The Greatest Knight That Ever Lived: William Marshal

this video is sponsored by wandrium when William Marshall died in the year 1219 he was the most powerful and most highly respected man in the Kingdom of England he was the Earl of Pembroke the Regent for the young Henry III and had recently defeated a great rebellion of English Lords and thrown back a devastating Invasion by the French the young king owed William marshalled his kingdom and all England owed him the hard-won peace upon his death the Archbishop Stephen Langton called him the greatest Knight in the world but he was not given these great honors he won them by his great deeds and his many virtues he began his life as the second son of a minor Noble destined to inherit nothing of value it was his talent as a knight on the battlefield and as a tournament champion that won him renowned and riches through hundreds of Victories and for 51 years he loyally served King Henry II his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine their sons Henry the young king Richard the lionheart and King John and their grandson Henry III but was he really such a Peerless Warrior and Paragon of chivalry or was he also a cunning politician who expertly negotiated the ebb and flow of the dynastic royal family for his own ends this is the incredible story of William Marshall you can learn much more about the epic history of the Medieval World through this video's sponsor wandrium wondering brings you engaging educational content through short form videos long-form courses tutorials how-to lessons travel logs and documentaries covering a huge range of subjects from history to science travel art hobbies and more I've just enjoyed the 24 part series the Middle Ages around the world this course provides a view of the era at a time of major Transformations across the globe from Europe and Africa to the Middle East Asia and Beyond there are lectures in the series about the rise of the medieval night the Crusades the importance of heroic epics in the medieval mind and the impact that gunpowder had on 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king commanded that William be taken to the gibbit and strung up William was five years old as the young boy was led from the siegeworks to the scaffold by the king's soldiers oblivious that he was going to his death he passed by the Earl of Arundel who was holding a handsome Javelin with boyish excitement the lad said let me have a go that spear sir King Stephen heard the boy's innocent Glee and his heart was overcome with compassion he scooped up the child and said that he was reprieved and they all went back to continue The Siege this was a period of Civil War in England named by later historians as the Anarchy and the stakes could not have been Higher King Stephen was at war with the empress Matilda and as both were grandchildren of William the Conqueror both had a claim to the throne of England Matilda's lineage was stronger as she was the daughter of Henry the first the former King who had explicitly nominated her as his Heir while Stephen was merely the son of the conqueror's daughter Adela on the other hand Matilda was a woman while Stephen was a man the Lords of the realm supported one claimant over the other some switching Allegiance during the conflict and many using the situation to better their own positions one of these Lords one of middling rank was John Marshall whose lands centered on the west country during the reign of Henry the first Jon had gradually accumulated land wealth and Status he eventually purchased for himself a position at court called the master Marshall C it cost him 40 silver marks a huge sum especially considering the position alone would bring no greater power or income by itself what it did do however was give him an official place at the court and responsibilities over four under Marshals a group of Royal ushers The Keeper of the king's tents and the supervisor of the royal fireplaces it was certainly not the most prestigious position but it did give him a certain amount of access to the king and to the leading Barons after Henry the First's death in late 1135 Stephen acted swiftly to take the crown of England for himself and John Marshall offered the new king his full support his loyalty earned John a position as custodian of the royal castle at Marlborough but as Stephen showed himself to be a rather soft King support for Matilda Gru and John Marshall switched his Allegiance during the Civil War John Marshall showed himself to be an excellent Soldier and a skillful politician he was also quite cunning and brutal using the conflicts to better himself as much as he could late in the conflict he had his marriage annulled so that he could marry a new woman called civil the sister of the Earl of Salisbury John and Sybil would have seven children together the second of which born in about 1147 was William his early childhood was likely spent at the Family Estate at Hampstead Marshall which included a modern Bailey Castle no doubt he saw little of his father who was occupied in furthering his interests wherever possible but Jon overstepped the Mark when he built a new modern Bailey Castle near his estate at Newbury King Stephen attacked it in full force and Jon could not hope to resist the terms of John's surrender included giving over his second son William as hostage but the ruthless John Marshall had no intention of making peace he's handing over of the five-year-old William was merely a trick to buy him more time to fight and he was perfectly willing to let the king kill the boy there is a famous lion in the medieval biography of William Marshall where John declares that he didn't care about his son for he still had the Anvil and Hammer to forge yet better ones on the face of it this was an extraordinary attitude but perhaps Jon was making a calculated risk everyone knew that King Stephen was a soft touch his weakness in failing to punish Those Who Rose against him was one of the very reasons for the long conflict and it may be that Jon believed Stephen could never have killed a little boy still after being saved from hanging the lad was later led to a catapult they threatened to load the boy into it and fling him at the castle when this didn't move the Defenders they suggested using him as a human shield in an assault on the walls that didn't transpire either though he was thus saved from death and continued as a hostage for months perhaps more than a year but these events may have been William Marshall's first memories certainly he remembered the stories and recounted them to his friends and Sons later in life he didn't appear to hold any of this against his father and in fact seems to have admired him as an ambitious shrewd warlord but perhaps his father's actions towards his King and his son also had some impact on William's