William the 2nd , known as Rufus due to his red hair and ruddy complexion, was born in Caen in 1060, the third son of William the Conqueror and Matilda of Flanders.

He was described by his contemporaries as a ruthless sadistic homosexual and an atheist, but was William’s favourite son due to his undoubted abilities as a soldier and for his support of his father against his brothers in their many disputes, even sustaining wounds at the battle of Gerboroi in 1079, fighting for his father against his elder brother Robert.

He was not a popular king and made many enemies by imposing a harsh rule over England, outlawing many of the old customs and enclosing much open land for the royal hunt.

b. 1442 d. 1483
Lord Scales of Neuselles and the Isle of Wight
2nd Earl Rivers,  English nobleman, courtier and writer 

Antony Wydeville, Lord Scales, Earl Rivers, are names that appears regularly throughout all the books written on the 15th century but few people know who he is or what contribution he made to history.  It is as if he was a blazing star who did not leave a trail.  Maybe he wished it to be that way, maybe being a quiet more unobtrusive person made him less likely, until the end, to draw unwanted attention to himself. Other, bolder people had already lost their lives, many by execution.  The 15th century was a time of political power play and paranoia, it was easy to lose your life if you upset the wrong person, found yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Ultimately that is what happened to Antony Wydeville, but before then he managed to make an impression on quite a few people, including William Caxton.

Lord Scales displayed his considerable jousting skills when his sister the Queen set him an ‘emprise’, a chivalric adventure.  The giving of the emprise was very much a story-teller’s dream.  As he left chapel one morning, he saw the Queen and, snatching his bonnet from his head, he made a courtly bow.  Her ladies fluttered around him and fastened a gold collar set with gems around his thigh. It had a ‘souvenance’, a remembrance, attached to it.  When he stood up, he found a scroll in his bonnet, bound with gold thread.  He took this to the King who opened it and read the instructions: that he was to fight a duel with a noble knight.  It was a delightful and elaborate way of setting her brother on an emprise and no doubt gave the Queen a good deal of pleasure to prepare.

Edward actually thought highly of him and appointed him councillor to the young Edward, Prince of Wales, essentially putting his son into Earl Rivers’ care and keeping.  This was pivotal in his future, although at the time it was a highly lucrative and important position to hold.  Later he was actually made a guardian of the young prince.  The Prince’s household was Ludlow Castle, the Yorks’ original home, regained by them after Edward became king.

Earl Rivers’ first known pilgrimage was to St James de Compostela. Whilst on his journey there he met quite a few people, one of them was a much-read gentleman who said he had a book the Earl might well enjoy.  The book was The Dictes and Sayinges of the Philosophres. This had been translated from Greek into Latin and then into French.  He found the book to be full of wisdom and when he returned to England, he began to translate it into English.