Yet even then, only the bones of William’s career were known from references in medieval chronicles and royal documents. The human story – his rise from obscurity to the highest office in the land, the ideals that conditioned his behaviour, and the bonds of service and friendship that defined his life – had been lost. The wheel only began to turn when Paul Meyer walked into Sotheby’s on 6 February 1861 and stumbled upon the intriguing ‘Norman-French chronicle on English Affairs (in Verse)’. The rediscovery of the biography brought its hero back into the light, but still today he remains largely unknown outside academic circles. With the 800th anniversaries of the great battle of Lincoln and William Marshal’s death approaching, this once fêted figure surely deserves wider recognition.
William died in a different England to the one in which he had been born, but it was a country that he had been instrumental in shaping. For centuries thereafter, England would be ruled by kings supported, but also checked, by a warrior aristocracy. And the ideals that they hammered out on the tournament field, in the politics of the court, in the blood of civil war and, ultimately, in Magna Carta, form the basis of the principles by which much of the world is now governed.
CHRONOLOGY
c. 1147
William Marshal born to John Marshal and Sybil of Salisbury
1152
Siege of Newbury; William held as a royal hostage
1154
Accession of Henry II; the start of the Angevin era
c. 1160
William travels to Tancerville in Normandy to train as a knight
1166
William knighted and gains his first taste of combat at Neufchâtel
William participates in his first knightly tournament
1168
William travels to Aquitaine in Patrick of Salisbury’s retinue, but is taken captive by the Lusignans
Ransomed by Eleanor of Aquitaine, William enters the queen’s knightly retinue
1170
Coronation of Henry the Young King in London
William appointed as Young Henry’s tutor in arms
1173–4
First rebellion against Henry II’s regime
1176
William and Young Henry start to tour the northern French tournament circuit
1179
William permitted to raise his own banner and attends the great tournament at Lagny-sur-Marne
1180
Accession of Philip II Augustus to the French crown
1182
William accused of betraying Henry the Young King and forced into exile
1183
Second rebellion against Henry II’s regime
William returns to Young Henry’s side
Henry the Young King dies at Martel; William sets out for the Holy Land
c. 1186
William enters King Henry II’s household
1187
Saladin wins the battle of Hattin and conquers Jerusalem, sparking the Third Crusade
1189
William fights to defend Le Mans and unhorses Richard the Lionheart
Henry II succeeded by Richard I
William marries Isabel of Clare, becoming lord of Striguil
1190–4
King Richard absent on crusade and in captivity
William serves as co-justiciar of England
1194–9
William fights alongside King Richard to restore the Angevin realm
1199
Richard the Lionheart slain at Châlus; succeeded by John William appointed as earl of Pembroke
1200
Treaty of Le Goulet agreed between John and Philip II Augustus
1200–1
William’s first visit Pembroke and Ireland
1202
William seeks to defend Normandy from French invasion John successfully relieves Mirebeau
1203
Probable murder of Arthur of Brittany; the Angevin realm starts to collapse
1204
Rouen and Château Gaillard fall to the French; Normandy is lost
1205
William quarrels with King John
1207–8
William returns to Ireland
Crisis in Leinster
1210
King John leads an expedition to Ireland in pursuit of William of Briouze
1212
‘Plot’ to kill King John uncovered
William returns to royal favour
1213
King John reconciled with the papacy
1214
Battle of Bouvines
1215
Start of the Baronial Rebellion
Sealing of Magna Carta
1216
Prince Louis of France invades England
Death of King John and coronation of Henry III
William appointed as ‘guardian of the realm’
1217
Battle of Lincoln
1219
William dies and is buried at the Temple Church in London
c. 1226
The History of William Marshal completed
1861
Paul Meyer examines a copy of the History of William Marshal at Sotheby’s
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Marshal Dynasty
