William Marshal A Great Knight

Battle of Nottingham Castle 1194

Battle of 1217 William Marshal

William was a tall, dark-eyed handsome man with well and straightly- made limbs, as good a height as any gentleman could have, and holding a code of honour as genuine as those of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. Born in England in 1145 he spent most of his early life in Normandy though he always considered himself English. His grand- father served as a marshal at the court of Henry I, hence his name - a marshal is a subordinate of the constable who controls the lord's stables and horses. The office was hereditary but since William was the fourth son he succeeded to nothing and had to pay his own way in life by joining the tournament circuit. When only a boy, his father gave him to King Stephen as a hostage during Stephen's war with Empress Matilda and when the King threat- ened to hang the boy, William's father merely replied: 'The boy's life matters little to me for I possess the hammer and forge to produce another such - even finer.' When William wanted to play with the javelin of the knight escorting him to the gallows, swing on the very catapult by which they were going to project his dead body over the walls and asked what game the two armies were playing, King Stephen's heart melted and he treated William as if he was his own son. With peace restored, William was sent to his uncle in Normandy who held a powerful castle mustering nearly a hundred knights, and it was here, in this world of hunting, horses, cavalcades and manly sports, where he learned the art of fighting on horseback. He became a squire and some eight years later his uncle dubbed him a knight by striking his shoulders with a sword. The sword was William's only possession and with his apprenticeship over he now had to feed himself, so he set out to fight in the tournaments.

Hero of the Tournaments

Endowed with enthusiasm and an extraordinary skill at arms, he made himself the Hero of the Tournaments becoming the greatest soldier of his age - with the sole exception of King Richard. In his first tourney, William captured four and a half prisoners - he shared the fifth with a companion - and began to astonish everyone with his horsemanship and skill with weaponry. He was joined by Young Henry, eldest son of King Henry 11, and after two years had raised the English team to the front rank. In the next five years he captured hun- dreds of knights in tourneys. After one tournament, the ladies decided to present him with a large pike because he was the knight who had fought most worthily and after much searching they found him kneeling in the blacksmith's shop with his head on the anvil. William had received so many blows to his helmet, twisting it and bending it, that the blacksmith was trying to knock it back into shape. William learned that no knight could survive on his own; what he needed was the patronage of a wealthy household so he returned to England to join the household of his mother's brother, Patrick of Salis- bury. When King Henry II selected Patrick to escort Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine to Poitiers there began William's long allegiance to the An- gevin royal family. On their way to Poitiers, Queen Eleanor's party ran into trouble. Traveling through Normandy, the Lusignans struck from ambush, one of them stabbing Patrick of Salisbury in the back. An enraged William Marshal charged forward like a lion, attacking a dozen of the ambushers at once until a lance pierced his thigh and he fell wounded from his horse while Queen Eleanor was escorted to safety. The Lusignans then carried him off as a ransom prize, not bothering to dress his wounds. When Queen Eleanor learned of William's plight, she ransomed him back, fed him, and gave him money and arms, and from then on his allegiance to Queen Eleanor never wavered. When William's enemies accused him of sleeping with Young Henry's wife, daughter of King Louis of France and an admirer of William, he claimed trial by combat to prove his innocence. He offered to confront the three most valorous champions, one after the other; or alternatively, cut off any finger of his right hand and fight any one of his accusers. When King Henry refused his offer, William set off on a pilgrimage to Cologne to visit the relics of the Three Wise Men in the hope of being washed clean of all suspicion. Unfortunately Young Henry died of dysentery and on his deathbed bequeathed the cross he had taken as a crusader to William. 'Carry it to the Holy Sepulchre and pay my debt to God,' Henry pleaded, and so William did.

Crusader

After two years fighting in Syria with Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusa- lem, William returned home to join King Henry, who was fighting his two remaining sons Richard and John and it was during a skirmish in Normandy that William had his famous encounter with Richard. Hard on the heels of William's rearguard, Richard was suddenly confronted by William, who had turned and charged with lance leveled. Neither wore armour, since neither expected a fight, and Richard was at William's mercy. 'By God's legs, do not kill me, Marshal, for I am unarmed,' Richard pleaded. 'No, let the devil kill you, for I won't,' William answered and ran his lance through Richard's horse. When King Henry 11 died, William helped carry his body to the nearby Abbey of Fontevraud and at the funeral, the new King Richard told William: 'You are pardoned; I bear you no malice.' As the new King of England, Richard sent William back to England to free his mother Queen Eleanor from imprisonment; and since William was still a poor bachelor, he was also granted the hand of Isabel of Clare, heiress to the lordship of Leinster - a quarter of Ireland. When King Richard set sail for the Holy Land to wage war against Saladin in the Third Crusade, William Marshal did not join him as he had already made the journey to the Holy Lord to seek God's mercy - Richard probably wanted him to stay home as he trusted him alongside his mother Queen Eleanor though not his brother John. William helped to oversee King Richard's preparations for the crusade before beginning a new life as Lord of Striguil - a powerful baron on the Welsh March. It included the stone castles of Usk and Striguil, and Striguil itself became his main residence. His new wife Isabel gave birth to their first child named 'Young William' and both William and Isabel became patrons of Tintern Abbey of the Cistercian order. Battle of Nottingham Castle

