The Greatest Of All Knights And The World Of The Middle Ages.

Treat yourself to the greatest of all knights and the world of the Middle Ages.

The greatest of all knights and of the world of the Middle Ages

By Thomas Asbridge

Thomas Asbridge draws a magnificent portrait of the greatest of all knights: Guillaume le Maréchal was the true lancelot of his time, the epitome of the knight. His spectacular life bears witness to splendor and grandeur.

In moving scenes, Thomas Asbridge tells of the birth of the knightly class, the culture and way of life of the chivalric world. Like no other, Guillaume le Maréchal (about 1147–1219; William Marshal) embodied the ideals of his age. He was unconditionally committed to the knightly code of honor and, driven by an unquenchable ambition, achieved unique fame and reputation. He was friends with the greats of his time, from Richard the Lionheart to the infamous King John. At the same time, the depiction of this life provides a clear glimpse into the brutal reality of medieval warfare, the machinations in the royal court, and places us right in the middle of a crucial phase in our history in which the West emerged from the dark ages and reached the threshold of modernity.

The author:
Thomas Asbridge, born in Great Britain in 1969, teaches medieval history at Queen Mary College, University of London. The author, who presented a comprehensive history of the First Crusade in England in 2004, is not only one of the foremost source experts. He also knows the geographical conditions from personal experience: he himself traveled more than 500 kilometers of the ancient Crusade route from Turkey to Jerusalem.

478 pages, bound with a dust jacket, maps, and a colored slate section. Ribbon bookmark.