The existence of sisters Adeliza and Matilda is not absolutely certain, but four sisters are more securely attested: William succeeded to the throne of England on his father's death in 1087, but Robert inherited Normandy. Richard died around 1075 while hunting in the New Forest. He was the third of four sons born to William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders, the eldest being Robert Curthose, the second Richard, and the youngest Henry. William's exact date of birth is not known, but it was some time between the years 10. He had extended Anglo-Norman rule in Wales, brought Scotland firmly under his lordship, recovered Maine, and kept up the pressure on the Vexin." He had maintained good order and satisfactory justice in England and restored good peace to Normandy. Barlow noted, "His chivalrous virtues and achievements were all too obvious. Historian Frank Barlow observed William was " rumbustious, devil-may-care soldier, without natural dignity or social graces, with no cultivated tastes and little show of conventional religious piety or morality-indeed, according to his critics, addicted to every kind of vice, particularly lust and especially sodomy." On the other hand, he was a wise ruler and victorious general. His younger brother Henry I hurriedly succeeded him as king. Circumstantial evidence in the behaviour of those around him raises strong, but unproven, suspicions of murder. He died after being hit by an arrow while hunting, under circumstances that remain unclear. He did not marry nor have children, which-along with contemporary accounts-has led historians to speculate on homosexuality or bisexuality. William was a figure of complex temperament, capable of both bellicosity and flamboyance. William is commonly referred to as William Rufus ( Rufus being Latin for "the Red"), perhaps because of his ruddy appearance or, more likely, due to having red hair as a child that grew out in later life. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. 1056 – 2 August 1100), the third son of William the Conqueror, was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy, and influence in Scotland. Josh M.William II ( Anglo-Norman: Williame c. Powell, ed., Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, III, 366-368-sketch by Josh M. While King was originally buried at his home in Dallas County, Alabama, his remains were later moved to the City Cemetery in Selma.
Soon after his return to America on April 18, King succumbed to his illness before reaching the District of Columbia. His health, already poor in 1852, forced King to become the first and only Vice-President to be sworn into office while in a foreign territory, as he had traveled to Cuba to ease his tuberculosis. King was nominated as Vice-President of the United States in 1852, and subsequently elected on March 24, 1853. King immersed himself in the political game for the next twenty years. Settling in Dallas County, King helped draft Alabama’s State Constitution in 1819, and was elected to represent Alabama in the United States Senate later that year. In 1818, King left North Carolina for Alabama, where an abundance of inexpensive, yet fertile, land offered significant profits. King soon joined the up-and-coming War Hawk Republicans, so-called for their ardent support of an America both willing and able to defend her interests in the War of 1812. King was elected to United States Congress in 1810, where his nationalist convictions led him to alliances with politicians such as Henry Clay and John C. He would devote himself to law for only three years, entering politics in 1808 as a member of the North Carolina House of Commons at age twenty-two. He then moved to Fayetteville, where he apprenticed under lawyer William Duffy, establishing his own practice in nearby Clinton a year later. King distinguished himself early as an excellent student, graduating from the University of North Carolina in 1804, at age eighteen. Born in Sampson County to William and Mary Devane King on April 7, 1786, young King enjoyed a privileged childhood as the son of a Revolutionary War hero. The life of William Rufus Devane King (1786-1853)-senator, diplomat, Vice President-is obscure, oddly so for a man who rose to such high political office.