lifelong perception of the virtue of unwavering loyalty the years following Williams released from captivity passed in relative peace King Stephen died in 1154 when William was about seven years old and Henry II son of empress Matilda ascended the throne as king of England Henry II would go on to be one of England's greatest Kings and William Marshall would be closely tied to him and his lion for the rest of his life during Henry's early Reign William the boy grew into a fine young man the history of William Marshall says quote in a few short years young William grew into such a fine figure of a man that no sculptor could have created one so perfect in every limb I saw it with my own eyes and remember it well such Fair feet and hands but they were as nothing compared with the rest of his handsome body anyone who beheld his shapely upright figure would have declared if he had any judgment that there was none more finely built in the whole wide world his hair was brown his complexion good and swarthy and his bearing was worthy of an emperor of Rome with a fine broad stride and impressively tall in stature as any noble man could wish end quote this young fellow may have possessed a fine physique but as the second son of a relatively minor Noble he had little in the way of prospects his older brother John would inherit everything from their father the family lands and wealth and the office of Master Marshall while William would get nothing but his name in about 1160 when he was 13 years old William was sent to Normandy to serve in the household of the baron William of tankerville a Kinsman of William's mother Sybil he was sent off with little Fanfare other than his weeping mother and siblings and only a single servant to accompany him his father was not there to see him off during his life William would cross the English Channel dozens of times but no doubt this first Crossing was one of the most memorable he was going to the land of his ancestors but England was all he had known and at the Norman castle of tankerville and the banks of the same he would be instructed in the business of being a knight and he would learn his business as well or better than any man ever did the Lord of tankerville maintained a powerful retinue of household Knights sworn to him in service and William received his nightly education amongst them for about six or seven years his medieval biographer amusingly claims the young William was both lazy and greedy he went to bed early slept late and ate too much a typical teenager really his education included reading and writing in French at least and he was never very skilled in Latin and other aristocratic Pursuits like hunting dancing singing and chess but he took little interest in these things his real passion was in the rigorous military training that formed the core of his life for years he learned and excelled in horsemanship the use of weapons and armored combat in 1166 when William was around 20 years old he reached the end of his training and was knighted by his Lord in a brief ceremony at Nur chatel in Northeast Normandy it was a hurried affair because they were on the way to battle the Lords of Normandy had moved to the border to defend the duchy from The Neighbors in the counties of Flanders pontier and boloin while at Nur chateel tankerville discovered his position was soon to be attacked and so gathered his retinue of 28 nights including the newly dubbed William and hurried to intercept the attack at a bridge on the outskirts of the town as a newly knighted young man about to engage in his first real fight William was in a state of high excitement as the retinue reached the bridge William pushed his horse to the front he was commanded in no uncertain terms to stay back and to not be so presumptuous for a moment he was crestfallen and ashamed he let three Knights pass him but it was not in his nature to be anywhere but the front and so he spurred his horse forward until he was at the very head of the party crossing the bridge his biographer tells a story like this quote and on thy Road till they saw the enemy right before them advancing in great numbers they went to meet them and as the two forces closed they sent their horses charging forward with shields braced and Lance's leveled they struck each each other with their utmost Minds piercing and shattering Shields smashing and splintering their lances and battering each other with the stumps so loud was the clashing thin of their blows that it would have drowned God's Thunder you'd have heard the echoing clang and ring of helmets battered down to the chainmail hoods and William Marshall made a valiant show indeed his Lance broken he drew his sword at once and plunged Into The Fray no one seeing him would have thought him a novice in arms he dealt and received so many blows before he was done he had no intention of leaving till he'd shown what he could do many found him a fearful foe as he cut through the Press with awesome blows so awesome indeed and dealt with such force that many gave way before him terrified end quote the battle continued to ebb and flow the tankerville's knights were driven back by the arrival of more enemy Riders near the end of the battle William was wounded by men wielding an iron hook leaving a long-lasting scar on his shoulder from where they tried to bring him down from his horse that horse was also Gravely injured and would soon soon die of its wounds the biographer assures us that all agreed young William had fought better than anyone else on either side that day it sounds too good to be true of course because how could a young man in his first battle out fight so many veterans lest we doubt the story he says quote I tell you no word of a lie it was well known and reported the fact is that with the Marshall's help the men of the Town managed to out fight their attackers end quote the biographer might be exaggerating but then again William did become the greatest tournament Knight of his generation perhaps the greatest ever so it is entirely possible or even likely that he was the most skilled as well as the most motivated Knight on the field that day however although William bested many wealthy men he did not have the wisdom to take any of them prisoner thus unable to Ransom those nights he remained impoverished Not only was he now without a war horse he did not have the funds to replace it what was more the Border conflict soon fizzled out and peace returned to Normandy so tankerville reduced the number of nights in his retinue and William found himself let go with no Lord he now had no home no money and no real prospects an impoverished Knight with no master was a dishonorable state to be in and perhaps he considered returning home to England his father John Marshall had died in 1165 and William's older brother John had inherited the martial lands