William Marshal: Knighthood, War and Chivalry, 1147-1219

This biography of William Marshall, the First Earl of Pembroke, was very interesting. William Marshall is a person from history that kept occuring in the reigns of the Plantagenats. I was always curious why more wasn't written of him and finaly I've discovered several books that give insight into his life. This book is written without the flowery speech that many narratives of his life are, but the critcisms are understandable behavior for that period of history. It's just amazing that he was able to survive with his reputation intact over so many years when there was so much treachery around him.

William Marshall is a look at medieval knighthood and the man who his contemporaries considered the shining example of it. It works as both a biography of the man and an analysis of the nature of chivalry in the 12th and 13th Centuries. It takes a much more reasoned approach than that of George Duby's work William Marshall: The Flower of Chivalry. In this book William's character comes across clearly, as both a successful knight and a skilled courtier. Chivalry isn't quite how it's thought of today and this book shows how the knight was expected to function then. So for an excellent look at England (and Normandy) in the 12th and 13th Centuries check out this (all too brief ) book.

This is a book that would be a benefit to anyone with an interest not only in William Marshal, but medieval people and the society in which they lived. William Marshal was one of very few men that not only lived up to the hype written about him, but he exceeded it. He truly was a great knight, a great man of honor in all that he did.

This is a fantastic book about one of the Mediaeval period's most powerful and brilliant men. Coming from humble beginnings, William Marshall eventually served four Kings and became the regent of England and guardian of the boy King Henry III son of King John. It is taken from the actual biography commissioned in his honour by his sons, and is the only surviving account of the life of a knight of the 13th century. Eventually made the Earl of Pembroke, William Marshall gives an insight into the life and thought of a mediaeval knight, his ideas of honour, duty and allegiences. A very readable book and highly to be recommended to anyone interested in this period of England's history.

David Crouch's biography of William Marshal, an icon in his own time, a courtier and knight who served five kings--Henry II, Henry the Young King, Richard the Lionheart, John, and Henry III--as well as a queen, Eleanor of Aquitane, coming to represent the ideal of the corteis (courtly) to his peers and the embodiment of chevalerie for those who have since studied the period, does much to ground the legend and question earlier interpretations that often accepted the contemporary accounts of Marshal's life at face value. Earlier biographers, such as Painter and the French doyen of medieval history, Georges Duby, based much of their understanding of Marshal's life upon the posthumous "Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal," a still extant epic poem commissioned by Marshal's sons and followers to celebrate his life and many accomplishments. Surprisingly, previous writers have chosen to base their biographies, especially Duby, almost entirely upon what is obviously, regardless of any factual accounting, a suspect source, in doing so ignoring other contemporary documents that go a long way to tempering the portrait of Marshal, not only in the "Historie" but in the subsequent biographies from which they were based. Instead of the chivalric hero of battlefield and tournament cast in the mold of Chretien de Troyes, or the often fortunate simpleton of Duby that rose to the heights of medieval society through the sheer prowess of his arms, in Crouch we find a poor, relatively minor-born knight who through valor and shrewd financial self-interest uses both the battle and tournament field to promote his own fortunes, aided at times by pure good luck, which he is quick to turn to his own advantage. Upon entry to the courts of the powerful we discover a man who was deft in manipulating the intrigues of his betters for his own benefit, quick to ally himself with those who could help him, adept at playing one party off against another, and, when his politics stumbled, able to ultimately survive and reverse his misfortunes where other men fell. Charismatic, he both received and demanded loyalty from the mesnie and supporters that surrounded him. Generous to his followers, he could be equally stern and unforgiving to those that opposed him, in many ways reflecting the values of the aristocratic society of which he was a part. At the end, he survived both rebellions and the displeasure of the kings whom he served, becoming one of England's most powerful magnates and regent for Henry III, in effect ruling England in the boy king's stead.The author uses his biography to examine the role of the mesnie in 12th century medieval society, as well as the function of the tournament, both as a social phenomenon and an avenue for advancement, both financial and social. He investigates the evolving notion of chivalry, both as an ideal and its actual practice. And he makes a cursory foray into the influence of religion, especiall