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Blood and virtue
Although many people have never heard of William Marshal, he is often considered “the greatest knight who ever lived.” In the 12th century, when social mobility seemed impossible, William managed to rise from “the least likely to succeed,” fourth-born son of a stable manager to the apex of power. William became an undefeated tournament champion, advisor to kings, and one of the most influential men in English history. Indeed, nothing in the fictional worlds of Game of Thrones or Wheel of Time surpasses what happened to William in his real life. Blood and Virtue tells the previously untold story of William’s tumultuous early years.
As a young boy of small stature, William is more inclined to sew and sing than fight. Bullies torment him and his father becomes so disgusted by his lack of initiative that he hands him over to King Stephen’s army as a kind of human sacrifice during a siege. King Stephen finds William too charming to kill and instead puts him to work. As a servant for King Stephen's household, William makes new friends, falls in lust, and learns the secrets of survival that serve him for the rest of his life. 
Medieval Moment 18: Big ideas vs. sensory thrills in centuries 12 & 21
A writer named Pitirim Sorokin in his books Social and Cultural Dynamics and The Crisis of Our Age, published in the 1940s, postulated that civilizations veer between fundamental big ideas (ideational) and the valuing of sensory experiences (sensate). Twelfth century England was strongly ideational, as Christianity pervaded the government, the arts, the military, social relationships, diet, politics, education, and most aspects of daily life. In contrast, the 21st century seems obsessed with what an individual experiences, i.e., what you can taste, smell, feel, see, and touch right now. Think Food Channel, opulent cruises, $100 concert tickets, a day at the spa, the M.B.A., celebrity billionaires. 
Medieval Moment 16: Lances a Lot
In doing research on the battles leading up to the Wallingford Castle encounter between the armies of King Stephen and Henry, I read about the popularity of lances as weapons of intimidation and disruption during the 12th century. To be honest, I was skeptical of accounts that recounted the high regard for lances. After all, lances were bulky, hard to handle, and made of wood so they could only be used once. Apparently, much of their appeal was that they were 9 feet long and, if you hit someone in the chest or head while riding fast, the momentum could kill them. But, why a one-use "long stick" and not an axe or a spear, which you can throw and are made of reusable metal? Dunno. But, lances remained popular for hundreds of years. 
Medieval Moment 14: Hildegard of Bilgen Hildegard, a saint who was named "doctor of the church" by the pope in 2012, was a 12th century nun who saw visions of God and wrote and composed music about them (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcnC816tyd0&list=RDIcnC816tyd0&start_radio=1). Three favorite quotations from her writing: “Dare to declare who you are. It is not far from the shores of silence to the boundaries of speech. The path is not long, but the way is deep. You must not only walk there, you must be prepared to leap.” “There is the music of Heaven in all things.” "We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion." |
Medieval times
In medieval times, record-keeping was sporadic and unreliable. The main document of William Marshal's life was a biographical poem commissioned by his youngest son, Anselm, a project that was begun near the end of William's life. If you are a traveling minstrel being paid a tidy sum to write a biography of a rich and powerful man, you probably would not "go gonzo" in your reporting and "dish the dirt." Instead, you might spin events positively.
If you are William, a battle-weary, 74-year-old warrior at the end of life, your memory might not be totally objective. Yet, the long poem commissioned by Anselm is the most comprehensive and authentic account of William's life. I started out thinking that I was going to write a short children's book about William, but the deeper I delved, the more fascinated I became. How did a small boy, rejected by his father, manage to endure, let alone become "the world's greatest knight?" The "medieval moments" described below attempt to characterize the 12th century from the perspective of a bedazzled writer living today (me). Medieval Moment 19: Power & status
In 12th century England, wealth was tied to the land. Up to 90% of the population were peasants who owned little to nothing and worked the land on behalf of the nobles. A handful of families were at the top of the hierarchy. They created and enforced laws, owned the land, and fought diligently to keep wealth within the family. Stone castles served as effective bastions to help maintain control over a geographic area. The legal system, created by the nobles, favored the rich, of course. While a peasant who murdered a noble would be executed promptly, a noble who murdered a peasant usually avoided any punishment whatsoever. These conditions--10% of the population owning 90% of the wealth and rich people getting away with crimes by paying off government officials--are not aberrations of a far-off, unenlightened "dark age." These deplorable conditions are alive and well in many countries around the world today. 
