I've been immersed in the Medieval world for the last week or so reading Elizabeth Chadwick's The Scarlet Lion. Whenever I find myself thrust so far back into the past it's almost a little strange to reorient myself in the present and try to reconcile the two times. I take so much for granted in the way I live now and how many conveniences there are at my fingertips and more importantly how the world is so completely and thoroughly connected. I can get in touch with someone half a world away in a matter of minutes and I can see world events happening in real time. Somehow that makes the world as it was in the 13th century all the more fascinating because people quite literally did without. Chadwick paints a convincing portrait of this feudal society and it's quite easy to get wrapped up in her characters, nearly all based on actual people, and their colorful lives.
The Scarlet Lion continues the story of William Marshal and his family begun The Greatest Knight. William Marshal lived an extraordinary life by any standard, but considering his humble beginnings, he became one of the most powerful and successful men in England and was known throughout Europe. Chadwick based her books on a translation of L'Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal which was written at the request of his son shortly after his death. He's considered the greatest knight that ever lived and whilst the original biography might have been embellished somewhat (his prowess on the tourney circuit being without rival) it's noted that his impact on the history and politics of England is still remembered today.
The Greatest Knight, which I wrote about here charts William Marshal's early life from his boyhood when he was hostaged to King Stephen as assurance of his father's loyalty (as it turns out his father wasn't so loyal but lucky for him his life was spared) through his years as a knight in the service of the Crown. He served King Henry II, his son Young King Henry (who co-ruled but balked at having so little freedom to make decisions independently), Richard I, and finally John. Marshal was a consummate diplomat and he would have to be considering the amount of discontent and antipathy that coursed through the early House of Plantagenet. When Marshal swore his oath of loyalty his honor was unshakable. In the end it was to his benefit as he was generously rewarded, becoming the first Earl of Pembroke and being awarded the hand of Isabelle de Clare in marriage. Isabelle was a wealthy heiress and of noble lineage in Ireland some twenty years his junior (don't worry, he was already in his forties when they wed and it ended up being as much a love match as a profitable union between all parties involved).
William and Isabelle's story is picked up shortly after their marriage and the birth of their first son in The Scarlet Lion. Richard is dead and John has succeeded the throne. King John wasn't an especially notable ruler earning the nickname "Bad King John" later in history. His rule was marked by military defeats, religious conflicts and general unrest amongst his barons, though it's during his reign that the Magna Carta was signed in order to appease his followers (Chadwick makes only a cursory nod to it in the story). To say he was a rather ignoble individual is probably being generous (just take a look at the number of bastards he fathered). Certainly Chadwick does not characterize him as being very honorable. When they were of age to act as squires John took Marshal's two oldest sons as hostage, and while William used his time at court to his benefit when he was the same age, living at John's court was an entirely different kind of education. If William Marshal was an honorable man he was also an intelligent one and knew how to work the system to his best advantage and dealing with King John was always like playing a very dangerous game of chess, which he more often than not, won.
Much of The Greatest Knight is spent on the battlefield or in far more adventurous knightly exploits, but The Scarlet Lion concentrates more on the domestic side of William and Isabelle's life. They had ten children together and lands in Normandy, along the Welsh border and in Ireland. They had to split their time between their estates and court, and William was always at John's beck and call. Isabelle proved herself a most competent administrator in William's absence, however, and stood her ground in more than one volatile situation. Chadwick covers a lot of ground in both novels, some events more than others covered in depth, but you still get a feel for what life was like for this family in the early 1200s.
Chadwick is very talented at bringing her characters and the Medieval world alive in the pages of her books. After such an action packed story as The Greatest Knight was, I thought I might be disappointed with The Scarlet Lion, but even with a slowish start Chadwick knows how to push the reader to the edge of her seat and offers a hard to resist story. The author notes that while she bases much of the story on factual research she binds it all together with her imagination. There are some aspects of history that are simply open to conjecture and she makes her best guess as to what really happened. Chadwick is obviously fond of William Marshal and his character shines through the pages. I suspect he was far more flawed in real life, but this is fiction so I am happy to accept him in such an heroic light. I'm a little sorry to leave the Marshal family behind, but the story comes full circle so the story is done. I've got two more of Chadwick's novels to read and I'm already looking forward to them and considering the number of books on her backlist I should be kept busy for quite some time if I keep reading her work. For now, though, it's back to the modern world, at least for a while.