William II Rufus
c. 1056 – 1100 · 44 years · London · Europe
Reign: 1087 – 1100 (England and Britain)
Son of William the Conqueror, nicknamed Rufus. He quarrelled with the church and Archbishop Anselm and built Westminster Hall; he was killed by an arrow while hunting in the New Forest — accident or murder is still unclear.
Wikipedia (Russian) · Wikipedia (English) · 11th century
Portrait: Matthew Paris · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Henry IV — emperor humbled at Canossa in his struggle with the pope, 6 years older
- William the Conqueror — Duke of Normandy, King of England, 28 years older
- Edward the Confessor — pious king who built Westminster Abbey, 53 years older
- Philip I — son of Anne of Kiev, excommunicated for bigamy, 4 years older
- Henry I Beauclerc — law-giving king who created the Exchequer and the Charter of Liberties, 12 years younger
- Lothair III — Saxon duke elected by the princes in preference to the Staufer, 19 years younger
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Vladimir II Monomakh — Grand Prince of Kiev, 3 years older
- Sviatopolk II — prince of Kiev, participant in the Congress of Liubech, 6 years older
- Nestor the Chronicler — monk and chronicler, born the same year
- Vsevolod I — prince of Kiev, father of Vladimir Monomakh, 26 years older
- Mstislav the Great — last ruler of a united Kievan Rus, 20 years younger
- Iziaslav I — prince of Kiev twice driven from his capital, 32 years older
Middle East
- Omar Khayyam — poet, mathematician, astronomer, 8 years older
- Al-Ghazali — Islamic theologian and philosopher, 2 years younger
- Anna Komnene — Byzantine princess and historian, 27 years younger
Asia
- Shen Kuo — polymath, 25 years older
- Li Qingzhao — Song dynasty poet, 28 years younger
The world in their lifetime
- 1066 Battle of Hastings — aged 10, Europe
- 1066 Halley's Comet over England — aged 10, Europe
- c. 1070 The Almoravids found Marrakesh — aged 14, Africa
- 1077 Walk to Canossa — aged 21, Europe
- c. 1088 University of Bologna — aged 32, Europe
- 1099 Crusaders capture Jerusalem — aged 43, Middle East