I wished I'd remembered the short answer description of William Marshall last night. It goes like this:
Remember King John, the worst king of England ever? Or even the Robin Hood version of him? He's pretty much the worst king England ever had. He lost the Angevin Empire. His barons successfully revolted and took much of the king's power away (remember Magna Carta?) He nearly lost England itself to France. But, no matter how bad John was, every king and queen of England since is a descendant of his, not Good King Richard or any of the heroes of his time. He left only a helpless infant son. How did that happen? William Marshall. Tournament knight, the best Regent England ever saw, the model for knightly loyalty for centuries, and one of the best living examples of chivalry ever.
Folks who want to prove that God Himself intervenes to keep England and France separate kingdoms point to those extremes of historical unlikeliness: Joan of Arc and William Marshall.
OK, yes, nine years old isn't quite an infant: sorry, Henry III. Still, if we're talking the Legend of the Marshall, sure, squalling baby in a crib, evil barons (some even counts) prowling and rebelling, etc.
Oh, and remember that evil power mad invading king from _Braveheart_ (played by Patrick McGoohan, a.k.a. the Prisoner), invading Scotland and being all imperial? Edward I was that "infant"'s son. That's how much of a turnaround England went through.
So, if you're going to be a Regent, and you're a Knight, and you're taking on MAD amounts of power for your charge while totally promising loyalty and giving it up at the end? Yeah, you evoke ol' Guillaume.
Yay historical perspective :) I've been very happy with my decision to set this in, essentially, Europe, rather than a made-up setting. I think it provides good context.
BTW, I couldn't find out whether I am related to William Marshall, because there are too damn many Marshalls in England :) I _am_ related to Chief Justice John Marshall, whose career has interesting parallels as far as shepharding a fledgling democracy, as opposed to a royal line. Not as much jousting tho :)
The analogy I was going to make was going to use Heath Ledger's character from Knight's Tale. Imagine that Heath (except that he is actually VERY minor gentry) joins up with the prince and they become best buds and kick ass at tournaments for years. They get older, the prince becomes king, has an heir, dies, and Heath (at age 70) runs around England and France kicking the asses of rebellious barons (leading the charge in one battle), until the heir is of age.
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Remember King John, the worst king of England ever? Or even the Robin Hood version of him? He's pretty much the worst king England ever had. He lost the Angevin Empire. His barons successfully revolted and took much of the king's power away (remember Magna Carta?) He nearly lost England itself to France. But, no matter how bad John was, every king and queen of England since is a descendant of his, not Good King Richard or any of the heroes of his time. He left only a helpless infant son. How did that happen? William Marshall. Tournament knight, the best Regent England ever saw, the model for knightly loyalty for centuries, and one of the best living examples of chivalry ever.
Folks who want to prove that God Himself intervenes to keep England and France separate kingdoms point to those extremes of historical unlikeliness: Joan of Arc and William Marshall.
Reply
Oh, and remember that evil power mad invading king from _Braveheart_ (played by Patrick McGoohan, a.k.a. the Prisoner), invading Scotland and being all imperial? Edward I was that "infant"'s son. That's how much of a turnaround England went through.
So, if you're going to be a Regent, and you're a Knight, and you're taking on MAD amounts of power for your charge while totally promising loyalty and giving it up at the end? Yeah, you evoke ol' Guillaume.
Reply
BTW, I couldn't find out whether I am related to William Marshall, because there are too damn many Marshalls in England :) I _am_ related to Chief Justice John Marshall, whose career has interesting parallels as far as shepharding a fledgling democracy, as opposed to a royal line. Not as much jousting tho :)
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