The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones - Softcover

Thomas Asbridge

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1847396410 ISBN 13: 9781847396419

Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK, 2015

Synopsis

William Marshal was the true Lancelot of his era - a peerless warrior and paragon of chivalry -yet over the centuries, the spectacular story of his achievements passed from memory. Then, in 1861, a young French scholar stumbled upon the sole surviving copy of an unknown text, later dubbed the History of William Marshal. This richly detailed work helped to resurrect Marshal's reputation, putting flesh onto the bones of this otherwise obscure figure, but even today he remains largely forgotten.

As a five-year-old boy, William was sentenced to execution and led to the gallows, yet this landless younger son survived his brush with death, and went on to train as a medieval knight. Rising through the ranks to serve at the right hand of five English monarchs, he became a celebrated tournament champion, baron, politician and, ultimately, regent of the realm. He befriended the great figures of his day, from Richard the Lionheart to the infamous King John, and helped to negotiate the terms of Magna Carta - the first 'bill of rights'. Yet at the age of seventy he was forced to fight in the frontline of one final battle, striving to save the kingdom from French invasion in 1217.

In The Greatest Knight, renowned historian Thomas Asbridge draws upon an array of contemporary evidence, including the thirteenth-century biography, to present a compelling account of William Marshal's life and times, from rural England to the battlefields of France, the desert castles of the Holy Land and the verdant shores of Ireland. Charting the unparalleled rise to prominence of a man bound to a code of honour, yet driven by unquenchable ambition, this knight's tale lays bare the brutish realities of medieval warfare and the machinations of royal court, and draws us into the heart of a formative period of our history, when the West emerged from the Dark Ages and stood on the brink of modernity. It is the story of one remarkable man, the birth of the knightly class to which he belonged, and the forging of the English nation.

About this title

Review:

'There have been studies of Marshal before, but Thomas Asbridge a reader in Medieval History at Queen Mary University, and the author of bestselling accounts of the Crusades has turned his life into popular history of the best sort... Asbridge paints a colourful portrait of court life, full of intrigue and bed-hopping and entertainments... The Greatest Knight gives us a moving portrait of one man's struggle, ascent and final (peaceful) demise under the Angevins, at the great age of 72' --The Sunday Times

'Asbridge draws a fine picture of Marshal's last grim days, and of the infinite pains that a man whose whole life had been steeped in violence took over the care of his eternal soul. The medieval world of a thousand church memorials with their inimitable mixture of worldly boast and religious bribe, of heraldic pomp, human frailty and rare flashes of tenderness at last comes touchingly to life' --The Spectator

'Asbridge could have no better subject ... [He] has written a rip-roaring new life of Marshal ... [a] splendid account of a great medieval life' Dan Jones, Wall Street Journal

'This vibrant book resurrects the story of the renowned medieval knight who stood beside five kings at a particularly riotous era of British military confrontation... as exciting as Arthurian legend.' --Must Read review, Daily Mail

About the Author:

Thomas Asbridge is a Reader in Medieval History at Queen Mary University in London, and an internationally renowned expert on the history of the Crusades. He has written and presented a major BBC TV series on the Crusades and a documentary on William Marshal. His acclaimed titles The First Crusade and The Crusades are also available from Simon & Schuster.

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1847396410
• ISBN 13: 9781847396419
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 464