The Greatest Knight

by Thomas Asbridge

  hold on to valiant knights’. HWM, lines 28–58.

  a near-miraculous victory in 1099. On the First Crusade see: J.S.C. Riley-Smith, The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading (London, 1986); J. France, Victory in the East: A Military History of the First Crusade (Cambridge, 1994); T. Asbridge, The First Crusade: A New History (London, 2004).

  at Rockley, in Wilshire, in 1157. Crouch, William Marshal, p. 24. On the Templar knights see: M. Barber, The New Knighthood. A History of the Order of the Templars (Cambridge, 1994); H. Nicholson, The Knights Templar (London, 2001)

  to conquer Iberia from the Moors. For accessible translations of these two works see: The Song of Roland, trans. G. Burgess (London, 1990); The Chanson d’Antioche, trans. S.B. Edgington & C. Sweetenham (Aldershot, 2011).

  tomb at Glastonbury in 1191. Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, trans. L. Thorpe (London, 1966); N.J. Higham, King Arthur: Myth Making and History (London, 2002), pp. 218–32; Saul, For Honour and Fame, pp. 39–59; M. Aurell, ‘Henry II and Arthurian Legend’, Henry II: New Interpretations, ed. C. Harper-Bill & N. Vincent (Woodbridge, 2007), pp. 362–94.

  polish an otherwise underwhelming image. HWM, lines 769–804.

  mistaken for bearded-Turks and accidently butchered. HWM, line 796; Daniel of Beccles, Urbanus Magnus Danielis Becclesiensis, ed. J. Gilbart Smyly (Dublin, 1939); Bartlett, England under the Norman and Angevin Kings, pp. 582–8; Danziger & Gillingham, 1215, pp. 26–8; R. Bartlett, ‘Symbolic Meanings of Hair in the Middle Ages’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, vol. 4 (1994), pp. 43–60.

  because he feared becoming fat. Walter Map, p. 476.

  could ‘engage in battle confidently’. Roger of Howden, Chronica, ed. W. Stubbs, 4 vols (London, 1868–71), II, pp. 166–7.

  or a staggering 4,500 sheep. R.H.C. Davis, The Medieval Warhorse (London, 1989); A. Hyland, The Medieval Warhorse: From Byzantium to the Crusades (Stroud, 1994); P. Latimer, ‘Early Thirteenth-Century Prices’, King John: New Interpretations, ed. S.D. Church (Woodbridge, 1999), pp. 41–73.

  like a blacksmith on iron’. HWM, lines 1002–3; E. Oakeshott, The Sword in the Age of Chivalry, 2nd Edition (London, 1981); E. Oakeshott, Records of the Medieval Sword (Woodbridge, 1991). I am also indebted to Dr Tobias Capwell at the Wallace Collection, London, for his observations on medieval swords.

  ‘crafted by that master Wayland’. John of Marmoutier, ‘Historia Gaufredi ducis Normannorum et comitis Andegavorum’, Chroniques des Comtes d’Anjou et des Seigneurs d’Amboise, ed. L. Halphen & R. Poupardin (Paris, 1913), pp. 179–80.

  a first taste of real battle. HWM, lines 815–26; Keen, Chivalry, pp. 64–82; Crouch, William Marshal, p. 28.

  as the real fighting began. HWM, lines 827–908; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 19–22; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 32–6.

  everyone broke into laughter. HWM, lines 909–1160.

  prepared to seek his fortune. HWM, lines 1163–200.

  PART II

  ADULTHOOD: A KNIGHT IN SERVICE

  the great craze of the day. On the history of medieval tournaments see: Keen, Chivalry, pp. 83–101; D. Crouch, Tournament (London, 2005); Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 192–9; R. Barber & J. Barker, Tournaments: Jousts, Chivalry and Pageants in the Middle Ages (Woodbridge, 1989).

  it could not be tamed’. HWM, lines 1201–302. The story of the seemingly untameable mount may well be a literary topos.

  ‘the handsomest knight of all’. HWM, lines 1303–28.

  even the notion of celebrity. HWM, lines 2928–30; Crouch, Tournament, pp. 19–56.