King Richard failed to take Jerusalem and came to an agreement with Saladin, but on his journey home he was imprisoned in Durnstein Castle and held to ransom for 150,000 marks by the Holy Roman Emperor King Henry. When the ransom was delivered by his mother Queen Mother Eleanor, King Richard was finally released. But his brother John had tried to convince everyone that King Richard was dead and had installed his troops in the castles of Wallingford, Windsor, Tickhill and Notting- ham. Whilst the castles of Wallingford and Windsor were handed over to Queen Eleanor, John retained Tickhill and Nottingham, their garrisons believing that King Richard was dead. Hugh, Bishop of Durham, was besieging Tickhill Castle but when the garrison sent out two knights to check and were told that King Richard had returned from imprisonment, and were also assured of their safety in life and limb - they surrendered. Nottingham Castle continued to stubbornly resist where the Earl of Huntingdon, brother of the King of Scotland, led the besiegers, stone throwers, siege machines, chains, shields, arrows, bolts and Greek fire that had all been brought up outside the castle for support.

Castle Attack

To attack Nottingham Castle, or any castle, was an awesome task. Since the south and west cliffs were 130 feet high, the defenders only had to defend the north and east and a close look at the Castle's fortifications would have shown that on these two sides the walls were very strong. Watch towers were regularly spaced ahead of the Castle wall putting any assailant well within range of the defenders' deadly arrows and missiles. This outer wall was 40 feet high and 15 feet thick at the bottom, stretching 100 yards either side of the Castle gate with surmounted battlements that were reinforced with six bastions at regular intervals. It would need a big siege engine to break through these walls. Alternatively, you could storm the Castle gate but you would need to first cross the outer stone bridge over the ravine and overcome the drawbridge, not forgetting that the Castle gate is flanked by two drum towers with slit windows for firing arrows as you attack. Forcing your way through the Castle gate is only the first step. At the top of the hill you would have to cross another bridge, followed by a moat with a drawbridge that has another gate for you to fight through before you reach the main stronghold. If by some miracle you have breached this gate you will face the impregnable keep. Built of squared stone 15 feet thick and cemented with mortar that sets like stone, the rectangular keep is four stories high with a tower at each corner and pilaster buttresses and there are no windows, only loop-holes through which defenders fire arrows at you. You can only enter the keep from one direction - up an outside staircase at the top of which you'll find the first of three doors. The passage above the first door holds arrow-loops to enable defenders to snipe at you. Having battled past that, more arrows will come at you from a slit above the middle door before a flight of steps takes you up to the first floor. Confronting you now is a portcullis where boiling lead will pour down on your head from holes above the door. Narrow steps would take you up to the top floor and final stronghold usually occupied by the Governor who would fight to hold the Castle till his dying breath.

King Richard

On 25 March, King Richard arrived outside the castle gates accompanied by a loud blowing of trumpets and horns and a multitude of men includ- ing William Marshal. The King pitched his tents so close to the castle walls that one of the archers on the battlements shot dead one of the King's men right at his feet. In his anger, Richard put on his armour, and with William Marshal, headed an assault on the castle to such good effect that he captured the outer works, burned some of the gates and killed a knight with his own hand. The Constable of the castle then sent out two knights under a safe conduct to see if the King was truly present and sure enough they found him dining with Bishop Hugh. 'Well now, what do you think? Am I the king or not?' asked the King when they stumbled into his tent. 'You are,' they quiveringly replied and immediately knelt before their sovereign, before he sent them scurrying back to the castle with their confirmation to the Constable. Later that night, William of Wenneval, Roger Muntbegun and twelve others surrendered themselves directly to the King, throwing themselves upon the mercy of their sovereign. Early the next day, the entire garrison surrendered.

