The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power behind Five English Thrones by Thomas Asbridge Details
William Marshall was the real Lancelot of his time, an unrivaled warrior and like individual knights, but over the centuries, the amazing story of his achievements has passed from memory.…
William Marshall was the real Lancelot of his time, an unrivaled warrior and like individual knights, but over the centuries, the amazing story of his achievements has passed from memory. Then, in 1861, a young French scientist found the only remaining version of an unknown text, later called William Marshall's History.
This rich detailed work helped revive the Marshal's reputation and put the meat on the bones of this mysterious figure. When he was a five-year-old boy, William was sentenced to death and led to gallows, but this youngest son, who had no land, survived his band with death and went to train as a medieval knight. He ascended through ranks to serve on the right of five English kings, becoming a famous hero in the tournament, Baron, politician, and, ultimately, ruler of the world.
And the great personalities of his day, from Richard the Lionheart to the infamous King John, and helped negotiate the terms of Magna Carta. But at the age of seventy, he was forced to fight in the front line for one final battle, in order to save the kingdom from the French invasion in 1217.
In the greatest knight, the famous historian Thomas Asbridge derives a collection of contemporary evidence, including the thirteenth. Biography, to provide a convincing report of William Marshall's life and times.
It is the story of a wonderful man, the birth of his knight and the forging of the English nation.
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