  (‘Go get them Châtillon’). Crouch, William Marshal, p. 48; Crouch, Tournament, pp. 74–5.

  and no more than that.’ HWM, lines 1329–80.

  cannot be summoned when necessary’. Roger of Howden, Chronica, II, p. 166.

  William ‘let him go’. HWM, lines 1339–41.

  like Lancelot fighting at tournaments. Keen, Chivalry, pp. 1–63, 102–24; C.S. Jaeger, The Origins of Courtliness: Civilising Trends and the Formation of Courtly Ideals, 939–1210 (Philadelphia, 1985); M. Strickland, War and Chivalry: The Conduct and Perception of War in England and Normandy, 1066–1217 (Cambridge, 1996); R.W. Kaeuper, Chivalry and Violence in Medieval Europe (Oxford, 1999); M. Aurell, Le chevalier lettré: Savoir et conduite de l’aristocratie aux XIIe et XIIIe sieclès, (Paris, 2006); Saul, For Honour and Fame, pp. 7–59.

  fourteenth-century knight Geoffrey of Charny. R.W. Kaeuper & E. Kennedy, The Book of Chivalry of Geoffroi de Charny: Text, Context and Translation (Philadelphia, 1996); Geoffrey de Charny, A Knight’s Own Book of Chivalry, trans. R.W. Kaeuper & E. Kennedy (Philadelphia, 2005).

  began to spread through France. HWM, lines 1381–525.

  tournament champions of his day’. Crouch, Tournament, p. 22; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 24–5; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 36–7.

  to see his worthy kin’. HWM, lines 1526–9.

  another remarkable woman: Eleanor of Aquitaine. J. Martindale, ‘Eleanor of Aquitaine’, ODNB; B. Wheeler & J.C. Parsons (eds.), Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord and Lady (Basingstoke, 2003); M. Bull & C. Léglu (eds.), The World of Eleanor of Aquitaine (Woodbridge, 2005); Castor, She-Wolves, pp. 131–222.

  many of his supposed vassals. On King Louis VII of France and the Capetians see: R. Fawtier, The Capetian Kings of France: Monarchy and Nation, 987–1328, trans. L. Butler & R.J. Adam (London, 1960); E. Hallam, Capetian France, 987–1328, 2nd Edition (London, 2001); J. Bradbury, The Capetians: The History of a Dynasty (London, 2007).

  journey by horse or ship’. Peter of Blois, ‘Epistolae’, Patrologia Latina, ed. J.P. Migne, 221 vols (Paris, 1844–64), vol 207, col. 197; Herbert of Bosham, ‘Liber Melorum’, Patrologia Latina, ed. J.P. Migne, 221 vols (Paris, 1844–64), vol. 190, col. 1322; Ralph of Diss, Opera Historica, ed. W. Stubbs, 2 vols (London, 1876), I, p. 351. The Angevin realm was never formally constituted as an empire, but in light of its power and geographical extent, many modern historians having taken to describing it as such. J. Gillingham, The Angevin Empire, 2nd Edition (London, 2001); M Aurell, The Plantagenet Empire, 1154–1224, trans. D. Crouch (Harlow, 2007).

  the dispute remained unresolved. On the career of Thomas Becket see: F. Barlow, ‘Thomas Becket’, ODNB; F. Barlow, Thomas Becket (London, 1986); A. Duggan, Thomas Becket (London, 2004).

  pillaging as they went. HWM, lines 1568–76; J. Gillingham, Richard I (New Haven & London, 1999), pp. 30–8.

  to a semblance of order. Robert of Torigni, ‘The Chronicle of Robert of Torigni’, Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I, ed. R. Howlett, vol. 4 (London, 1889), pp. 235–6; HWM, lines 665–7. On the role and practice of raiding and chevauchées see: J. Gillingham, ‘War and Chivalry in the History of William Marshal’, Thirteenth–Century England II, ed. P. Coss & S. Lloyd (Woodbridge, 1988), p. 1–13; J. Gillingham, ‘Richard I and the Science of War’, War and Government in the Middle Ages, ed. J. Gillingham & J.C. Holt (Woodbridge, 1984), pp. 78–91; M. Strickland, War and Chivalry, pp. 258–90.

  covered in blood’. HWM, lines 1619–720; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 26–7; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 37–8.

  for them in any spot’. HWM, lines 1741–6.

  he was now ‘in the gold’. HWM, lines 1721–888.

