Shortly after “The Greatest Knight” by Elizabeth Chadwick came out in the early 2000s, I read this amazing story and it was the first time I read anything about William Marshal. Chadwick’s stories are among my favorite historical fiction reads. After I read her story, I did a little research om William Marshal but since then, hadn’t picked up a biography on his life. Recently I discovered Thomas Asbridge’s book about Marshall and the reviews have been promising.

I have been adding titles to my wish-list and for books I want to read in the fall-time or next year and I will definitely be reading Asbridge’s book.

I wish there was more time on the day because there are so many intriguing books out there that are calling to be read.

Stephanie

The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick by Elizabeth Chadwick

A penniless young knight, William Marshal is plucked from obscurity when he saves the life of Henry II’s formidable queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine. In gratitude, she appoints him tutor in arms to her son. However, being a royal favorite brings its share of conflict and envy. Besmirched by his enemies, banished from court, William seeks redemption in pilgrimages across Europe and the Holy Land, returning to find bygones forgotten and his prowess on the battlefield in demand. The only knight ever to unhorse the legendary Richard Coeur de Lion, William is offered the hand in marriage of Isabelle de Clare, 18-year-old ward of the King. Strangers to each other on their wedding day, the pair must immediately confront deadly political intrigue, strained family loyalties and betrayals. As King Richard prepares to depart on crusade, other men, including the King’s own brother John, are waiting for their moment to seize power – it is William’s duty to stand in their path…

The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones by Thomas Asbridge

Caught on the wrong side of an English civil war and condemned by his father to the gallows at age five, William Marshal defied all odds to become one of England’s most celebrated knights. Thomas Asbridge’s rousing narrative chronicles William’s rise, using his life as a prism to view the origins, experiences, and influence of the knight in British history.

In William’s day, the brutish realities of war and politics collided with romanticized myths about an Arthurian “golden age,” giving rise to a new chivalric ideal. Asbridge details the training rituals, weaponry, and battle tactics of knighthood, and explores the codes of chivalry and courtliness that shaped their daily lives. These skills were essential to survive one of the most turbulent periods in English history—an era of striking transformation, as the West emerged from the Dark Ages.

A leading retainer of five English kings, Marshal served the great figures of this age, from Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine to Richard the Lionheart and his infamous brother John, and was involved in some of the most critical phases of medieval history, from the Magna Carta to the survival of the Angevin/Plantagenet dynasty. Asbridge introduces this storied knight to modern readers and places him firmly in the context of the majesty, passion, and bloody intrigue of the Middle Ages.

The Greatest Knight features 16 pages of black-and-white and color illustrations.