and the position of Marshall as the younger brother William could have asked for a position in the new Marshall's household it would have been a comfortable existence coming at the cost of living in his brother's Shadow William though was never interested in taking the easy path he sold the cloak he had been awarded by tankerville at his knighting for the sum of 22 Shillings and with the money he bought a Paul free for himself and a pack horse to carry his belongings with his arms and armor packed on the old nag he set out to seek his fortune a tournament north of Le Mans had been announced and William made his way there as did any night seeking renown indeed the Lord of tankerville also attended with his remaining Knights and William was allowed to tag along however he was ashamed to have to fight in the tourney without a war horse riding a pool free would have been an enormous disadvantage for the young Knight and perhaps to avoid his embarrassment tankerville granted young William the use of adestria this particular horse was unwanted by anyone else because it was so wild that it was almost uncontrollable and William must have doubted his chances in the coming tourney these 12th century tournaments were not like the jousts we tend to see in TV and movies that are from later eras Journeys were more like mock battles fought by teams of knights who ranged over a wide area and wounds and broken bones were common while deaths were also known the game was intended to be training for Real Warfare but it was also a chance for Knights to win Glory outside of war the other great reward was wealth one through defeating other Knights and taking them prisoner the captive was expected to pay a ransom for his release usually in cash and might also hand over their horse arms and armor of course the risks too were not only physical but financial and being defeated would cost the man dearly the two sides of dozens and sometimes hundreds of knights would line up on opposite sides of a large field when the signal was given they would charge into a great Clash after the first stages of the battle the fighting would break up into smaller contingents ranging across miles of Countryside until sundown and William's first tournament was a success taking two very valuable Prisoners the first he battered to the ground with a lance and the second he seized by taking his horse's bridle and dragging him away before overpowering him a remarkable display of Daring and horsemanship in the midst of the Malay especially considering he had such a difficult horse of his own to handle and in fact this would go on to become William's signature move his skill and bravery that day set him on the path to financial success he won not only cash but four war horses along with other horses and a fine array of gear and his new wealth transformed his status as a knight immediately tankerville and his retinue treated William with new respect because material wealth especially that one in combat demonstrates a man's inner virtue as William's biographer says how much you've got is how much you're worth and how much we care about you William at once set off for a new tournament to be held just three days later riding day and night to make it in time he performed so valiantly there that he was declared outright winner of the tournament and for the next year or more he had a career as a famed tournament night traveling to every land where a knight should wish to win Renown quote through France the low countries Eno and Flanders word of his deeds resounded every worthy man in Brittany and Normandy sang his Praises his Valor was known to all in Anjou Maine and the duchy of aquiten end quote having won at least some Fame and wealth in late 1167 he elected to return home to England for it with the land of his birth and he wanted to see his good Kinsmen he had not been home for eight years but was returning as a man of some reputation and independent means and soon he would be going to war instead of looking for a position in his brother's household William instead found service in that of his maternal Uncle Patrick the Earl of Salisbury he was a noble of the first Rank and Salisbury was soon called by King Henry II to support a campaign in Aquitaine so William had made the correct Choice as he was about to be drawn into the circle of the royal family where he would stay more or less for the rest of his life there was rebellion in aquitone and Lords in neighboring regions defied Henry II's Authority in part two the ambitious Lucian family led by Jeffrey and his younger brother gee were raiding around Poitier and the King retaliated with raid on lucindaun lands William's experience of combat thus far had been a skirmish between Knights and the chivalrous pageantry of tournaments now he would see a different kind of warfare as castles were nion impregnable without long and expensive sieges the best way to hurt an enemy was through brutal sorties into his lands burning crops and Villages and taking whatever plunder you could carry off the immediate victims were Ordinary People but this kind of Destruction would also damage the economic base of the Lords who ruled over them in this case it took about a month for Jeffrey and guidelucinyan to submit to Henry at which point the king left for the north to part a peace with King Louis of France he left his wife Eleanor of aquiten behind importio to look after things with the Earl of Salisbury as her lieutenant in 1168 William was part of salisbury's retinue guarding Eleanor as she traveled through the countryside in portsieur on the way back to Poitier as the country had been supposedly pacified there were a few guards and their rode without armor without warning the party was ambushed by Jeffrey and guidelucinion Eleanor was sent on down the road while the Earl of Salisbury and his men turned to hold off the attack While most of the knights were shrugging on their armor the Earl changed from his riding horse to his War Horse but was killed as he climbed into the saddle by a lance driven into his back important men like Salisbury were usually taken hostage as there were far more valuable alive than dead it was a shocking moment and the Knights of both sides were astonished the biography tells us what happened next quote seeing his uncle mortally stricken the Marshall was almost crazed with grief that he hadn't been able to stop his killer he was desperate to take revenge not waiting to arm fully clad only in a Hallberg he rode straight to the attack clutching a lance he dealt with the first he met sending him crashing to the ground burning to avenge his uncle no ravening lion was ever so Savage with its prey indeed anyone who got in his way he put to a painful dismal end he would have Avenged the Earl indeed if he hadn't run into their lances and had his horse killed beneath