"The finest knight in all the world": the practical chivalry of Sir William Marshal

Send us a textThe life of Sir William Marshal reads like a medieval story book. Starting out as a landless squire whose only possession was family connections, Marshal rose from household knight to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful nobles in early thirteenth century England. Ultimately, he was chosen by his peers to be the guardian and regent of a boy king, during a French invasion abetted by a baronial revolt. William Marshal's remarkable rise was due to the qualities that made ...