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50 J. Marshall L. Rev. 1 (2016-2017)
William Marshal Great Knight and Protector of Magna Carta: The Unknown Founder of the Rights of Englishmen and Americans

handle is hein.journals/jmlr50 and id is 5 raw text is: WILLIAM MARSHAL, GREAT KNIGHT AND PROTECTOR OF MAGNA CARTA: THE UNKNOWN FOUNDER OF THE RIGHTS OF ENGLISHMEN AND AMERICANS! ALLEN SHOENBERGER* Few individuals are as important to the history of English rights and therefore American rights than the great knight of the Middle ages, William Marshal. Indeed, it would be fair to state that without Marshal, Magna Carta would be an obscure and unimportant footnote to history. It was Marshal who championed Magna Carta and in connection with that charter created and promulgated a sister charter, the Charter of the Forest, which eventually became the longest existent English statute. This year is the 800th anniversary of Marshal's repromulgation of Magna Carta as part of his effort to resist an invasion of England from France. It is hard to underestimate the impact of these two documents on the legal history of both England and the United States. Marshal was the grand champion of tournaments during his life. He won nearly 200 tournaments, thus increasing his wealth considerably. Indeed, it is fair to state that William Marshal was as skilled with a lance and sword as he was with a Charter. His use of weapons at hand was unsurpassed by any other knight of the era. Appropriately enough, Marshal's effigy lies in the center of legal London, the Temple Church. That church, dedicated by the Patriarch of Jerusalem, and the church of the Knights Templar, was the site of many significant legal events. They include the prostration of King John to the Papal Legate, making England into a papal state in 1213!1 It also was the site from which King John granted a corporate charter to the City of London, the oldest corporation in England.2John also confirmed the liberties of the church from the New Temple. Marshal was the leading * Professor of Law, Loyola Chicago University School of Law © 2016. 1. DAN JONES, THE PLANTAGENETS, THE WARRIOR KINGS AND QUEENS WHO MADE ENGLAND, 177 (2012). This obeisance followed a period of interdiction of England by the Pope that prevented the performance of religious weddings or burials in England for six years. However, it was the imminent invasion of England by French troops, not revocation of the interdiction, that prompted King John to act. The Pope, Innocent I1, had sanctioned the invasion by Prince Louis of France who had a distant claim to the throne of England. King John's action made him into a favorite son of Rome, and resulted in the Pope's withdrawal of his sanction to the invasion. On the recommendation of William Marshal and Longsword, King John ordered a quick naval strike against the assembled French fleet at Damme, which secured a resounding victory with the burning of many French ships. Id. at 176-177. Several years later another French invasion was initially successful. Id. at 186. King John's effigy also now rests in the Temple Church. 2. The grant of this charter was an attempt to placate the citizens of London.