Medieval Moment 17: How tall was "tall" during the 12th century?
I've read hundreds of books on medieval times and William Marshal. Uniformly, all the depictions of William in historical works, as well as in fiction, describe him as being tall and muscular. All the books are in agreement on this. Yet, the archeological evidence suggests that William was only about 6 feet tall. "Yes," you might be thinking, "Six feet tall must have been giant for the 12th century." So, I researched it, and historians agree that the average height of an English male adult in the 12th century was between 5'7" and 5"8". Today, the average height of an Englishman is 5'9", a difference of an inch or two. So, William may have been a little taller than average, but at 6 feet, he was not a giant. William Hurt (left) depicted William Marshal in Ridley Scott's film version of ROBIN HOOD. Hurt is 6'2" and fit, though not particularly muscular. Few people would call William Hurt a giant. Ditto for William Marshal.
Medieval Moment 15: History written by the winners.
By all accounts, King Stephen's son Prince Eustace was the consummate knight--skilled, powerful, smart, chivalrous--and heir to the throne of England. Yet, a few accounts, mostly from writers affiliated with Henry II, claim that Eustace IV was a murderous hothead who got angry one day and decided to slay all the nuns at Bury Saint Edmunds. According to this story, after slaughtering all the nuns, God struck him down dead right then and there. Right. The story just doesn't fit. King Stephen's mother was a saint and Eustace's sister joined a convent. Both King Stephen and Eustace helped fund the building of Faversham Abbey, where they are both buried and where they helped established a free hospital and orphanage. In my second book portraying the life of the young William Marshal, I suggest a different cause of Eustace IV's death, one that is more aligned with history. 
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Medieval Moment 13: What is an hour?
In 12th century Europe, the day started at dawn and lasted until sundown. In the winter, when daylight was shorter, an hour could be 30 minutes. In summer, when days were longer, an hour might have been 90 minutes. Using 6 a.m. (sunrise) as a starting point, the day would be divided into intervals based upon the remaining daylight. Initially, monks ate their big meal of the day, dinner, at 3 p.m. which was 9 hours (nona hora) from the beginning of the day (6 a.m). Apparently, monks didn't like waiting so long to eat their big meal of the day, and kept moving back the start time for dinner until they were eating at 12 o'clock, not 3 p.m. Yet, "nona" (noon), which initially meant ninth, stayed with the 12 o'clock time for the meal. If time were going to adhere to the Latin representation for numbers, noon would be called "sexta hora" (or sixth hour from 6 a.m.).
So, next time you plan on meeting a friend for lunch, you can say "I'll see you at the restaurant at "sexta hora."
In 12th century Europe, the day started at dawn and lasted until sundown. In the winter, when daylight was shorter, an hour could be 30 minutes. In summer, when days were longer, an hour might have been 90 minutes. Using 6 a.m. (sunrise) as a starting point, the day would be divided into intervals based upon the remaining daylight. Initially, monks ate their big meal of the day, dinner, at 3 p.m. which was 9 hours (nona hora) from the beginning of the day (6 a.m). Apparently, monks didn't like waiting so long to eat their big meal of the day, and kept moving back the start time for dinner until they were eating at 12 o'clock, not 3 p.m. Yet, "nona" (noon), which initially meant ninth, stayed with the 12 o'clock time for the meal. If time were going to adhere to the Latin representation for numbers, noon would be called "sexta hora" (or sixth hour from 6 a.m.).
So, next time you plan on meeting a friend for lunch, you can say "I'll see you at the restaurant at "sexta hora."
Medieval Moment 12: Six secrets to good health from Tacuinum Sanitatis, an 11th century book
Originally written in Arabic by Ibn Butlan, a physician and Christian theologian from Bagdad, Tacuinum Sanitatis was written in the 11th century and reprinted with increasingly elaborate illustrations over time. The book's recommendations for the six secrets to good health are as follows:
1. Food and drink in moderation
2. Fresh air
3. Alternating activity with rest
4. Getting good sleep and being alert when awake
5. Keeping the four humors (black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood) in balance
6. A positive and composed state of mind
The Tacuinum Sanitatis says that illness follows when these six rules are broken.
