Voödoo 6 von Inyanga
Loyalty is desired, but can be fleeting. People have competing loyalties, but true loyalty, one where you are willing to sacrifice everything, is rare. When it is in the interest of right against wrong, like during the Leinster War of 1208, it is humanity at its most powerful
1/ In 1208 England was on her 3rd king in the past 30 years, and now a deeply unpopular King John sat on the throne. Inherited from his older brother Richard the Lionheart after the latter’s death, John was the third of Henry II’s sons to either rule as king, or be named king.
2/ Nicknamed John “Soft Sword”, the deeply suspicious, arrogant, paranoid, jealous, and likely schizophrenic John lacked both the martial prowess of his older brother, and the diplomatic skills of his father. England faced near ruin at his hand.
3/ Under his reign England lost almost all of their holdings in France, being beaten time and again by the French on the battlefield…the French.
4/ Instead of rallying his kingdom together, John sought to enrich himself at the expense of his nobles, and pitted them against one another in conflict, intervening, and then using his royal power to crush his subjects. One of those noblemen was William Marshal.
5/ Known as “the Marshal”, he was a crusader, a warrior, a famous tournament champion, and after 42 years as a knight, was seen as the paragon of chivalry. Despite coming from rather middling nobility, Marshal had by 1208 become one of the most powerful men in the Kingdom.
6/ Service to three of John’s predecessors had made him an Earl who controlled vast properties in both France and England. His popularity and reputation caused a great deal of jealousy in the King, despite John being King only due to Marshal’s support and loyalty.
7/ Looking to expand, and as most of England was claimed by this time, Marshal set his sights on the wilds of Ireland. Marshal had married well. His wife was daughter of one of the biggest landowners in civilized Ireland, giving Marshal claim to her lands in Leinster.
8/ This King John could not take, so he ordered Marshal to surrender part of his land to one of the king’s allies, local nobleman Meiler Fitzhenry. Marshal protested, petitioned the king, and resisted handing over the land to Fitzhenry. King John saw his chance.
9/ He summoned both Marshal and Fitzhenry to London to “arbitrate”. Marshal knew it was a trap. Like the Emperor summoning House Atreides to Arrakis, Marshal knew his King had chosen sides against him, and FitzHenry’s men would attack in his absence.
10/ He knew, and went anyway because when the King called, he answered as he had for 50 years. But like the fictional Duke Leto of House Atreides, Marshal had a plan.
11/ He strengthened his alliances with neighbors, prepared fortifications, and reminded his people that his pregnant wife, one of their own, would stay behind in Leinster while Marshal went to England. He reminded them they were fighting for her, not for him.
12/ King John’s trap was sprung as soon as Marshal and FitzHenry arrived in England. After berating Marshal, the King bought most of Marshal’s allies and retinue with land or offices. Only one, Henry Holmes, stayed loyal before the King at Woodstock.
13/ Then the King ordered him to stay in England, and released FirzHenry to return to Ireland, bearing a letter ordering Marshal’s top three knights, John of Early, Jordan of Saqueville and Stephen Devereaux to report to the king in person in one week. This was a royal summons.
14/ To disobey it meant likely death and destruction for their entire family. Marshal was trapped, he had no way to help his pregnant wife defend their lands against Fitzhenry’s armies, and had no way to even know how the war begun in his absence was progressing.
15/ To add insult to injury, one day while hunting, the King rode by Marshal and informed him that his three knights either had abandoned him or had been killed, his wife had been taken prisoner, and his lands in Leinster had been lost.
None of it was true.
16/ John of Early, Jordan of Saqueville, and Stephen Deveraux had refused their King’s summons and defended Marshal’s pregnant wife and his lands. They had chosen their side.
17/ With the allies Marshal had fostered before going to the king, they had absolutely curb stomped FitzHenry’s forces outside of Killkenny. These men had risked everything: their lives, their families, and their fortunes for nothing more than loyalty to a man loyal to them.
18/ William Marshal went on to be the driving force behind the creation and implementation of Magna Carta, personally led the Royalist armies against the Baronial and French invasion and ensured King John’s son Henry III, ruled England. All because of three men’s loyalty to one.
19/ We are all loyal to various things. To family, to friends, to ourselves, to our nation, and to whatever we decide, but those loyalties often come into conflict and we must make a choice.
20/ This is normal, veterans chose loyalty for the nation (or themselves) over loyalty to their families, as they’ve done for thousands of years. We make this choice regularly.
21/ Everyone decides what their loyalty means to them, but you can not wait until faced with the decision to consider it. You need to prepare for that choice, lest the grip of fear of the consequences overrule your better judgement.
22/ Marhsal’s knights felt fear, they certainly understood the gravity of their decision, but that loyalty was earned, and determined, long before King John’s summons arrived. While others in Marshal’s circle buckled, they stood strong to their honor.
23/ That loyalty went both ways, they would never abandon their friend in the face of the enemy, just as they knew he would never abandon them. They trusted in one another, and no matter what stood against them, they would never betray their honor. Consider it.
24/ What are the things you would never betray, what are the things that you would die rather than give up? More important, who would never betray you? Who has earned your loyalty? If your answer is someone you’ve seen on TV, then you are probably looking in the wrong places.
25/ Our bonds, our loyalty to one another, our willingness to help each other, and our sincere belief that there are things worse than death are game changers. They are a bond and a power that our cowardly and greedy enemy has no weapon against.
26/ Harden those ties that bind brothers together, harden yourself for a decision, and never abandon your loyalty, your principles or your honor, for a paltry piece of Ireland offered by a King.
27/ No matter what comes over the horizon, no matter the horde the enemy may array against us, we are stronger with allies, and together, loyal to one another, we are invincible.
PS: Special thanks to @badjin_rank for recommending this reading, The Greatest Knight by Thomas Asbridge
Thanks to @joelgaines for trying to come up with the Knights names, and thanks to @ChestyPullerGst for remembering that Stephen Deveraux owed him money.
