Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal
The Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal is a near-contemporary Anglo-Norman biography of the English nobleman, William Marshal. In terms of genre it is therefore something of a rarity for its period, as it fits all the characteristics of a true biography, being William's story from cradle to grave, and moreover it examines the life of a lay person. It is a substantial work composed in 19,214 octosyllabic lines of plain verse in the French dialect of the Touraine. It shows little trace in its composition of any influence of the medieval schools. A modest number of Latin vitae or biographies survive from the period, almost all of them of clergymen. Its author was not entirely divorced from Latin scholarship, however.
L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechal
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, also called William the Marshal, was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings: Henry II and his son and de jure co-ruler Young King Henry, Richard I, John, and finally John's son Henry III.
Possible tomb effigy of William Marshal in Temple Church, London
The Château de Tancarville in Normandy, where William Marshal began his training as a knight
Modern Memorial in Cartmel Priory, Cumbria
A 13th-century depiction of the Second Battle of Lincoln, which occurred at Lincoln Castle on 20 May 1217; the illustration shows the death of Thomas du Perche, the Comte de la Perche