John Marshal
William Marshal’s father (with Sybil of Salisbury); an Anglo-Norman noble of middling rank who held the office of royal master marshal
John II Marshal
William Marshal’s elder brother (d. 1194)
William Marshal
Tournament champion, royal servant, lord of Striguil (from 1189), earl of Pembroke (from 1199) and ultimately regent of England
Isabel of Clare
Wealthy heiress who married William Marshal in 1189
Young William Marshal
Eldest son and heir of William Marshal and Isabel of Clare
Angevin Dynasty
Henry II
King of England (1154–89) and founder of the mighty Angevin realm
Eleanor of Aquitaine
Heiress to the duchy of Aquitaine and wife of Henry II
Henry the Young King
Eldest son and heir of Henry II and Eleanor, crowned as associate king in 1170; William Marshal’s lord and patron
Richard the Lionheart
Duke of Aquitaine, count of Poitou and king of England (1189–99); one of the great warriors of his generation
John
Count of Mortain and king of England (1189–99); Henry II’s and Eleanor’s youngest son – a divisive figure
Arthur of Brittany
Son of Geoffrey of Brittany and claimant to the Angevin realm in 1199
Henry III
Imperilled son and heir of King John (with Isabella of Angoulême); king of England (1216–72)
Capetian Dynasty
Philip II Augustus
King of France (1180–1223); son and heir of Louis VII; an able and ambitious monarch and the Angevins’ arch-rival
Marguerite of France
Louis VII of France’s daughter and wife of Henry the Young King
Prince Louis
Eldest son and heir of Philip II Augustus
Nobles, Knights & Courtiers
Patrick, earl of Salisbury
William Marshal’s uncle (d. 1168)
William of Tancarville
Lord of the castle in Upper Normandy where
William Marshal underwent his knightly training
Philip, count of Flanders
Powerful and unscrupulous nobleman, and noted devotee of the tournament circuit
William des Barres
Renowned French knight and servant of the Capetian dynasty
Baldwin of Béthune
William Marshal’s peer and associate in the entourage of Henry the Young King and at the Angevin court
William des Roches
Servant of the Angevin dynasty who rose through the ranks, but ultimately switched allegiance under King John
Administrator in the Angevin court who rose to become earl of Essex
John of Earley
William Marshal’s loyal squire and knightly retainer
William Longchamp
Loyal servant to Richard the Lionheart and justiciar of England (for a time) during the king’s absence on the Third Crusade
William FitzPatrick
Earl of Salisbury and William Marshal’s cousin (d. 1196)
William Longsword
Illegitimate son of King Henry II and earl of Salisbury through marriage to the heiress Ela
Meiler FitzHenry
Justiciar of Ireland for King John
Robert FitzWalter
Prominent nobleman in England and leading scion of the baronial rebellion
William of Briouze
Prominent Marcher lord who found favour and then suffered ruination under King John
Churchmen
Hubert Walter
Bishop of Salisbury (from 1189), archbishop of Canterbury (from 1193 to 1205) and justiciar of England
Stephen Langton
Renowned theologian who became archbishop of Canterbury in 1213
Peter des Roches
Administrator, warrior and bishop of Winchester (from 1206)
Pandulf
Papal legate to England from 1211 and again from 1218
Guala of Bicchieri
Papal legate to England from 1216 to 1218
MARSHAL FAMILY TREE
ANGLO-NORMAN AND ANGEVIN ROYAL HOUSES
END NOTES
Abbreviations
HWM
History of William Marshal, ed. & trans. A.J. Holden, S. Gregory & D. Crouch, 3 vols (2002–6).
ODNB
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H.G.C. Mathew & B. Harrison (Oxford, 2004).
PREFACE
spoken in France in barbarian times (fifth to ninth centuries)’. Paul Meyer described his visit to Sotheby’s and subsequent hunt for the mysterious ‘Norman-French chronicle on English Affairs (in Verse)’ in the article: ‘L’Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal, comte de Striguil et de Pembroke, régent d’Angleterre’, Romania, vol. 12 (1883), pp. 22–74.
comte de Striguil et de Pembroke. P. Meyer (ed.), L’Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal, comte de Striguil et de Pembroke, régent d’Angleterre de 1216 à 1219, 3 vols (Paris, 1891–1901).
