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Revision as of 03:13, 26 February 2006 by Genesis211 (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Sir Walter Tirel (also spelled Tyrell) was an English nobleman infamous for being involved in the death of King William II of England, also known as William Rufus. He was born in Tunbridge, Kent, in 1065. Walter Tirel was married to Adelize, the daughter of Richard Fitz Gilbert.
On 2nd August 1100, William Rufus went hunting at Brockenhurst in the New Forest with the king. His brother-in-laws, Gilbert de Clare and Roger of Clare, were also with the hunting party. During the hunt, Tirel fired an arrow at a stag. The arrow missed the animal and hit William Rufus in the chest. Within a few minutes the king was dead. Tirel jumped on his horse and made off at great speed. He escaped to France and never returned again to England.
According to the chroniclers, it was not murder. Walter and Rufus had been hunting together when Walter let loose a wild shot that, instead of hitting the stag he aimed for, struck Rufus in the chest. Rufus fell heavily onto the shaft of the arrow, driving it deep into him and sealing his fate. Walter tried to help him, but there was nothing he could do. Fearing that he would be charged with murder, Walter panicked, leapt onto his horse, and fled.
Others are not so sure. They point out that even the chroniclers admit that Walter was reknowned as a excellent bowman, and unlikely to fire such an impetuous shot. The King's brother Henry decided there should be no chase of the killer and instead went straight to London to be crowned. Abbot Suger, who sheltered him in is time in France said "I have often heard him, when he had nothing to fear nor to hope, solemnly swear that on the day in question he was not in the part of the forest where the king was hunting, nor ever saw him in the forest at all."