Review: The Greatest Knight

Title:  The Greatest Knight

Author:  Elizabeth Chadwick

Publisher:  Sourcebooks

# of Pages:  529

I received this book for free to review.

Plot Summary:
William Marshall lived through a very volatile time in English history.  When he was a child, he was used as a hostage against his father's continued loyalty to King Stephen.  As a youth, he fought for a nobleman in France.  Then he caught the attention of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine and his life changed profoundly.  He became a knight in the Young King Henry's household and quickly had to learn courtly manners and strategies to deal with the wily Plantagenet family.  He protected the king from his enemies, from bad influences, and from himself.  Unexpectedly, however, Young Henry passes away and William must find his own way once more.  Over the next several years, he sets about becoming the greatest knight in English history, making a mark on the world and trying to find peace and happiness for himself.

Elizabeth Chadwick has admitted that she herself is a little in love with William Marshall, and it shows.  The man is wonderful- it would be hard not to be in love with him.  I don't know if he was as handsome as he is portrayed in the book, particularly if he ran the jousting circuit and probably got beat up quite a bit around the head.  But even if he was ugly, Chadwick has solid proof that he was a chivalrous, well-liked gentleman, and I believe it.  He really is a knight in shining armor. 
There is romance in this book, but it is not a romance novel.  William has a mistress and then, much later, he has a wife, but neither of those stories is the main one (though they're interesting as well).  No, William stands firmly in the center of this novel, as does the Plantagenet family.  Everyone else, in my opinion, is just a satellite to the action.  And it is completely understandable.  Particularly towards the end of the novel, there was so much going on, politically and strategically, that I was grateful to only have a few characters to concentrate on.  Any more would have confused me past knowing.  Particularly as, in Medieval Britain, it seems like there were only about three names for parents to choose from to name their children.  There were multiple Johns & Richards to keep track of.

After the Hanovers, the Plantagenets are my favorite English royals.  They are crafty.  No loyalty to parents or siblings amongst the offspring of Henry II & Eleanor of Aquitaine, certainly.  Some people think the Tudors are dicey, but they are tame compared to the Plantagenets, in my opinion.  And they didn't last nearly as long.  After reading this book, I really want to pick up Thomas Costain's Plantagenet history volumes!  Those people are the definition of Machiavellian.

So, it's really, really impressive that William Marshall managed to not only survive, but thrive, in the late 12th century.  He walked a very fine line between the multiple camps but somehow emerged a victor.  Anyone who can do that should be commended.  Chadwick does very well in making William Marshall realistic and sympathetic, and I really enjoyed learning about him through this book.  I look forward to the sequel, The Scarlet Lion.

Historical fiction that centers around actual historical figures always makes me pause a bit because I wonder where the author draws the line.  How do you know that William Marshall had a sense of humor?  Are you sure his wife was beautiful and had blond hair?  Did he really have a blue cloak?  How much of this story is comprised of you projecting your interpretation of events?  It's hard to tell.  I don't know anything about William Marshall, and very little about the turbulent 12th century, but I have a feeling that if I asked her about major events that shaped Marshall in her story, she could give me primary evidence to back up her claims.  That's always nice to know.  Also, she knows Medieval England well enough to have hated The Pillars of the Earth, so that is always a good sign.

Considering that William Marshall's life was the subject of a long Medieval poem, that he was so involved in politics, and that he did so much to shape England, it's amazing that he is practically unknown to people today.  What a comment on how the collective memory works!  Luckily for all of us, we have an author like Elizabeth Chadwick to raise him back up out of obscurity and give him a dignified place of honor in history!