him but being unsettled didn't slow him down he could see no possible way of escape a band of more than 60 attacked him altogether all bent on overwhelming him and taking him captive but he showed not the slightest sign of fear setting his back to a hedge so that he had only to defend the front he cried anyone who fancies testing his strength step forward all of them strove with might and Mane to kill or capture him but he fought back even harder defending himself with such resolve that he slew six of their horses confronted by a riotous clamor the Marshal made a stand like a boar against the pack of hounds they would never have taken him they couldn't lay a hand on him not daring to go near and he would never have been theirs had he not been for a Sly attack one night jump to the Hedge and straight away aimed a spear thrust through it to strike him from behind sending at least a yard of the shaft cleaned through his leg end quote Gravely wounded William was taken prisoner all his hard work and achievements thus far had amounted to little his uncle his Lord and Patron His Highest contact had been killed before his eyes and William had failed to save him Williams of little value himself and could expect no special treatment in fact his wound was left untreated as he was dragged through the Wilds of the countryside behind the roving band of enemy Knights after months of ignominious captivity he was ransomed by Eleanor of aquitone and he was given a place in the Queen's own retinue no doubt she was happy to find a place for a skillful and courageous young Knight and of course he was the nephew of the slain Earl of Salisbury but still it was quite a turnaround Williams served her for the next two years in Aquitaine guarding her as she traveled and perhaps taking leave to compete in tournaments when he could as the region was gradually pacified once again William accompanied Eleanor back to England in 1170 to attend the coronation of her son Henry Henry II was still very much alive but he chose to have his eldest son Henry at just 15 years old crowned King along with him the heir was tall and handsome with broad shoulders pale freckled cheeks piercing blue eyes and golden red hair Henry II had spent his adult life steadily accumulating lands what today is often called the androvin Empire and he knew that without a clear succession in place they would all fall into Anarchy on his eventual death just as England had with the death of Henry the first the king intended that his eldest son would inherit the crown of England and the duchy of Normandy his second son Richard would inherit Equity their mother's Homeland while Jeffrey was heir to Brittany poor John the youngest would get nothing of note although he was only about two years old when all this was decided perhaps thanks to Eleanor's suggestion Henry II now chose William Marshall to be the young King's tutor in arms and a leading member of his retinue it was an enormously significant appointment he may have been the junior partner but the young Henry had been crowned a king of England and William was given the great honor of guiding him in matters of arms William was about 23 years old and for the next 10 years and more William Marshall and Henry the young king would be Inseparable companions quote thanks to his guidance and instruction the young king grew in honor nobility and esteem prowess was his constant companion and in view of his many virtues he was deemed the finest of all princes on Earth Christian and saracen alak end quote but the young king was in a difficult position he had a grand title and some responsibilities but no freedom and no money of his own his father would not share power and the sun grew increasingly frustrated his anger encouraged by his father-in-law King Louis VII of France and in 1173 Mattis came to a head at a great family meeting when the young king demanded the Old King give up either anju Normandy or England to his eldest son's Rule King Henry refused and young Henry fled now in open Rebellion against his father taking many of his loyal returners with him some of the Lords and knights in the young King's household refused outright were turned back but a handful stayed with him as he ran for the protection of his father-in-law the king of France these few swore a new oath of allegiance to the rebellious son the five leading knights in the young King's household were declared traitors to the crown William Marshall had spent years carefully furthering his interests and the most sensible course of action would have been to return to King Henry II distancing himself from the ungrateful son but William instead chose to renew his oath of loyalty to his Lord over his King and to follow his friend into Rebellion [Music] young Henry's Brothers Richard and Jeffrey joined him in Rebellion as did their mother Eleanor in Paris the eldest son was proclaimed the new king of England and he set about Gathering powerful allies by promising Rich rewards insurrections began from the Scottish border to aquitone throughout the conflict William remained loyal to Young Henry some have suggested that Marshall had always been an agent of Eleanor placed in the young King's household explicitly to influence him for his mother's ends namely this Rebellion we don't know one way or the other but to me that seems out of character considering his actions throughout his life the biography tells us that during the war it was William Marshall who had the great honor of knighting the young king this is especially notable considering William had no great title or land and so if it's true it is a sign of the high regard he was held in the young king invaded Normandy and King Louis took his army further to the South but the attacks soon faltered an invasion of England was planned and an advanced guard landed in East Anglia and captured Norwich while Henry II rushed back to his kingdom to put down local rebellions when William of Scotland was captured in the north the rebel invasion was canceled instead a fresh invasion of Normandy was launched but Henry II returned and put a stop to that as well the Rebellion ran out of steam and the young king made peace on his father's terms his sons and their supporters William Marshall included were forgiven his wife Eleanor however was not and she would spend the next 10 years and More in captivity the young king tamed was sent to Portu to assist his brother Richard fight the ongoing unrest in and around Aquitaine but from around 1176 it seems he ultimately turned away from the Affairs of state and toward the Pomp and chivalry of the tournament for the next few years William and the young King traveled the tournament circuit and it was William now aged about 30 whose reputation and wealth was transformed by his remarkable successes when he was an old man he claimed that in