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Title details for The Greatest Knight by Thomas Asbridge - Available

The Greatest Knight

The Remarkable Life of William Marshal, the Power Behind Five English Thrones

by Thomas Asbridge
Derek Perkins
Audiobook
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In The Greatest Knight, renowned historian Thomas Asbridge draws upon the thirteenth-century biography and an array of other contemporary evidence to present a compelling account of William Marshal's life and times. Asbridge charts the unparalleled rise to prominence of a man bound to a code of honor yet driven by unquenchable ambition.


Marshal was the true Lancelot of his era—a peerless warrior and paragon of chivalry. As a five-year-old boy, William was sentenced to execution and led to the gallows, yet this landless younger son survived his brush with death, and went on to train as a medieval knight. Against all odds, Marshal rose through the ranks—serving at the right hand of five English monarchs—to become a celebrated tournament champion, a baron and politician, and, ultimately, regent of the realm.


This knight's tale lays bare the brutish realities of medieval warfare and the machinations of royal court, and draws us into the heart of a formative period of our history. It is the story of one remarkable man, the birth of the knightly class to which he belonged, and the forging of the English nation.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 10, 2015

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781494590222
      • File size: 417291 KB
      • Duration: 14:29:21

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Derek Perkins skillfully narrates Asbridge's history of the exemplary twelfth-century knight William Marshall, whose story survives in a single, long-lost chronicle. Marshall rode and fought with Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine and their sons--Henry, Richard the Lionheart, and John--and his career paralleled the emerging codes of valor and chivalry. Perkins's voice has something of the medieval in it, and he easily fills the contours of a narrative that ranges from the manufacture of knight's armor to its bloody use on the field of battle. Here is Arthurian legend at its core--and one of the year's true sleepers. D.A.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      October 27, 2014
      Respected medievalist Asbridge (The Crusades: The War for the Holy Land) investigates the life of William Marshal (1147–1219), thought by many to have been the model for the perfect chivalrous knight. Most of William’s life comes from a highly colored biography commissioned by his family shortly after his death; Asbridge uses contemporary sources to flesh out the story and correct the panegyric. The strength of this work is the depiction of the early formation of the concept of knighthood and the unromantic life of a professional warrior. Asbridge also explains the political context of the time in a clear narrative. William, the younger son of a minor lord, grew wealthy and powerful through his military skill, but even more through his loyalty to the members of the family of Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine—a rare feat, considering the Plantagenets’ internecine battles. The story of William’s maturation from a freelance fighter to a statesman who managed his property and became the guardian for the young Henry III includes daily life, as well as politics. It is not always clear, however, which anecdotes are drawn from the biography and which are better substantiated; the maddening absence of footnotes spoils an otherwise excellent book.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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