assumed increasing importance in the understanding of the life of the aristocracy of the 12th and early 13th centuries. It has provided the material for nearly a dozen modern biographies of its hero. Georges Duby praised the work as 'infinitely precious: the memory of chivalry in an almost pure state, about which, without this evidence, we should know virtually nothing'. John W. Baldwin has commented that 'much of the modern understanding of twelfth-century chivalry is simply the life of William the Marshal writ large'. Each period finds its own Marshal. Sidney Painter and Georges Duby treated him as the definitive chivalric male, picking up the author's constant emphasis on the Marshal's loyalty to his lords, even as unworthy a lord as John of England. With the 1980s and a move away from 19th-century ideas of what chivalry may have been came a reassessment. David Crouch presented in 1990 a different, more intelligent and accomplished Marshal, a skilful courtier trading on his military talents and masterfully charting a course through the dangerous waters of European royal and princely courts. He also pointed out the author's concern to construct a defence of the late earl from the accusations being brought against his reputation at the royal court of the 1220s. Editions Paul Meyer (1840–1917), ed., Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal, comte de Striguil et de Pembroke, régent d'Angleterre, Paris, Société de l'histoire de France, 1891–1901, with a partial translation of the original sources into modern French. Also available here. A. J. Holden, D. Crouch, edd.; S. Gregory, trans., History of William Marshal. 3 vols London: Anglo-Norman Text Society, Occasional Series, 4-6 (2002–2007). Notes See also Anglo-Norman literature External links Full text, with notes in modern French History of William Marshal in, Archives de littérature du moyen âge. 1220s books Anglo-Norman literature English chronicles 13th-century history books Collection of the Morgan Library & Museum Biographies (books) 13th century in England