tournaments he had defeated an astonishing 500 Knights initially he fought along with Henry as part of a team who traveled and fought together but by the late 1170s Williams reputation and skill had grown so much that he began to attend events on his own he was exceptionally skilled as a Horseman and immensely accurate and Powerful when delivering crushing blows with his weapons he was also famously able to take an incredible beating himself resisting blows that would have failed other men and he was a cunning tactician making correct spit-second decisions In the Heat of combat in other words he had all the attributes necessary to be a great Champion he was a once in a generation Talent he did not only win Fame and Glory but this was the period when he became immensely wealthy these riches were the worldly display of his inner virtue but his financial success also elevated him socially despite his lack of land and title so much so that he even established his own retinue still loyally serving the young King William Marshall was able to raise his own banner and to fund minute arms to fight under it his coat of arms the Red Lion rampant against the green and gold field remains famous even today William and the young king were close friends Companions and brothers in arms for around 12 years but in 1182 a terrible rumor reached Henry's ears William Marshall was accused of betting Henry's wife Queen Marguerite according to the biography this was a baseless accusation by five jealous knights in the king's household they also claimed that the Marshal was acting above his station stealing the young King's Limelight and usurping his honor as well as doing it to the queen Henry seems to have doubted these rumors enough to publicly ignore them however his demeanor became extremely cold towards William and William in turn withdrew from his Lord's company not coming anywhere near him surely if the accusations of adultery had been true then William's punishment would have been immediate and Swift but perhaps there was something to the accusations of arrogance matters came to a head at Christmas 1182 when in front of a busy Court William asked for the chance to prove his innocence through trial by combat he offered to fight three opponents one after the other and if bested he would go to The Gallows but Henry coldly refused their Rift seemed irreconcilable and William was in effect banished from the household so in early 1183 he found himself a free agent once more without a lord to serve a bidding war soon broke out with counts and Dukes offering him huge sums and offers of marriage to win his service it is likely he entered the household of the count of Flanders for a short time so that he could fight on the Count's tournament team but it wasn't long before the message came that the scandalous charges had been found false and William was asked to return to the young king Henry needed William's help because he was in open conflict with his brother Richard and once more the family was at War however a true disaster would soon strike by the end of May the young king fell ill with a fever and then he contracted dysentery after days of battling the illness he died on 11th of June 1183 he was 28 years old on his deathbed the young king asked William to fulfill The Vow the young king had made a few months earlier to take up the cross and to undertake a crusade to the Holy Land even after the terrible falling out the two had recently suffered William swore that he would this is a great example of putting honor and loyalty above personal Advantage William now masterless again would have had his pick of great Lords offering wealth and even marriage into their families instead with the permission of the devastated Henry II William left for the holy land a few months later to honor the final wishes of his dear friend before he went he returned to his family in England and said farewell setting his Affairs in order on the chance that he was never to return he then took up the cross and traveled the over 2000 miles to Jerusalem during his two years in utrement he became great friends with the Knights Templar and hospitaler in fact making a secret promise to the Templars but little else is known of his activities it was a period of relative Calm before the events of 1187 that would lead to the Third Crusade although the coming storm was already on the horizon as Saladin continued his preparations for his Grand assault on the Christian kingdoms William Marshall headed back to Normandy where he met with King Henry II the King awarded William now aged almost 40 a place in his household he had survived countless tournaments Warfare and a pilgrimage to Jerusalem but now he had to face the Cutthroat environment of the Court he had served at the side of the young king for years and had encountered the intrigues of other Knights and Lords but that was nothing like the court of Henry II every courtier that surrounded the king sought to further his own interests while at the same time shifting factions coalesced around the most powerful men as his career Advanced William took the greatest care to avoid making powerful enemies and so never fully committed to one side or the other he became known even mocked for his careful equivocation through it all however he maintained steadfast loyalty to the crown and his reputation for unfailing Fidelity gradually won over the most important figure of all the king in 1186 the king granted William his first estate in Lancashire it was a relatively modest estate but it brought him an income of 32 pounds a year he began to build his household and was now emerging as a lord in his own right a noble of standing in England at this time he could have wed a crown Ward The Young heiress Eloise of Lancaster who was given over into his care but he chose not to he had far higher aspirations and meant to hold out for a truly Grand marriage once he had climbed higher William's Ambitions were well understood by the king his complaints that he had not yet been properly rewarded for his service were referenced in the letter the king sent to William instructing him to join the King on campaign in the duchy of berry in central France in 1188 the resulting campaign would spiral into a broader Rebellion open war with the air Richard the lionheart and ultimately the death of the king in 1186 the King's son Jeffrey fell from his horse during a tournament in France and was horrifically trampled by the horses of his own household Knights later dying of his injuries in Paris this left just Richard the Duke of Aquitaine and young John now in his twenties vying for the great inheritance while Henry resisted handing over any more power he didn't want to Crown another son and potentially find himself supplanted but Richard by now a seasoned Warrior and a powerful Lord in his own right in 1188 