William Marshal - 1st Earl of Pembroke | Temple Church

Intro A big hello everybody and welcome back to the  channel today i'm here in London and specifically   i've come to temple because my plan is to visit  Temple Church and learn a little bit about   one of our country's greatest  nights William Marshall   and i'm joined here with a very special  guest I have Cara from open-minded wanderer   now i've been following Cara for a while now  and we share so many interests we both love   the Neolithic and the Bronze age and i'm  certainly an avid fan of her channel and   she's right next to me now he's Cara everybody, Hi  and we're both going to be exploring Temple Church   together. Indeed and and we're looking forward  to it aren't we, i'm very excited i have to say.   Okay here we go you ready, yes, yeah okay  let's go certainly a lovely area of London there she is Temple Church Okay everybody Cara and I are just coming up to  Temple Church now just there in front of us Cara like myself has a big interest in history  especially pre-history today however we are not   going that far back in time but instead we're  going to delve into a little medieval history   but why have we chosen London when there are  lots of incredible medieval locations   scattered throughout England. But London  is home to the medieval district of Temple   which is why london has been chosen as our  go-to destination for today's video. Temple   during the middle ages was the headquarters of the  knights templar in England and represented a major   centre of temple thought and influence the  area still retains some of its medieval features   including cobbled narrowed streets  and the famous templar round church   as a consequence the historic backdrop  of temple makes for a fantastic filming   location, the ancient buildings those ghostly  cobbled streets have been used in movies such as   The Wolfman, the da Vinci code Shakespeare in Love,  Elizabeth and Sherlock Holmes. But we are not here   for the Hollywood movies we are here for the  famous templar round tower and a very famous knight   often regarded as the most famous knight  to have ever lived William Marshall,  Earl of Pembroke. Now his effigy can be found  inside the church and he is also buried there   buried as a simple knights templar  although William Marshall was far   from being a simple knight he was born around  1146 and the second son of John Marshall a trusted   knight of Norman ancestry and Sybil who was sister  of Patrick Earl of Salisbury. Being a younger son   William did not inherit his father's titles or  money and so becoming a knight was to be expected   William Marshal William was duly sent off to Normandy to  be trained by the hereditary chamberlain   of the region William of Tankerville and was  eventually knighted in the year 1167. Three years   later William Marshall was appointed head of the  military household of Prince Henry the young son   of King Henry II of England. Unfortunately Prince  Henry died in 1183, now William was actually the   man who knighted this young prince and as a result  William became his lord in chivalry. William was a   powerful man who fared well in the tournaments  and his time with prince Henry allowed him   to increase his influence with those of the courts.  He who would also prosper in the years that followed   so upset was Marshall at the death of Prince  Henry he obtained permission from the king to   take Henry's cross to Jerusalem there he spent  two years fighting for the King of Jerusalem   who at the time was Guy of Lusignan. It was  almost certain that William became acquainted   with the knights templar during his  time in Jerusalem, In the year 1187   William was granted his first land. A fief directly from the king. Upon accepting this gift   William Marshall declared his loyalty to  Henry II and his rightful successors. This   promise was never forgotten and is one of  the reasons that William Marshall himself   is still remembered to this day. When Henry the  second son Richard the first came to the throne,   William Marshall continued to prosper he was a  counsellor advisor brother at arms and confident   to the new vigorous king so much did Richard  trust his brother templar that he bestowed upon   him the hand of Isabel de Clare. She was the  only surviving child of Richard strongbow   de Clare, Earl of Pembroke. With this marriage  William became one of the most powerful barons   in England with lands in  England, Wales, Ireland and France.   He ruled his lands well but unlike many of  the barons of the time he never forgot   his oath of loyalty to his direct feudal lord  Richard the first nor did William merely sit on   his vast estates but rather ran them efficiently.  With the death of Richard the Lionheart in 1199   England was thrown into ferment regarding the  succession. William considered Richard's brother   John to have the best claim to the throne and  duly bowed his knee to a man who was to use   this loyal knight falsely. King John proved to have  absolutely no ability to either ally himself with   or control the by now powerful barons of  England many of whom rebelled during John's   unfortunate reign. John took action against many  by either imprisoning them, confiscating their land,   removing their titles and even murdering some.  William Marshall stood strong and remained loyal   The First Barons War to King John even though the king did all he could  to provoke him, taking his castles and even seizing   his two sons as hostages. It was a time of unrest,  a period of history known as the first baron's war.  There is little doubt that if William Marshall  had sided the rebelling barons King John   would have lost his crown for sure and undoubtedly  his life, but the Earl of Pembroke never wavered   and gained tremendous respect from friends and  enemies alike. William Marshall was present at   runnymede on the 15th of june 1215 when  magna carta was signed by the barons. King John died in 1216 and his heir  and son aged only nine at the time   became Henry III. William Marshall was unanimously  chosen as regent of the young monarch a position   which he filled without prejudice or expectation.  By may 1217, Marshall was the chief architect   Conclusion of victory in the war against King Philip II of France this magnificent man led an attack   which relived the siege of Lincoln castle, despite  being 70 years of age he was able to negotiate   a peace treaty with the French and  restored England to peace once more.   William Marshall was a true knight honorable  trusting and a ferocious fighting machine   by the end of his life his accumulated titles and  accolades that could fill a page on their own and yet   it is said, he remained ever humble espousing by  his life the best values enshrined in the order   of the Knight's Templar, William Marshall, Earl of  Pembroke, and Lord Regent of England died on may 14th   in the year 1219 at the age of 73 years and was  buried as a simple Knight of the temple. The round   church was built to be London's Jerusalem and  it was here that the Magna Carta was negotiated.   For me however the greatest aspect of this  incredible beautiful building is that man   who is buried there. His effigy has survived  centuries and his story will live forever.   William Marshall the Earl of Pembroke,  the Greatest Knight to have ever lived. Okay everybody a big big thank you from Cara from  open-minded wanderer and myself Stephen and Yhana   we've all met here at Trafalgar Square Yhana has been making her own videos she went to   Hamley's toy shop in Regent Street and me and Cara  have just finished at Temple Church. we have indeed.   and have had an amazing time, okay  everybody a big big thank you for   joining us, and we will see you  soon, so bye for now, bye everybody bye