War in France

King Richard now needed all his commanders, including William Mar- shal, for the coming war with the French and he set sail for Normandy in May 1194. Richard pardoned the duplicitous indiscretions of his brother John who was allowed to serve in his brother's army. King Richard devoted the next four years to a grinding war in northern France with William Marshal, at his side, as one of his leading command- ers so they became comrades in arms. Though now in his fifties William could still be found in the front line and in command. He occasionally visited home and at odd times his wife visited him in Normandy while their family grew with another son Richard and a daughter Matilda. In mid-March 1199 Richard left William to watch over Normandy and travelled south to Limoges and the small castle of Chalus where he sent in his sappers to undermine the walls. At dusk, Richard confidently surveyed the castle without his hauberk and from the battlements a lone bowman shot an arrow into his shoulder. A surgeon removed the arrow that same night but the wound turned gangrenous. Richard dispatched an instruction to William Marshal to take control of Rouen, and sent for his mother who was residing at Fontevraud. She rushed south to attend his deathbed. Richard declared John to be his lawful successor before he died on 6 April 1199. He was laid to rest at the feet of his father at Fontevraud Abbey.

King John

William Marshal had now outlived three anointed kings and threw his weight behind John's claim to the throne against the claim of twelve year old Arthur of Brittany, so abiding by King Richard's wishes. After John's coronation Marshal was granted the earldom of Pembroke bringing a major lordship to west Wales. He was also appointed sheriff of Glouces- tershire with the keeping of the royal castles of Gloucester and Bristol and was now one of the most powerful men in England. But King John was not an easy man to follow and proved to be a troubled and trouble- some king. He was petty and malicious and William Marshal's unflinch- ing loyalty was put to the ultimate test. In the early years of his reign, King John benefited from the guidance of his mother Eleanor of Aquitaine, despite being in her seventies and till she went into permanent retirement. When King John captured Arthur of Brittany, his rival for the throne, imprisoned him and allowed him to disappear without trace, his fortunes went downhill. The final axe fell in 1204 with the death of Queen Eleanor and the loss of Normandy to King Philip - the Angevin empire forged by Henry 11 was lost by his youngest son John, now known as 'Softsword'. Most of the barons were Anglo- Norman by birth, holding land on both sides of the Channel, and so those with larger estates in Normandy remained in Normandy.

Lands in Normandy

William Marshal had a strong affinity to Normandy and did not want to give up his estate of Longueville in Normandy. He petitioned King John with a proposal that he would acknowledge King Philip's overlordship in Normandy and hold his Normandy lands from him, yet remain a servant of King John in England. William obtained consent from King John for this in the Spring of 1205 but King Philip cunningly went further and insisted that William recognise him as his liege-lord on his side of the Channel. William reluctantly agreed but King John was so incensed at this that William was on bad terms with him for a long time. Also William had to hand over his eldest son, fifteen year old Young William Marshall into care of King John, passed off as royal wardship but in reality was a hostage for his father's behaviour. Now in his sixties William began to pour more time and energy from his power base in Striguil into Wales. Asserting his authority in Leinster, Ireland, further angered King John and relations between the two became further embittered. In 1208 William Marshal was deviously forced to join King John's court in England while forces sympathetic to the King launched an offensive against Leinster. But Marshal's forces prevailed in his absence, which forced some reconciliation, and so William returned to Leinster.to further strengthen his power. By 1212 King John had accumulated a long list of embittered enemies among the barons by bleeding them dry with swingeing taxation and so they refused to take part in his military campaigns. His relations with the Roman church had denigrated such that he had been excommunicated and England was placed under papal interdict - church bells fell silent. With an outburst of native Welsh insurrection, John hanged twenty-eight hostages at Nottingham Castle and then fearful of a conspiracy to over- throw him he surrounded himself with an armed guard. In an exchange of letters, King John attempted to secure William Marshal's loyalty. While William Marshal offered his assistance and recommended that he agree peace terms with the pope; and perhaps he could release his two sons that John was holding in his custody. By early 1213 his two sons were released and William was drawn back into the world of politics and war. In 1214, using all the resources he could muster in the hope of recover- ing the Angevin regime, King John invaded France but it turned into a complete disaster when he lost the battle of Bouvines to King Philip of France - William Marshal had remained in England defending the March against a Welsh counter-attack. A tide of unrest swept across England and as civil war loomed attempts were made to broker an agreement.