decided to force the issue backed by Philip II the cunning King of France Henry II summoned a huge Army including thousands of Welsh mercenaries and set off to bury to retake the duchy William Marshall was promised the great castle of Chateau ruenberry with all its lordship and whatever belonged to it by way of recompense for his efforts in retaking it and in helping to lead Henry's War William advised the king to launch a sudden attack so bold concerted and fierce that it could not be resisted taking his advice that is what the king did looting and burning a great swathe through the countryside the Marshall was then sent with a Detachment on his own chevel show the word we use for these roads of Devastation looting burning and pillaging as they went this kind of warfare where the Common People suffered terribly may be utterly immoral to us today but it's notable that William's biographer considered this to be a great Act of chivalry the reasoning was that this method of warfare would bring the enemy to his knees and thus the greater good of Peace would be restored in this case however though the land was ruined by both sides the campaigning season ended without any conclusion the Old King retreated and returned to anju his health now starting to fail him many of the king's old supporters began to quietly Melt Away not William Marshall though who the king came to rely on Evermore in Military and diplomatic matters and Henry resolved to reward Williams Loyalty The King had promised him chateuru if it could be taken but it remained in French hands instead he offered a far greater prize this would be the hand of Isabel declare the worthy and beautiful 18 year old heiress of the late Earl Richard strombo this marriage would bring William lands in England Wales Normandy and Ireland making him at a stroke into one of the greatest Barons of England however by the start of 1189 William would have well understood that he was now fighting on the losing side a promise was all very well but if the king fell and it looked like he might then it would come to nothing many other men abandoned Henry and extracted promises from Richard and Philip in exchange for their loyalty but the Marshal remained Faithfully by the side of his King Richard and Philip attacked the king at Le Mans in June William led the defense of the Southern gate fighting hard against the Knights of Richard and Philip it was a bloody Affair and the Defenders could not resist the onslaught the Old King fled for his life with his household Knights forming a bodyguard around him on the road the enemy in Hot Pursuit just two or three miles from Le Mans With the Enemy hot on their heels martial and another man reigned in and turned to face the approaching Knights alone they meant to risk their own lives to give their King a chance to get just a little further away William was astonished to find that it was Richard the lionheart himself bearing down on them at the head of the pack immediately William spurred his horse forward the greatest tournament night of the generation raced forward to meet the greatest soldier of his age in single combat however it would not be a fair fight Richard had been so Keen to capture his father he had raced after him without armor protected only by a light helmet and armed only with a sword Marshall on the other hand carried a lance God's legs Marshall don't kill me the lionheart roared I'm unarmed no replied to Marshall I won't kill you I'll leave that to the devil and he drove his Lance clean through Richard's horse killing it on the spot and Richard fell with it it was a fine blow indeed and it proved the saving of the king the lionheart was well aware that Marshall could have killed him but chose not to this act of chivalry deserved an act of similar generosity in turn and Richard leapt to his feet and called off to Chase however the strain of the battle the flight and the loss would prove too much for the failing health of the Old King after retreating to the old Andre Vin stronghold of shinon it became clear that Henry was dying many of the king's supporters now fled to Richard While others went back to their own lands distancing themselves from any retribution that might fall on them William Marshall however stayed resolutely at the king's side when the Great king finally died frail and broken in his own bed his household staff immediately looted his corpse stealing his clothes jewels and money as much as each of them could take leaving the man strewn half out of bed in only his breeches and shirt Marshall and the remaining household Knights rushed to the room and covered their king with a cloak in the days that followed William helped carry the king to the nearby Abbey where the body was laid out to await Richard's arrival Richard the lionheart would inherit his father's lands and titles and so could do with the Marshall whatever he wanted certainly William would have expected punishment for recently humiliating the new king a lesser man most men would have fled however William Marshall Faithfully stood vigil over Henry's body and awaited his fate when Richard arrived and entered the abbey church his face was an emotionless mask for a long time he stood and looked down at his father the man he had essentially hounded to death he had everything he had fought for but perhaps he now reflected on what it had cost eventually Richard turned from the body and commanded the Marshall to join him outside Marshall Michael sir he said the other day you tried to kill me sir replied to Marshall I had no intention of killing you and didn't try and if I'd wanted I'd have buried it in your body as I buried it in your horse I don't think I was wrong to kill your melt and I'm not sorry I did Richard replied you're forgiven Marshall I shan't hold it against you thank you my dear Lord the Marshall said I have never wished to see you dead the Marshal had shown unswerving faithfulness as well as remarkable ability in war and politics and that was exactly the kind of man that Richard wanted around him to secure the martial's Loyalty Richard confirmed the old King's promise of the hand of Isabel declare which would make William one of the richest men in the Kingdom Marshall was also entrusted with an important mission to return to England at once to take charge of Richard's land and interests in August 1189 William married Isabelle he was about 43 years old and though his wife was Far younger it appears to have been a happy marriage they would have 10 children over the next 20 years five sons and five daughters and as far as we know William was never unfaithful the Marshall would be given the great honor of sitting on the Council of Regency that Richard appointed when he left Europe for the Third Crusade during his absence there were struggles for power within England amongst the magnates the