William the Conqueror: 1061 to 1066
Holding such an eminent personage as the sub regulus of England in your dungeon does not enhance your reputation. As the months go by, and you refuse all ransoms, your reasons for doing so become clear enough: you are afraid that Harold Godwinson will be too strong for you. His brothers all hate the mere mention of your name, and swear to get revenge for your treatment of Harold. When king Edward dies two years later, it is an angry Gyrth Godwinson who assumes temporary regal powers in Harold's name: the witan elected him inabsentia. Finally, the pressure from your neighbors, and even the pope himself, is too great for you. There is no chance at all of ever making good on Edward's promise to choose you as his heir to the English throne: you are too hated by now. History remembers you as "William the (cruel) Bastard."