Magna Carta

William Marshal served as King John's leading negotiator as the settle- ment of the was deliberated. His connections with the Templars, his own difficulties with King John, and the respect for him by the barons, made him an ideal choice. He worked in association with Archbishop Langton and their first meeting with the barons in January 1215 took place at London's New Temple (Templar's centre of opera- tions). After much argument - rebel barons had taken control of London in May - the Magna Carta was signed at an obscure spot in the countryside at Runnymede on 15 June 1215. There were no signatures, just validation from the royal seal. Four copies survive - two in the British Library in London, one in Salisbury Cathedral and one in Lincoln Cathedral, though no sooner was it sealed by King John then he sought to overturn it. In September, using Flemish mercenaries, King John began an attack against rebellious barons and seized after a seven-week siege. He then began a destructive campaign of ravaging rebel-held territory across the country of such brutality that had not been seen since the dark days of King Stephen's reign. Pushed into a corner, rebellious rebel barons offered the English crown to Prince Louis of France, son of King Philip. Claiming his right to rule through his marriage to King Henry 11's granddaughter, Prince Louis sent an advanced detachment of troops to London, and when he arrived with the full might of his armies at Sandwich in Kent on 22 May 1216, King John retreated to Corfe Castle in Dorset. Prince Louis advanced through Kent, seizing Canterbury and Winches- ter Castles - Dover, Windsor and Lincoln Castles were holding out. The defence of Lincoln Castle was organised by the formidable Lady Nicola de la Haye who had assumed the role of castellan after the death of her husband and son. Meanwhile William Marshal, now a man of power and responsibility with a vast lordship, remained on the southern Welsh March holding the west of England for King John. His relationship with King John had been troubled and tempestuous, and he may have had good reason to detest his monarch, but he never deserted him.

Death of King John

King John had marched north hoping to mount one last campaign and relieve the siege of Lincoln Castle by Anglo-French forces but contracted a violent fever in early October. On 18 October at Newark he is said to have made a deathbed confession of his sins and hoped that William Marshal might forgive the harm and wrongs which he had unjustly done to him. Later that night he died, having presided over the disintegration of the Angevin Empire. His body was carried to Worcester Cathedral and William Marshal came north from Gloucester to bury yet another king. William Marshal had now served and survived four crowned and anointed monarchs. He had never turned his back on a lord or king for he was a warrior and a knight with ideals of chivalry, pursuing and preserv- ing honour, and so he placed the full weight of his support behind King John's young son Henry and his claim to the throne. He had to act quickly for Prince Louis of France may seek to have himself proclaimed King as the rebellious barons and their French allies controlled Westminster Abbey. On 28 October the boy was crowned and anointed as Henry 111 at Gloucester Cathedral after William Marshal had dubbed him a knight. The next day William Marshal agreed to take on the role of guardian of the realm whatever it may cost him.

Magna Carta Re-issued

William Marshal and the Italian papal legate Guala of Bicchieri re-issued the Magna Carta on 12 November 1216 in Henry 111's name as a statement of intent, declaring Henry's willingness to rule with a fair and even hand. It was shorter with forty clauses instead of sixty three and gave an assurance of rights with the support of a papal legate Guala which bore his seal and that of William Marshal, the guardian of the realm. The Great Charter had been resurrected. During the winter a number of barons declared their allegiance to King Henry 111, disenchanted by their ill-mannered French allies. In the following May, Prince Louis decided to sweep up the remaining pockets of royalist resistance in Eastern England before driving westwards. Dividing his army in two, he led a force to relieve , while another force was sent north to assist their besieging force at Lincoln Castle. This would bring their strength up to around 600 knights and several thousand infantry. Battle of Lincoln Castle

Lincoln's outer battlements had fallen but Nicola de la Haye retained control of its heavily fortified castle. William Marshal saw that defeating the Anglo-French forces besieging Lincoln Castle, whilst Prince Louis was besieging Dover Castle, could be the opportunity to turn the tide against the French and rebel barons. Assembling every bit of fighting manpower that he could, William mustered the royalist forces at Newark - the site of King John's death. It comprised about 400 knights, 300 crossbowmen and a large mixed force of followers. Earl Marshal was in command and also present was the armour-clad bishop William , William Longsword, nephew John Marshal and son Young William Marshal. It was a gamble but it had to be taken. Papal legate Guala of Bicchieri performed the ritual of Mass and William Marshal made a rousing speech. Lincoln was built on the north bank of the river Witham inside Roman battlements that rose up a steep slope with five gateways to a long ridge that enclosed a twelfth century Norman castle, as well as a towering cathedral. The French and rebel barons were stationed inside the town walls, and with siege engines and stone throwing machines they were trying to break through the castle's inner defences that were held by forces commanded by Lady Nicola de la Haye. To attack them from the south would mean William’s forces crossing the bridge over the river Witham and fighting uphill, but coming from the north would give the advantage of fighting downhill once they had got through the upper town. The royalists camped eight miles north-west of Lincoln and before dawn marched on the town in seven detachments with crossbowmen in the vanguard. They arrived at Lincoln around 6 am. on Saturday 20 May 1217. Despite his age of seventy years William Marshal would not direct the battle from a distance but would throw himself into the thick of the fighting and was reported as telling his troops 'to seize this chance to free our land and seek the eternal glory of victory.' Once alerted to the royalists approach the besiegers saw no reason for a direct strike so withdrew inside the town walls and deployed troops to defend the battlements and hold the northern gate.

