Edward Richardson Temple Church EffigiesĬatherine's argument is that the effigy of William Marshal I cannot be him since it is older in the style of armour than the ones purporting to be his sons.Ĭatherine says of the effigy below, now thought (erronously or not) to be William Marshal Junior (died 1231) " The effigy was described by Richardson as wearing a chain mail coif and a hauberk of chain mail to his knees. So it's good to look back to a historical context a hundred and seventy years closer to the construction of the effigies, but at the same time we are relying on engravings, and also with the knowledge that Victorian antiquarians were extremely inquisitive but not always on the ball with their historical accuracy.
I also believe I can make a good case for identifying the effigy of Gilbert Marshal despite lack of written evidence.Ĭatherine Armstrong uses engravings of the Marshals by Edward Richardson to state her case. I do, however, vigorously disagree with her on the issue of the dating of the arms and armour for which I can make a strong case. That in itself is a fascinating, wonderful and sometimes horrifying story! Catherine Armstrong on the Marshal Effigies I must emphasise I don't disagree with her on the point that these effigies cannot be identified with absolute conviction and I applaud her diligent research into the life of the effigies before the 21st century. Here is Catherine's highly detailed article.
I've been intending to write out my refutation argument and put it in the public arena for several years now, and I have finally got around to it.
I wrote to Catherine setting out my case for disagreeing with her on the issue of the arms and armour some years ago, and received a thank you note, but nothing more. I believe that at least one of them can be circumstantially identified as Gilbert Marshal. While I agree with her that precise evidence doesn't exist and the effigies could indeed have been mis-identified because after all, none of them have inscriptions, I do disagree with her assessment of the arms and armour of the effigies. Some time ago I read a post on the Castle Wales site by Historian Catherine Armstrong where she laid out her case for the purported Marshal effigies in the Temple Church, London, being of debatable identity and perhaps not the Marshals at all.
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