William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Guillaume le Maréchal), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He has been described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" (Stephen Langton). He served four kings — Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, John and Henry III — and rose from obscurity to become a regent of England for the last of the four, and so, one of the most powerful men in Europe. Bef...
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William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Guillaume le Maréchal), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He has been described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" (Stephen Langton). He served four kings — Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, John and Henry III — and rose from obscurity to become a regent of England for the last of the four, and so, one of the most powerful men in Europe. Before him, the hereditary title of "Earl Marshal" designated a sort of head of household security for the king of England; by the time he died, people throughout Europe (not just England) referred to him simply as "the Marshal".
In 1152, when William was probably about six years old, his father John Marshal switched sides in the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda. According to one chronicler, when King Stephen besieged Newbury Castle, Stephen used the young William as a hostage to ensure that John kept a promise to surrender the...
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