First Response

Earl William had to find a way into the town for any delay would allow Prince Louis time to march north and bolster the Anglo-French position, so he sent a number of reconnaissance parties to find points of access. One party found a sizable gate on the north-east side that had been blocked by masonry and rubble and with enough men could be cleared to make a path into the town. A diversion was created by knights attacking the northern gate while crossbowmen peppered the Anglo- French inside the town walls. Clearing the rubble was unnoticed by the Anglo-French forces though it took several hours and the royalists now had a route into the town. A large force of knights mounted their horses and William Marshal pushed to the front and shouting: 'Ride on!' spurred his mount forward toward the newly opened gate. But he had forgotten to don his helmet until a squire politely pointed this out to him. Donning his helmet he then led the charge threw the gate. Riding alongside were his son Young William Marshal and Peter des Roches, and they raced down Westgate street, then turned right in front of the castle where the Anglo-French forces were being peppered with arrows from the royalist crossbowmen. An engineer about to unleash a missile on the castle from a siege engine had his head cut off before the fighting dissolved into a frenzied melee. William Marshal had a life-long experience of close quarter combat but at seventy years of age he was hard pressed to hold his own. The outcome of the battle hung in the balance as the French commander, Count Thomas of Perche, rallied his troops in front of the cathedral and began to regain some ground; but when he received a deadly blow through the visor of his helmet, the French forces were so dismayed they began to retreat south into the lower town. The Earl of Chester had broken through the north gate and joined the fighting and so an attempted counter attack by the Anglo-French was beaten back. A full-scale rout began with many of the fleeing French caught in the bottleneck of the southern gate and the bridge over the Witham. Pursued for miles, many of the Anglo-French forces were butchered but most taken as prisoners. William Marshal had led the royalists to a stunning victory, surviving the brutal encounter, battered but unscathed. He immediately set off riding to Northampton to give the news to Henry 111 that the tide had turned and he would soon be ruler of the realm - not the French. Prince Louis of France immediately broke off his siege of Dover and retreated to London. Negotiations for a settlement began straightaway but broke down and many barons now deserted the French and returned to the royalist camp. In late August 1217 a large army of French reinforcements set sail from Calais in a last ditch attempt to snatch victory. A makeshift English fleet sailed from Sandwich and Earl William alongside Henry 111 watched from the shore. It was a vicious affair with an estimated 4,000 dead or drowned but the English scored a second historic victory that day. Earl William now encircled London and peace negotiations began anew. A peace treaty was finally agreed before Earl William escorted Prince Louis to Dover and watched him set sail for France in the knowl- edge that he had secured Henry's right to rule and saved the kingdom. Death and Burial

Over the next eighteen months Earl Marshal did what he could to consolidate King Henry's position before the incessant demands took their toll and he fell ill. Extraordinarily healthy throughout his long life, he was now plagued with pain and illness. He left London and moved to his home at Caversham on the river Thames near Reading.

As his life slowly ebbed away he was attended by his wife Isabel and his son Young William. His daughters arrived, the youngest one singing to him. The earl spoke his last words: 'I am dying and commend you to God. I am no longer able to think of your needs, for I cannot fight against death.' After services at Reading Abbey and Westminster Abbey, the earl was laid to rest in the round Temple Church in London, having left the Templars ‘a fine manor in Upleadon to enjoy in perpetuity'. The tomb effigy of this peerless warrior can still be seen today, having survived a Second World War bombing raid. Recommended comprehensive reading: The Greatest Knight by Thomas Asbridge printed by Simon and Schuster

www.sherwoodsongbook.co.uk Robin and Marian A Musical Play & Wipers Times Extracts plus Albert Ball VC, Fred Karno, Morgan Kingston, Eric Coates and Sherwood Rangers. Sherwood Spirit Biographies of Famous Nottinghamshire Folk Sherwood Times 1194 A Local Newspaper Features Stories, Fashion, Sport, Interviews with Robin Hood and Alan a Dale, plus Portraits of King Richard, Earl John and Eleanor of Aquitaine. Bygone Cricket Early Cricket in Nottinghamshire