The Queen of the Elves Read Free Page A

graces, with little show of conventional religious piety or morality and, according to his critics, addicted to every vice. It is also said he was a wise ruler and victorious general. He taxed the nobility and looted the Church to pay for his wars. Rufus finally died while hunting. Speculation has it that his death could have been an accident, an assassination, and even that Rufus may have been the last Western king to be sacrificed in a pagan ritual.
    Henry was present when Rufus died and hurried to secure (steal) the royal treasury. His succession was quickly confirmed while his brother Robert was away on the First Crusade. Henry's 28 year long reign, a period of peace and prosperity in England and Normandy, was filled with judicial and financial reforms.