  Henry II’s fawning courtiers. HWM, lines 1893–4, 1905–22; Gerald of Wales, ‘Topographica Hibernica’, Opera, vol. 5, ed. J.F. Dimock (London, 1867), p. 194. On the career of Henry the Young King see: O.H. Moore, The Young King, Henry Plantagenet (Ohio, 1925); E.Hallam, ‘Henry the Young King’, ODNB; M. Strickland, ‘On the Instruction of a Prince: The Upbringing of Henry, the Young King’, Henry II: New Interpretations, ed. C. Harper-Bill & N. Vincent (Woodbridge, 2007), pp. 184–214.

  held without his daughter. HWM, lines 1910–22; A. Heslin [Duggan], ‘The Coronation of the Young King in 1170’, Studies in Church History, vol. 2 (London, 1965), pp. 165–78.

  be they pagan or Christian’. HWM, lines 1950–8.


  where Marshal’s loyalties really lay. HWM, lines 1935–48; Gillingham, Richard I, pp. 24–51; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 31–2; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 41–2.

  to the business of state. E. Mason, ‘“Rocamadour in Quercy above all other churches”: The Healing of Henry II’, Studies in Church History, vol. 19 (Oxford, 1982), pp. 39–54.

  He is England’s forgotten king. Warren, Henry II, p. 580; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 41–2, offered a similarly damning appraisal of Young Henry’s character and capabilities.

  Marshal presumably among them. HWM, lines 1967–74; Robert of Torigni, p. 253. King Henry II did pass through ports in England and Wales in this period, but did not return to England in any real sense.

  reward for their loyal service. Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi et Ricardi Primi, ed. W. Stubbs, 2 vols. (London, 1867), I, p. 177; Strickland, ‘On the Instruction of a Prince’, pp. 194–5, 206–7.

  his son’s ‘counsel and household’. William of Newburgh, ‘Historia Rerum Anglicarum’, Chronicles of the Reigns of Stephen, Henry II and Richard I, ed. R. Howlett, 2 vols. (London, 1884), I, p. 170; Robert of Torigni, pp. 255–6.

  might turn on his master. Walter Map, p. 478.

  the Old King’s beloved empire. Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis, I, pp. 35–6, 41; Robert of Torigni, pp. 255–6; Geoffrey of Vigeois, Chronique, trans. F. Bonnélye (Tulle, 1864), p. 117.

  an enemy of the state. M. Strickland, ‘On the Instruction of a Prince’, pp. 207–8; Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis, I, pp. 41–6; T.M. Jones, War of the Generations: The Revolt of 1173–4 (Ann Arbor, 1980).

  mere puppet manipulated by others. Warren, Henry II, pp. 118–21; Gillingham, Richard I, pp. 42–7.

  seeds of a pitiless war. Jordan Fantosme, Chronicle, ed. R.C. Johnston (Oxford, 1981), lines 17–22.

  anything else, just his chivalry’. HWM, lines 1975–2122; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 33–5; Crouch, William Marshal, p. 46.

  in veneration of St Thomas. Ralph of Diss, I, pp. 382–3.

  more in captivity in England. On the progress of the 1173–4 war see: Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis, I, pp. 41–79; Roger of Howden, Chronica, II, pp. 45–69; Ralph of Diss, I, pp. 355–87, 393–5; Robert of Torigni, pp. 255–65; William of Newburgh, ‘Historia’, I, pp. 172–97; HWM, lines 2123–384; Warren, Henry II, pp. 117–41.

  tournament world, even in 1176. HWM, lines 2385–438; Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis, I, pp. 81–4, 91–9, 101–11; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 37–8; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 44–6.

  packing him off to Normandy. Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis, I, pp. 114–15, 120–3.

