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Historical person

William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke

1146–1219

William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke was an Anglo-Norman knight, magnate and regent celebrated as William Marshal. He served five English kings, fought in tournaments and wars, and acted as regent for the young Henry III after helping defeat the French invasion at Lincoln in 1217.

William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke also held the offices or ranks of Earl Marshal. William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke belonged to the Marshal family and operated within Kingdom of England. William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke was born in Wiltshire and died in Caversham.

Richard Woodman’s Guardian of the Realm follows William Marshal through King John’s final crisis, Magna Carta and the succession of the nine-year-old Henry III, making his loyalty to the Angevin dynasty the bridge between a failed king and a child monarch. Griff Hosker’s Baron of the North and Crusader use Marshal as the great professional warrior and royal servant against whom younger fictional knights measure their own careers. Dan Jones’ Magna Carta places him among the magnates trying to preserve government through the baronial revolt and settlement of 1215, while The Plantagenets follows his service across the reigns of Henry II, Richard I, John and the minority of Henry III, showing why his career became inseparable from the survival of the dynasty.

Periods

Periods linked to William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke

First Barons’ War1215–1217 CE Magna Carta1215 CE

Series

Historical novels and book series featuring William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (7 series)

The Anarchy Series in Order

by Griff Hosker 20 books 4.4(42,540)

The Anarchy Series follows families, knights and warlords through the civil war between Stephen and Empress Matilda and into the Angevin settlement under Henry II. The sequence expands from northern England and Normandy to crusading, Wales, Ireland and the politics around Thomas Becket and Henry’s sons. It is…

All books in this series

Roger of Huntley in Order

by Robert Broomall 5 books 4.5(6,031)

The Roger of Huntley series follows a fugitive monk and crusader through the violence of the Third Crusade and the later crisis of King John’s reign. The early books place Roger among soldiers, pilgrims and rulers in the eastern Mediterranean, while the later novels return him to England…

All books in this series

William Marshal in Order

by Elizabeth Chadwick 6 books 4.3(44,460)

Elizabeth Chadwick’s William Marshal cycle follows the Marshal family and the households bound to it from the civil war of the Anarchy to the crisis of King John’s reign. A Place Beyond Courage centres on William’s father, John Marshal, while The Greatest Knight and The Scarlet Lion trace…

All books in this series

Chronicles of the Black Lion in Order

by Richard Cullen 4 books 4.4(2,478)

Chronicles of the Black Lion follows Estienne Wace from King John’s divided England into the wider conflicts and military cultures of the early thirteenth century. Rebellion places the orphaned squire in William Marshal’s household as baronial opposition and Prince Louis of France threaten the crown. Crusade carries him…

All books in this series

Eleanor of Aquitaine in Order

by Elizabeth Chadwick 3 books 4.3(41,678)

Elizabeth Chadwick’s Eleanor of Aquitaine trilogy follows one of medieval Europe’s most formidable rulers from her inheritance of Aquitaine and first marriage to Louis VII of France through her turbulent partnership with Henry II of England. The novels place Eleanor’s marriages, motherhood and political ambitions within crusade, dynastic…

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The William Marshal in Order

by Richard Woodman 3 books 4.2(1,700)

The William Marshal trilogy fictionalises the life of the celebrated knight and regent from his childhood during the Anarchy to his final defence of the young Henry III. It follows Marshal through tournaments, service to Henry II and Richard I, the Third Crusade, King John’s loss of Normandy…

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Crusader in Order

by Paul Bannister 5 books 3.9(1,812)

The Crusader series follows the fictional Lancastrian knight Frederick Banastre and his descendants through the conflicts of the Angevin and early Plantagenet monarchy. Frederick enters the household of the future Richard I, campaigns in France and the Holy Land, and becomes involved in the political struggles caused by…

All books in this series

Non Fiction

Non Fiction featuring William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (4 books)

Biographies, histories and other non-fiction are listed separately from the historical novels above.