Originally written in Arabic by Ibn Butlan, a physician and Christian theologian from Bagdad, Tacuinum Sanitatis was written in the 11th century and reprinted with increasingly elaborate illustrations over time. The book's recommendations for the six secrets to good health are as follows:
1. Food and drink in moderation
2. Fresh air
3. Alternating activity with rest
4. Getting good sleep and being alert when awake
5. Keeping the four humors (black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood) in balance
6. A positive and composed state of mind
The Tacuinum Sanitatis says that illness follows when these six rules are broken.
Medieval Moment 11: Wine is good!
I enjoyed this comment on wine and bread from the book--Life in the Middle Ages, (R. Delort, 1972, p. 39)
"Wind and bread, the two elements of Holy Communion, were essentially the food of Christians. Wine was deemed to:
nourish the body, restore health, ward off sickness, help the digestion, intensify the natural warmth, clarify the ideas, open the arteries, refresh the brain, relieve congestion of the liver, cure melancholy, and favor procreation.
Seems like a list to keep handy in case anyone criticizes your wine consumption.
I enjoyed this comment on wine and bread from the book--Life in the Middle Ages, (R. Delort, 1972, p. 39)
"Wind and bread, the two elements of Holy Communion, were essentially the food of Christians. Wine was deemed to:
nourish the body, restore health, ward off sickness, help the digestion, intensify the natural warmth, clarify the ideas, open the arteries, refresh the brain, relieve congestion of the liver, cure melancholy, and favor procreation.
Seems like a list to keep handy in case anyone criticizes your wine consumption.
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Medieval Moment 10:
The environment of the 12th century was DIFFERENT from ours Several recent books I have been reading note that vegetation and animals were noticeably DIFFERENT in the 12th century than now. For example, many plants that were abundant in the 12th century have disappeared; other plants that seem to be everywhere today were not around centuries ago. Many animals have fundamentally changed, too. Apparently, pigs were ubiquitous in the 12th century, but they were hairy and tended to be muscular and slender with long legs! It wasn't until the 18th century, when Europe's hairy, muscular pigs were interbred with Chinese, shorter-legged, smooth-skinned, plump pigs that the pigs that most of us recognize today came into being. The image is an illustration of a pig from a manuscript from the early Middle Ages. A tad more athletic-looking than Porky, eh?
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Medieval Moment 9: Marriage
In the 12th century, there was a shift in the institution of marriage. Previously, if a man and woman lived together, they would just tell everyone, "Hey, we're married now." Sometimes they would have a small ceremony; sometimes there was no ceremony. However, the church started keeping records on the village residents, perhaps influenced by William the Conqueror, who ordered a formal survey of people and possessions in much of England and parts of Wales--called the Domesday Book. Beginning in the 12th century, churches became places where most baptisms, funerals, and marriages were performed and records were kept . Churches became so associated with these life events that, in some areas, couples who did not get married in the church were thought to be "living in sin." |
Medieval Moment 8: The Book of the Civilized Man
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I have had great fun reading The Book of the Civilized Man, a book written in the 12th century. Many of the entries are as relevant today as they were almost 1000 years ago. Here's a few zingers from section 1:
***Nothing in the world will be a surer help to you than proper manners. ***Law and reason teach us to despise evil habits, so do not become a haughty, lecherous man, a belittler, a miserly, wasteful, fickle, gloomy, stupid, slanderous, gullible man who delights in the pain of others. ***Do not go around all puffed up, even if your birth ennobles you. The more power you have, the more prudent you should be. ***A faithful friend really is rarer than a white raven. ***A stupid man is fooled twice, but a wise man only once. ***Stop speaking when you are addressed; shut your mouth with a lasting lock, and turn your attention to the speaker. Some amusing ones: ***Do not harm your enemy when he is defecating or sleeping for it dishonors you to harm someone in that condition. ***The master of the house may urinate in the fireplace, but guests should not. |
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Medieval Moment 7: Carmina Burana
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I have never forgotten hearing the dramatic, electrifying opening of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana for the first time. In case you are not familiar with it, Carmina Burana is an incredible piece of music. What I did not know until recently was that the Carmina Burana text originated in the 11th and 12th centuries. An excerpt of the lyrics:
Fate, as vicious as capricious, You're a wheel whirling around: Evil doings, worthless wooings, Crumble away to the ground: Darkly stealing, unrevealing, Working against me you go: For your measure of foul pleasure Bare-backed I bow to your blow. |
Medieval Moment 6: 12th century law in England and Europe
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In 12th century England and Europe, the handling of justice was complicated. Local disputes and minor offenses tended to be addressed in manorial courts, presided over by the local lord or his representative. Within these courts, tenants or villeins often participated, sometimes presenting offenses or acting as jurors. However, as dependents of the lord, their ability to challenge his interests was limited. At the same time, royal courts were expanding, increasingly handling serious crimes and land disputes, while Church courts dealt with matters of faith, clergy, marriage, and wills.
