Biographies & Memoirs

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Marshal Dynasty

John Marshal

William Marshal’s father (with Sybil of Salisbury); an Anglo-Norman noble of middling rank who held the office of royal master marshal

John II Marshal

William Marshal’s elder brother (d. 1194)

William Marshal

Tournament champion, royal servant, lord of Striguil (from 1189), earl of Pembroke (from 1199) and ultimately regent of England

Isabel of Clare

Wealthy heiress who married William Marshal in 1189

Young William Marshal

Eldest son and heir of William Marshal and Isabel of Clare

Angevin Dynasty

Henry II

King of England (1154–89) and founder of the mighty Angevin realm

Eleanor of Aquitaine

Heiress to the duchy of Aquitaine and wife of Henry II

Henry the Young King

Eldest son and heir of Henry II and Eleanor, crowned as associate king in 1170; William Marshal’s lord and patron

Richard the Lionheart

Duke of Aquitaine, count of Poitou and king of England (1189–99); one of the great warriors of his generation

John

Count of Mortain and king of England (1189–99); Henry II’s and Eleanor’s youngest son – a divisive figure

Arthur of Brittany

Son of Geoffrey of Brittany and claimant to the Angevin realm in 1199

Henry III

Imperilled son and heir of King John (with Isabella of Angoulême); king of England (1216–72)

Capetian Dynasty

Philip II Augustus

King of France (1180–1223); son and heir of Louis VII; an able and ambitious monarch and the Angevins’ arch-rival

Marguerite of France

Louis VII of France’s daughter and wife of Henry the Young King

Prince Louis

Eldest son and heir of Philip II Augustus

Nobles, Knights & Courtiers

Patrick, earl of Salisbury

William Marshal’s uncle (d. 1168)

William of Tancarville

Lord of the castle in Upper Normandy where

William Marshal underwent his knightly training

Philip, count of Flanders

Powerful and unscrupulous nobleman, and noted devotee of the tournament circuit

William des Barres

Renowned French knight and servant of the Capetian dynasty

Baldwin of Béthune

William Marshal’s peer and associate in the entourage of Henry the Young King and at the Angevin court

William des Roches

Servant of the Angevin dynasty who rose through the ranks, but ultimately switched allegiance under King John

Geoffrey FitzPeter

Administrator in the Angevin court who rose to become earl of Essex

John of Earley

William Marshal’s loyal squire and knightly retainer

William Longchamp

Loyal servant to Richard the Lionheart and justiciar of England (for a time) during the king’s absence on the Third Crusade

William FitzPatrick

Earl of Salisbury and William Marshal’s cousin (d. 1196)

William Longsword

Illegitimate son of King Henry II and earl of Salisbury through marriage to the heiress Ela

Meiler FitzHenry

Justiciar of Ireland for King John

Robert FitzWalter

Prominent nobleman in England and leading scion of the baronial rebellion

William of Briouze

Prominent Marcher lord who found favour and then suffered ruination under King John

Churchmen

Hubert Walter

Bishop of Salisbury (from 1189), archbishop of Canterbury (from 1193 to 1205) and justiciar of England

Stephen Langton

Renowned theologian who became archbishop of Canterbury in 1213

Peter des Roches

Administrator, warrior and bishop of Winchester (from 1206)

Pandulf

Papal legate to England from 1211 and again from 1218

Guala of Bicchieri

Papal legate to England from 1216 to 1218

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