for the Edniburgh revolt.
Of the diseases that hit William, historians generally point to a combination of over exhaustion on the middle aged man and also a fever of some sort. Whether Rufus had mental issues or any other kind of modern medical reason for his rule is hotly debated. It can only be clear that in 1074, the Normans successfully conquered the rest of the British Isles. By 1076, the controlled one of the more powerful kingdoms on the continent as well.
-TBC