Marshal had himself been fond of recounting. The manuscript of the History of William Marshal purchased by Thomas Phillipps and studied by Paul Meyer was eventually acquired by the Morgan Library in 1958 (where it is catalogued as M.888). This manuscript was used as the basis for the excellent modern edition and translation: History of William Marshal, ed. & trans. A.J. Holden, S. Gregory & D. Crouch, 3 vols (2002–6). It is to this edition, hereafter cited as HWM, with line number(s) specified, to which all subsequent references to this source refer. See vol. 3, pp. 23–41, for David Crouch’s illuminating discussion of the value and nature of this primary source.
Sidney Painter and David Crouch. The most important and authoritative accounts of William Marshal’s life remain: S. Painter, William Marshal: Knight Errant, Baron and Regent of England (Baltimore, 1933); D. Crouch, William Marshal: Knighthood, War and Chivalry, 1147–1219, 2nd Edition (London, 2002). Crouch’s work is particularly valuable because it was underpinned by the painstaking collation and analysis of all the primary source material relating to William Marshal’s career, much of it in unedited form. There can be no doubt that, in academic terms, Crouch established the foundation (and set the bar) for all modern study of Marshal’s life and influence. By contrast, George Duby’s fanciful Guillaume le Maréchal ou le meilleur chevalier du monde (Paris, 1940) cannot be recommended.
PART I
CHILDHOOD & YOUTH: BECOMING A KNIGHT
young William was duly led away to face his fate. HWM, lines 513–16, 519–20. This book is divided into four parts, each reflecting a different stage of William Marshal’s life. It should be noted that a number of methods for delineating the ‘ages of man’ were current in the Middle Ages, and not all conformed to the stages employed here.
that Christ and his saints were asleep’. Gesta Stephani, ed. & trans. K.R. Potter (Oxford, 1976), pp. 2–4; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, ed. D. Whitelock, Revised Edition (London, 1965), p. 200.
William Rufus (1087–1100) and Henry I (1100–35). Among the most valuable overviews of this period are: R. Bartlett, England under the Norman and Angevin Kings (1075–1225) (Oxford, 2000); D. Carpenter, The Struggle for Mastery: Britain 1066–1284 (London, 2004); N. Vincent, A Brief History of Britain: The Birth of the Nation (1066–1485) (London, 2011). D. Danziger & J. Gillingham, 1215: The Year of Magna Carta (London, 2003), is more focused, but illuminating and entertaining.
notorious in the history of the world’. William of Malmesbury, Gesta Regum Anglorum, ed. & trans. R.A.B. Mynors, R.M. Thomson & M. Winterbottom, vol. 1 (Oxford, 1998), pp. 758–62.
‘enslaved by female seduction’. Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, ed. & trans. D. Greenway (Oxford, 1996), p. 700.
his forceful and ambitious daughter Matilda. The seminal study of Matilda’s career remains: M. Chibnall, Empress Matilda (Oxford, 1991). See also: M. Chibnall, ‘Matilda’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H.G.C. Mathew & B. Harrison (Oxford, 2004); H. Castor, She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth (London, 2010), pp. 39–126.
acknowledge Stephen as the new monarch. On King Stephen’s reign and civil war see: R.H.C. Davis, King Stephen (1135–54), 3rd Edition (London, 1990); J. Bradbury, Stephen and Matilda: The Civil War of 1139–53 (Stroud, 1996); D. Matthew, King Stephen (London, 2002).