most powerful of them was William Longchamp appointed as chief justice here who had enormous Authority despite being a Norman rather than English longshan clashed with the absent King's brother and William chose to back John ultimately Longchamp was stripped of his offices and he fled the kingdom Jon however began exploring ways to assert his own authority over that of the absent King even seeking to obtain Richard's duches by allying himself with King Philip II when Richard was captured on his journey home from the Holy Land John made a move to seize the throne for himself William Marshall true to form joined the faction that remained loyal to Richard John found himself in a rather weak military position and eventually agreed to a truce when in 1194 Richard finally returned from captivity John's forces surrendered and Jon gave himself up to his brother's Mercy William Marshall's elder brother John who William had now overtaken socially and politically chose the other side and was killed in the fighting King Richard then granted the hereditary martial ship and the Marshall family lands to the ever faithful William for the rest of Richard's reign Marshall even though he was in his 50s by now served Richard during the endless war against King Philip who sought to take the lionheart's duches and counties for himself when Richard was mortally wounded in the fighting the King on his deathbed commanded that the Marshal take charge of Ruan and the Royal treasure soon William would find himself serving yet another king and Son of Henry II but it would not be an easy relationship oh the succession was not simple with the death of the legendary Soldier Richard his enemies descended to seize his lands and war broke out almost everywhere there were many who argued The Heir should be Arthur of Brittany the son of John's older brother Jeffrey Arthur went so far as attacking Normandy and Jon undertook an incredible forced March taking their forces by surprise and taking off their prisoner after a year in captivity Arthur vanished the rumor was that Jon had killed him and perhaps he did through it all William Marshall loyally backed John however John was not the soldier that his brother Richard had been and even with the martial's help he could not hold Normandy against the sustained assault at the end of 1203 John abandoned Normandy and William Marshall left with him William was one of the ambassadors sent to negotiate with Philip during these negotiations William paid homage to Philip in exchange for keeping possession of his Norman lands Jon was Furious and William found himself distanced from the King for years John had a nasty habit of treating his nobility with contempt needlessly alienating many of them throughout his Reign and ultimately making life rather difficult for himself in 1207 John set his sights on Ireland intending to take control of Irish and anglo-norman lands there for the crown the Marshall had long been furthering his own interest in Ireland attempting to establish and expand his authority there this brought him into direct conflict with the interests of Jon who recalled William to court but it was a trap in John's presence William was publicly humiliated many of the Leading Men of his household even his own Kinsmen were given great rewards by the king removing them from William's influence and while the king had William with him his men moved to seize William's lands in Ireland however by all accounts William's wife Isabel and her loyal Knights did a great job in defending their territory John sent word that the three most prominent knights in the household had been summoned to court it was a sneaky move by using his Royal command to strip the martial dynasty of their most steadfast defenders in Ireland to refuse or royal summons would be worse than criminal it would be ruinous to them and their prospects but William Marshall was a man who valued loyalty and his lifelong virtues inspired similar feelings in the men who served him the three Knights chose their lord over their king and the assault on the martial lands Was Defeated it was one of Jon's many failures and miscalculations and he came to a weary compromise with the Marshal William's Second Son Richard was given over to John as a hostage John already had Williams firstborn son William in his care this was done to ensure the martial's ongoing loyalty spending much of the coming years in Ireland strengthening his position there William was summoned to court again in 1213 things had not been going very well for Jon his ill treatment of the Lords of the realm combined with his string of military failures and arguments with the church had placed him in a fragile position enemies within and Beyond The Kingdom gathered most sponsored by the cunning King Philip who dreamed of taking England for himself William had been treated as badly as anyone by Jon but he chose at this time to extend the hand of friendship to the king somehow marshaling 26 anglo-irish Barons to renew their Oaths of loyalty to the crown why would he Place himself in such danger when the safer course of action would have been to stand back and watch John fall well he secured the freedom of his sons William and Richard from John's clutches and surely that was an important consideration but he then threw himself fully behind John winning ever more of the royal favor he had lost when Jon found himself with so few friends he richly rewarded those that remained John launched an invasion of Normandy in 1213 when the English army was defeated in a pitched battle at buvin William was not there he was left to guard against opportunist attacks by the unruly Welsh but the defeat was so devastating that Jon's position was weakened still further and Rebellion spread across England factions coalesced around the king and his enemies and a full-scale civil war brood the Marshal was heavily involved in the negotiations to avoid all-out conflict and this resulted in 63 articles being drawn up by the rebellious Barons these were 63 demands that Jon would have to agree to in order to keep his kingdom this is the document signed in 1215 that would eventually become known as the great Charter or Magna Carta no one was quite happy with this Arrangement least of all John and soon he was attacking the rebels anyway using Flemish mercenaries to cut a swathe of Destruction through their lands as you might expect this only escalated things further and soon the English Barons were appealing to Philip II going as far as offering the crown of England to his son Prince Louis in exchange for Military Support the French led by Louis launched an invasion of the southeast of England in 1216 and Louis was soon declared King in London much of England was now conquered by Foreign soldiers and in open Rebellion against the king and by Autumn King John was dead of a bloody