ABSTRACT
When William Marshal had become a knight, these standards of style, dress and display were not as elaborate as they were to become in his later days. William Marshal was in the tidal reaches of aristocracy, a younger son with no resources other than his wits. William was a man with a dignity to support, and for such a man his dignity was a great burden. William Marshal did not choose to seek a living from his brother, John, in 1167. William Marshal's biography is as a result a key source in examining what was going on in twelfth-century male aspirations and aristocracy. In 1166, William Marshal seems to have had hopes of a postgraduate career in the Tancarville household, but for reasons that are not entirely clear this was to be denied him. William Marshal had no inheritance to which he could look forward, so nothing prevented his premature knighting at the age of 19 or 20.
