The Greatest Knight: William Marshal, Part II

11/19/2022

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Close up of the face of a stone effigy of a knight

Close up of the probable effigy of William Marshal in Temple Church, London, England. Photograph by Christine Caccipuoti.

Continuing our look at the career of one of medieval England's most famous knights, Christine and Kristin turn their eyes to William Marshal's older years, including his marriage, his continued association with kings, and that time he was named regent of the kingdom.

Hosts: Christine and Kristin

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Further Reading

Thomas Asbridge, The Greatest Knight: The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, The Power Behind Five English Thrones, Ecco, (2014).

The History of William Marshal: The True Story of England’s Greatest Knight, trans. Nigel Bryant, Boydell Press (2018).

David Crouch, William Marshal: Knighthood, War and Chivalry, 1147-1219, 2nd Ed., Longman, (2002).

Ruth Davies, "William Marshal Statue Unveiled in Pembroke," Western Telegraph, (8 May 2022).

Georges Duby, William Marshal: The Flower of Chivalry, trans. Richard Howard, Pantheon (1985).

M.T. Flanagan, “Clare, Isabel de, suo jure countess of Pembroke (1171x6-1220)”, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, (2004; online edn, Sept 2010).

John Gillingham, Richard I, Yale University Press, (2002).

History of the Temple Church.

Magna Carta (1215), via British Library.

Magna Carta (1297), via US National Archives.

Pat Murphy, “A Medieval ‘Power Couple’: Isabel de Clare and William Marshal,” History Ireland 8:2, (2010): pp 14-17.

Nicholas Vincent, “William Marshal, King Henry II and the Honor of Châteauroux.” Archives: The Journal of the British Record Association, 25:102, (2000) via De Re Militari: The Society for Medieval Military History

W.L. Warren, Henry II, University of California Press, (1973).

--, King John, University of California Press, (1978).

Fiction

Elizabeth Chadwick, The Greatest Knight.

--, The Scarlet Lion.

Sharon Kay Penman's Angevin novels.

Related Content

The Greatest Knight: William Marshal, Part I

Music: "Evening Melodrama" by Kevin Macleod (www.incompetech.com)

A selfie of Kristin (A blonde woman with black glasses and a light t-shirt) with the effigy of William Marshal, a stone figure of a knight with a shield and sword

Kristin on one of her visits to William Marshal's effigy at Temple Church, London

Text: Plaster-casts were taken of five of the Church’s effigies in time for the Great Exhibition of 1851, before the Church and effigies were damaged in 1941. The casts are now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The V&A has generously lent us four of the casts, which lie here next to their originals. The effigies were laid out in their present disposition by Edward Richardson in 1841. Richardson (over-confidently) identified the effigy which he placed top-left in this southern group as the effigy of the great William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke; next to it he placed, as he believed, the effigy of William, the 2nd Earl. Prior to 1841, that cross-legged effigy was identified as the 1st Earl’s. On the night of 10 May 1941 the church was hit by an incendiary bomb. The burning roof of the Round came down onto the effigies. On the right is a photograph of the top-left effigy after the fire.

Placard in Temple Church that Christine referenced in the episode, in 2014

Christine (a woman with dark hair in a braid, wearing a dark blue coat), looking down at the stone knight effigy of William Marshal

Christine visiting William Marshal's effigy at Temple Church, London in 2014

The Greatest Knight: William Marshal, Part II

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