flux and the kingdom was ready to fall but now would come William's finest hour the Marshall had for much of this war been busy dealing with the rampaging Welsh but now he had a decision to make would he go over to King Louis of England the man of immense wealth and power now in control of much of the country or would he back the nine-year-old child Henry the pious son of the Dead King John William was about 69 years old at this point he had climbed to become one of the leading men of the Kingdom famous across Christendom for his Skillet arms and his unswerving loyalty to choose to support Henry would mean choosing almost certain defeat and all his lands entitled would be lost and the prospects of his sons and daughters would be dashed most men would have made the rational choice but what makes the Marshall into one of the greatest Knights you ever lived is that he repeatedly chose to serve higher ideals over material gain never in his life had he turned his back on a lord or a king and once again towards the end of his life he chose to honor his chivalric ideals and swore to protect the young Henry the biographer relates the moment that William took possession of the boy welcome sir young Henry said I entrust myself to God and to you praying you in God's name to care for me and may the true God who bestows all blessings grant that you manage our Affairs successfully and keep us safe my dear Lord the Marshal said to the small child I Faithfully swear upon my soul as long as I am able I shall be your loyal servant and ever mindful of your safety both the Marshall and the boy and all those around them were moved to tears it must have all seemed so hopeless and yet William wasted not a moment in rushing Henry to be crowned at Gloucester the meager royalist forces fell gratefully in behind his authority as guardian of the realm his strategies for winning back the kingdom were not just military but political he reissued Magna Carta and through his generosity and leniency brought over as many lords as he could to the boy King he also liquidated the Crown's jewels and raised as much cash as possible to fund the forces in the field but he could not keep the war going for long so he's sought to gamble on a grand engagement to decide matters one way or the other once and for all in 1217 now age 70 William Marshall Drew up his army in the center of England and looked for his battle Prince Louis sent half his army to attack the great castle at Dover while the rest he sent North where they took the important royalist town of Lincoln summoning all his strength Marshall LED his army in an attack on forces within the town sending a diversionary force of crossbowmen to scale the walls one of the gates was breached and the martial's Army surged into the town William led the charge from the front racing down the street on his War Horse and plunging deep into the rows of enemy Knights the fighting was bloody and brutal with hundreds of men and horses pressed into the tight confines of the streets with arrows raining down from above the French were pressed back into the square before Lincoln Cathedral where William fought the enemy Commander count Thomas of persh in combat William taking a series of blows to their head his helmet badly dented another Knight killed the count and the French Rebel forces broke fleeing in panic through the south gate they were pursued across the country and most were butchered as they fled or were taken prisoner while only 200 Knights escaped this incredible Victory caused a shocked Louis to give up his Siege of Dover and start negotiations while at the same time he sent for reinforcements from France this reinforcement fleet was caught by the English off sandwich and destroyed Prince Louis attempt to conquer England had failed and the rebel Barons fled his side and came over to Henry III Louis fled with his tail between his legs encouraged to go without delay by a generous payment against all the odds the guardian of the realm had succeeded in Saving it and secured the crown for the boy King Henry III the landless younger son of a middling Noble had risen to become the effective ruler of England and for a year and a half he continued to work tirelessly to stabilize the realm but his immense efforts took their toll and in 1219 he fell ill and retired to his bed as his energy drained away over the coming weeks he was surrounded by his loving wife and children and his faithful household retinue and he set his Affairs in order seeing to his mighty inheritance and the security of his children and his men in his last days he divulged his secret agreement with the Knights Templar decades before in the 1180s he had decided to join that order before his death and wished to receive a burial at their hands and in May 1219 he quietly passed away with his family around him foreign was taken to London where a large crowd of Barons escorted him to Westminster Abbey for a vigil and a mass before he was finally laid to rest in Temple Church in his funeral oration Archbishop Stephen Langton described William Marshall as the greatest Knight to be found in all the world he left his household in a magnificent position and he would have been sure that his lion would have gone on for Generations as one of the most powerful families in England unfortunately none of his five Sons were able to Father an heir so the male lion was extinguished after just one generation however his son William engaged a writer to record The Narrative of his father's extraordinary life based on written evidence and the stories of the men who knew him this is the first known biography of a medieval Knight and this remarkable Legacy provides a unique insight into the period and into one of the most remarkable men of the era William Marshall was a man of enormous ambition incredible skill in battle and politics under virtuous Knight who sought always to live up to the chivalric ideals of his age thank you to my patrons for supporting the channel if you enjoy my videos please do subscribe on patreon to ensure I can keep making them in future now please watch this video on the life of Richard the lionheart and check out my medieval history playlist for more Amazing Stories like this one thank you for watching [Music]

Channel: Dan Davis History

Views: 1,114,219

Keywords: medieval history, history of europe, history documentaries, William Marshal, william the marshal, the greatest knight, the greatest knight in history, the greatest knight william marshall documentary, medieval history documentary, medieval England, medieval france documentary, magna carta, king john, historical biography, the greatest knight william marshal, the greatest knight documentary, William the Marshal, William Marshall

Id: cTjQp_TQlXo

Length: 53min 24sec (3204 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 23 2023