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William Marshal
Although many people have never heard of William Marshal, he is often considered to be “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” son of a minor noble to the pinnacle of power as undefeated tournament champion, advisor to kings, and one of the richest men in Europe. Indeed, nothing in the fictional worlds of Game of Thrones or Wheel of Time surpasses what happened to William in his life. The William Marshal Chronicles tells the previously untold story of William’s tumultuous early years.
A youth of small stature, William is more inclined to garden and sing than wield a sword or participate in fight training. Bullies torment him and his father gets so disgusted by his son’s apparent feebleness that he hands him over to King Stephen’s invading army as a kind of human sacrifice. King Stephen finds William too charming to kill and instead enlists him as a servant for the royal family. As a servant, William makes new friends, falls in lust, and learns how to survive on his own—no small feat in the hostile world of the 12th century. |
Medieval times
In the 12th century, record-keeping was sporadic and not always reliable. The main document of William Marshal's life was a biographical poem commissioned by his youngest son, Anselm, that was begun near the end of William's life. So, if you are writer (perhaps a 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 instead, might focus on the positives. If you are a war-weary, rich and powerful 74-year-old man, your memory might not be totally objective or accurate. Yet, that document is the most comprehensive and authentic account of William's life.
I started out thinking that I was going to write a short book on William, but the deeper I delved into the research, the more interested I became. I am not exactly sure how I am going to create a website as a teaser for the book series, but that is what I'm trying to do. This first volume, now complete, depicts William's tumultuous life up to around age 12. I have run descriptions of settings and several characters from the book through a few AI image creators. I'll post a few that I like from two different settings in the book, Newbury Castle and Dover Castle. |
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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
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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."
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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, Stephen King 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. |