Stephen could manage neither. Walter Map, De Nugis Curialium, ed. & trans. M.R. James, rev. C.N.L. Brooke & R.A.B. Mynors (Oxford, 1983), p. 474; William of Malmesbury, Historia Novella, ed. E. King, trans. K.R. Potter (Oxford, 1998), p. 28.
the full penalties of the law’. J.A. Green, The Government of England under Henry I (Cambridge, 1986), p. 95; Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, pp. 197–203.
before things were settled’. HWM, lines 44–51.
managed to walk to safety. HWM, lines 167–276; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 16–17.
extorting money and property from the Church. HWM, lines 316–18, 326–8; Gesta Stephani, p. 168; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 3–12; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 12–23; D. Crouch, ‘John Marshal’, ODNB.
church in Flanders burned to death. Gesta Stephani, p. 92; William of Malmesbury, Historia Novella, pp. 74–6.
‘a man of surprising subtlety’. Gesta Stephani, pp. 104–8; William of Malmesbury, Historia Novella, pp. 74–6.
He was given the name William. Painter, William Marshal, p. 9; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 17–19.
these emotions were widely experienced. On medieval childhood see: S. Shahar, Childhood in the Middle Ages (London, 1990).
that, supposedly, was still standing. Gerald of Wales, The Journey Through Wales and the Description of Wales, trans. L. Thorpe (London, 1978), pp. 142–3; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 20–1. On Gerald’s career see: R. Bartlett, Gerald of Wales: A Voice of the Middle Ages (Oxford, 1982).
John’s existing castle at Hamstead Marshall. D.J. Bonney & C.J. Dunn, ‘Earthwork Castles & Settlement at Hamstead Marshall, Berkshire’, Cornwall to Caithness, Some Aspects of British Field Archaeology, vol. 209 (1989), pp. 173–82.
a lull in the fighting followed. HWM, lines 399–466.
taken to the gallows for hanging’. HWM, lines 467–524; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 13–16; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 20–1.
no reference to John Marshal’s reaction. HWM, lines 525–710.
when his temper [was] aroused’. Peter of Blois, ‘Epistolae’, Patrologia Latina, ed. J.P. Migne, 221 vols. (Paris, 1844–64), vol. 207, pp. 48–9. On King Henry II and his accession see: W.L. Warren, Henry II (London, 1973); T.K. Keefe, ‘Henry II’, ODNB; E. Amt, The Accession of Henry II in England: Ro
yal Government Restored, 1149–1159 (Woodbridge, 1993); G.J. White, Restoration and Reform, 1153–65: Recovery from Civil War in England (Cambridge, 2000); C. Harper-Bill & N. Vincent (eds.), Henry II: New Interpretations (Woodbridge, 2007).
Marshal as a much older man. HWM, lines 712–36.
performed by a paid administrator). Collectanea Topographica et Genealogica, vol. 2 (London, 1835), pp. 163–4; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 21–2.
was reapportioned in 1158. Crouch, William Marshal, p. 22.
as did his siblings. HWM, lines 737–68.
the land of his forefathers. On Normandy in this period see: D. Power, The Norman Frontier in the Twelfth and Early Thirteenth Centuries (Cambridge, 2004); D. Power, ‘Henry duke of the Normans (1149/50–1189)’, Henry II: New Interpretations, ed. C. Harper-Bill & N. Vincent (Woodbridge, 2007), pp. 85–128.
a very death to the envious’. Walter Map, p. 488.
to mould this warrior class. On the concept and practice of medieval knighthood, and the development of the aristocratic class see: M.H. Keen, Chivalry (New Haven & London, 1984); P. Coss, The Knight in Medieval England, 1000–1400 (Stroud, 1993); R. Barber, The Knight and Chivalry, 2nd Edition (Woodbridge, 1995); D. Crouch, The Image of the Aristocracy in Britain, 1000–1300 (London, 1992); D. Crouch, The Birth of the Nobility: Constructing Aristocracy in England and France, 900–1300 (Harlow, 2005); D. Crouch, The English Aristocracy, 1070–1272: A Social Transformation (New Haven & London, 2011); N. Saul, For Honour and Fame: Chivalry in England, 1066–1500 (London, 2011).
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