12. Medieval England’s Greatest Knight
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1147 – 1219), was born to a minor noble in the court of King Stephen. He eclipsed his father and rose to become one of the most prominent knights of medieval England. During a long and illustrious career, William Marshal served four English monarchs – Henry II, Richard I, John I, and Henry III – as a soldier, statesman, advisor, marshal, and regent. Due to his tireless efforts, he saved the turbulent Plantagenet Dynasty from destruction, allowing its continuation for centuries to come.
King Stephen faced a rival claimant, the Empress Matilda, in a convoluted civil war known as The Anarchy. William’s father switched his allegiance to Matilda but was besieged by the king and forced to surrender. To ensure his father’s future good behavior, William was handed over as a hostage – a common medieval method for ensuring loyalty. It did not work on William’s father, who reneged despite the fact that his son was being held hostage. When the king threatened to kill the child, William’s father responded that he still had the “hammer and anvil” with which to forge more and better sons. Fortunately, Stephen could not bring himself to execute a child, so William was kept as a prisoner until The Anarchy ended.
