Before he was called “the greatest knight,” William Marshal was nearly used as a human catapult projectile. In the first of our two-part special, we follow the astonishing early life of William Marshal – a man who rose from near-execution as a child hostage during the Anarchy to become a knight of international renown and a trusted retainer to the heirs of the Angevin Empire.

We begin in the chaos of civil war before heading to Normandy for a classic knight’s education, where William learns the brutal economics of chivalry, the importance of a good warhorse, and how to survive when all you’ve got is charm and a secondhand cloak.

As we tell his story, we’re also exploring the life of a medieval knight, separating Hollywood fantasy from historical fact. How were knights actually trained? What was a tournament really like in the 12th century? And how do you go from being a penniless, horseless squire to the most feared fighter in Christendom?

Along the way, we unravel the complex and ruthless politics of the Angevin realm – a dynastic snake pit that stretched from Scotland to the Pyrenees and was held together by sheer force of will, questionable parenting, and the occasional high-stakes rebellion.

Serving under the ill-fated Young King Henry – son of Henry II – Marshal finds himself at the heart of a brewing storm: rival heirs, political betrayal, an epic tournament run, and a final, almost mythic vow to carry his fallen friend’s cloak to Jerusalem.

And yes, we make repeated attempts to cast this as a prestige miniseries. Because William Marshal’s life really was that cinematic.

This is part one of a two-part series, part 2 is already available on our Patreon!

The post The Angevin Empire | William Marshal 1/2 first appeared on Shows What You Know.