In the 12th century, legal treatment was contingent on a person's wealth and social stature. Hmm….not sure the extent to which that has changed in the 21st century.. Anyway, the 'Benefit of Clergy' offered a potential escape route from some punishments, particularly the death penalty. If an accused person in a royal court could prove basic literacy through reading a Bible verse in Latin, their case could be transferred to a church court, which imposed different, generally less physically severe, penalties. |
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Medieval Moment 5: Universities were originally created to certify teachers
"Historically, all degrees are in their origin were teachers’ certificates... Master of Arts was a qualified teacher of arts, a Doctor of Laws or Medicine was a certified teacher of these subjects. An examination presupposes a body of material upon which the candidate is examined, usually a set of standard textbooks, and this, in turn, implies systematic training and a minimum period of study. Curriculum, commencement, degrees, are all part of the same system; they are all inherited from the Middle Ages." (Renaissance of the 12th Century, p. 37)
Medieval Moment 4: Hope for a writer
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I found this hopeful sentiment penned by an 11th century French monk who spent hours every day copying texts:
"For every letter, line, and point, a sin is forgiven me." By this measure, the contemporary writers Isaac Asimov, who wrote over 500 books is a perfection of holiness. |
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Medieval Moment 3: The original herbal supplements
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Bald's Leechbook was a manual for healers that was often used in the 12th century. Some of the prescriptions for ailments seem absurd and funny today. Here's one for hiccups:
"Hiccup comes on either by reason of repletion, or of emptiness, or of austere juices biting upon the stomach, and when these are vomited forth it ceases....It is also a recognized fact, that some turning their food sour, hiccup; and many also hiccup after shivering. We shall find then that a vomit is a sufficient cure for those who hiccup from repletion or irritation." I don't know about you, but I'd rather just stick with the hiccups than vomit. Anyway, some prescriptions mentioned in the Leechbook have proven effective. For example, an ointment concocted for problems with the eyes, made from "garlic, leeks, wine, and the bile from a cow's stomach" has been tested and found to be as effective as the modern remedy. |
Medieval Moment 2: The reviled King Stephen
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In 1147, when Henry II was only 14 years old and trying to help his mother, the Empress Matilda, fight King Stephen for the English crown, he journeyed to England and encountered nothing but disaster. He was disorganized, poorly equipped, broke, and his armies kept losing badly to the armies of King Stephen. Most of his soldiers started deserting and he had no funds to attract new men. In desperation, Henry II wrote to King Stephen and asked for financial help. Perhaps surprisingly, King Stephen sent money to the desperate Henry II to help him through his "rough patch." Apparently, Stephen's displays of generosity have not endeared him to historians, most of whom have characterized him as weak and insufficiently ruthless. But, King Stephen's mother was a saint (literally) and he and his wife created a flurry of humanistic enterprises, including a combination hospital/refuge for the poor. William Marshal's father gave up William to King Stephen as collateral to secure an agreement. When William's father broke the agreement, it was expected that William would be killed. King Stephen not only let William live, he accepted him into his own household. In light of the cruelty and malice of our current age, King Stephen seems like a bright beacon of hope and goodwill.
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Medieval moment 1: Hallowed Eve
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Established in the early Middle Ages, November 1 is still known as "All Saints Day," and is set aside for Christians to honor individuals--saints and non-saints--who have died, but who lived laudatory lives. Churches today, like those in medieval times, celebrate All Saints Day by decorating cemeteries with flowers, providing "books of remembrance," and celebrating with a feast.
The eve of this hallowed day is, of course, October 31, Hallowed Eve, or Halloween. Because pigs were the most popular form of meat in Europe during medieval times, Halloween was a day of death for many pigs, as they became the main course for feasts on All Saints Day. |