  for it on his return. HWM, lines 2471–576; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 39–44; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 192–9.

  dishonesty was fair game. HWM, lines 2443–70, 2577–772.

  drawn from the military household. R.J. Smith, ‘Henry II’s Heir: The Acta and the Seal of Henry the Young King, 1170–1183’, English Historical Review, vol. 116 (2001), pp. 297–326; Crouch, William Marshal, p. 42.

  with Young Henry – seems authentic. HWM, lines 2773–874.

  he accepted it nonetheless. HWM, lines 2875–3164.

  the wretch had ‘suffered enough’. HWM, lines 3180–380, 4319–430.

  must have made a fortune. HWM, lines 3007–9, 3381–424, 6677–864. It has previously been suggested that Roger of Jouy fought in opposing tournament teams, but the History of William Marshal clearly stated that ‘he belonged to the young king’s household’. Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 193–4; Crouch, Tournament, p. 98.

  in a rather unscrupulous manner. HWM, lines 3888–4284.

  refusing anything to any man’. HWM, lines 2637–95, 3572–96, 5051–9.

  that he had taken away. HWM, line 3603; Ralph of Diss, I, pp. 428; M. Strickland, ‘On the Instruction of a Prince’, pp. 187, 211–3; Crouch, Tournament, p. 23.

  for the rest of his career. Crouch, William Marshal, p. 47.

  this death in September 1180. On the career of Philip II Augustus see: J. Bradbury, Philip Augustus: King of France, 1180–1223 (London, 1988).

  clear for all to see. Robert of Torigni, p. 287; HWM, lines 4750–76; Crouch, Tournament, p. 24–5.

  3,000 charging, battling knights. HWM, lines 4457–970; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 44–6; Crouch, William Marshal, p. 47, Crouch, Tournament, pp. 24, 36–7, 51, 76–7.

  an additional 100 knights. Roger of Howden, Chronica, II, p. 266.

  which Young Henry held rights. Itinerarium Peregrinorum et Gesta Regis Ricardi, Chronicles and Memorials of the Reign of Richard I, vol. 1, ed. W. Stubbs (London, 1864), p. 143. The seminal study of Richard the Lionheart’s career remains: J. Gillingham, Richard I (New Haven & London, 1999). See also: Turner & R. Heiser, The Reign of Richard the Lionheart: Ruler of the Angevin Empire (London, 2000); J. Flori, Richard the Lionheart: Knight and King (London, 2007).

  to his men to enjoy. Ralph of Diss, II, p. 19; Gervase of Canterbury, Opera Historica, ed. W. Stubbs, 2 vols. (London, 1879–80) I, p. 303; Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis, I, p. 292; Gillingham, Richard I, pp. 62–7. On the background to crusading history and events in the Holy Land see: T. Asbridge, The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land (London, 2010).

  Rex Henricus – King Henry. Geoffrey of Vigeois, ‘Chronicon Lemovicense’, Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France, vol. 18, ed. M. Brial (Paris, 1879), p. 212.

  may be the third man. HWM, lines 5109–60; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 47–50; Smith, ‘Henry II’s Heir’, pp. 300, 317–8, 323, 325,

  him with all his heart’. HWM, lines 5161–434.

  not caused an earlier rift. R.W. Kaeuper, ‘William Marshal, Lancelot and the Issue of Chivalric Identity’, Essays in Medieval Studies, vol. 22 (2005), pp. 1–19; L. Ashe, ‘William Marshal, Lancelot and Arthur: Chivalry and Kingship’, Anglo–Norman Studies, vol. 30 (2007), pp. 19–40. I am grateful to Laura Ashe for her insights and comments on the representation of William Marshal during this episode in the History of William Marshal; I. Short, ‘Literary Culture at the Court of Henry II’, Henry II: New Interpretations, ed. C. Harper–Bill & N. Vincent (Woodbridge, 2007), pp. 335–61.

  he was man or no’. Danziger & Gillingham, 1215, pp. 30, 89–93; Walter Map, pp. 210–14.

  of these events remains hidden. HWM, lines 5435–90; Roger of Howden, Chronica, II, pp. 82–3; Ralph of Diss, I, p. 402; Crouch, Tournament, pp. 105–9; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 48–50.

  King’s household had been reordered. HWM, lines 5491–652; Smith, ‘Henry II’s Heir’, pp. 321–2; Crouch, William Marshal, p. 50.

  His exile had begun. HWM, lines 5693–848; Walter Map, pp. 488–90; R. Bartlett, Trial by Fire and Water: The Medieval Judicial Ordeal (Oxford, 1988).

  a bloody war in Aquitaine. HWM, lines 5849–6305, 6527–606; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 49–51; Crouch, William Marshal, p. 52.

  playing a dangerous, unpredictable game. Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis, I, p. 294; Warren, Henry II, pp. 580–7; Gillingham, Richard I, pp. 69–72.

  brother as his liege lord’. Ralph of Diss, II, pp. 18–19; Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis, I, p. 295; Roger of Howden, Chronica, II, pp. 273–5; William of Newburgh, ‘Historia’, I, p. 233; HWM, lines 6309–52.

  was not to be trusted. Gerald of Wales, ‘Topographica Hibernica’, p. 200. Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis, I, p. 297, described Geoffrey as the ‘son of perdition’.

  would now back the Lionheart. Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis, I, p. 296; Roger of Howden, Chronica, II, p. 275; Warren, Henry II, pp. 590–3; Gillingham, Richard I, pp. 72–3.

  Marshal with all possible haste. HWM, lines 6353–552; Painter, William Marshal, p. 50; Crouch, William Marshal, p. 52.

  unconscious and died soon thereafter. HWM, lines 6607–988; Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis, I, pp. 297–301; Roger of Howden, Chronica, II, pp. 276–9; Geoffrey of Vigeois, ‘Chronicon Lemovicense’, pp. 214–7; Robert of Torigni, pp. 305–6; Ralph of Diss, II, p. 19; William of Newburgh, ‘Historia’, I, pp. 233–
4; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 53–4; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 52–3.

  Henry II later settled the arrears. HWM, lines 6989–7155; Roger of Howden, Gesta Regis, I, pp. 301–2; Roger of Howden, Chronica, II, pp. 279–80. Howden reworked the representation of King Henry II’s reaction to his eldest son’s death between the writing of the Gesta and the Chronica.

  It would not be his last. Ralph of Diss, II, pp. 20; Robert of Torigni, p. 306; William of Newburgh, ‘Historia’, I, p. 234; HWM, lines 7157–84.

  all the world went begging’. Walter Map, pp. 278–82; Gerald of Wales, ‘Topographica Hibernica’, pp. 194–5; Bertrand of Born, The Poems of the Troubadour Bertan de Born, ed. W.D. Padern, T. Sankovitch & P.H. Stabelin (Berkeley, 1986), pp. 215–23; Gervase of Tilbury, Otia Imperialia, ed. & trans. S.E. Banks & J.W. Binns (Oxford, 2002), pp. 486–7; M. Strickland, ‘On the Instruction of a Prince’, pp. 186–7, 214; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 53–5.

  prolonged, perhaps even permanent, absence. HWM, lines 7233–74; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 55–6.

  thoughts of a Levantine future. For the history of the crusader states in this period see: B. Hamilton, The Leper King and his heirs: Baldwin IV and the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem (2000); B. Hamilton, ‘The Elephant of Christ: Reynald of Châtillon’, Studies in Church History, vol. 15 (1978), pp. 97–108; R.C. Smail, ‘The predicaments of Guy of Lusignan, 1183–87’, Outremer, ed. B.Z. Kedar, H.E. Mayer & R.C. Smail (Jerusalem, 1982), pp. 159–76.

  their midst, victory was assured. HWM, lines 7292–4; A.J. Boas, Jerusalem in the Time of the Crusades (London, 2001); Asbridge, The Crusades, pp. 104, 120–1.

  the destructive storm of 1187 broke. HWM, lines 7275–99; Painter, William Marshal, pp. 55–6; Crouch, William Marshal, pp. 55–6.