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 1146 - 1219 (~ 73 years)
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| Name |
William Marshal |
| Suffix |
1st Earl of Pembroke |
| Born |
ca 1146 |
England  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Died |
14 May 1219 |
Caversham, Berkshire, England |
| Buried |
Temple Church, London, England |
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| Notes |
- Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Marshal,_1st_Earl_of_Pembroke
William Marshal was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings: The "Young King" Henry, Henry II, Richard I, John, and Henry III.
Knighted in 1166, he spent his younger years as a knight errant and a successful tournament fighter. Before him, his father's family held a hereditary title of Marshal to the king, which by his father's time had become recognized as a chief or master Marshalcy, involving management over other Marshals and functionaries. William became known as "the Marshal," although by his time much of the function was actually delegated to more specialized representatives (as happened with other functions in the King's household).
In 1189, he received the title of Earl of Pembroke through marriage during the second creation of the Pembroke Earldom. Because he was an Earl, and also known as the Marshal, the term "Earl Marshal" was commonly used and this later became an established hereditary title in the English Peerage.
William's father, John Marshal, supported King Stephen when he took the throne in 1135, but in about 1139 he changed sides to back the Empress Matilda in the civil war of succession between her and Stephen which led to the collapse of England into "the Anarchy."
When King Stephen besieged Newbury Castle in 1152, according to William's biographer, he used the young William as a hostage to ensure that John kept his promise to surrender the castle. John, however, used the time allotted to reinforce the castle and alert Matilda's forces. When Stephen ordered John to surrender immediately or William would be hanged, John replied that he should go ahead saying, "I still have the hammer and the anvil with which to forge still more and better sons!" Subsequently, there was a bluff made to launch William from a type of trebuchet towards the castle. Fortunately for the child, Stephen could not bring himself to harm young William. William remained a crown hostage for many months, only being released following the peace that resulted from the terms agreed at Winchester on 6 November 1153 that ended the civil war.
As a younger son of a minor nobleman, William had no lands or fortune to inherit, and had to make his own way in life. Around the age of twelve, when his father's career was faltering, he was sent to Normandy to be brought up in the household of William de Tancarville, a great magnate and cousin of young William's mother. Here he began his training as a knight.
He was knighted in 1166 on campaign in Upper Normandy, then being invaded from Flanders. War in the twelfth century was not fought wholly for honor but profit was also a motive. On this front, Marshal was not so successful, as he was unable to parlay his combat victories into profit from either ransom or seized booty.
He then served in the household of his mother's brother, Patrick, Earl of Salisbury. In 1168 his uncle was killed in an ambush by Guy de Lusignan. William was injured and captured in the same skirmish. It is known that William received a wound to his thigh and that someone in his captor's household took pity on the young knight. He received a loaf of bread in which were concealed several lengths of clean linen bandages with which he could dress his wounds. This act of kindness by an unknown person perhaps saved Marshal's life as infection setting into the wound could have killed him. After a period of time, he was ransomed by Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was apparently impressed by tales of his bravery.
In 1167 he was taken by William de Tancarville to his first tournament where he found his true métier. He found he could make a good living out of winning tournaments, dangerous, often deadly, staged battles in which money and valuable prizes could be won by capturing and ransoming opponents, their horses and armour. His record is legendary: on his deathbed he recalled besting 500 knights during his tourneying career.
William rejoined the court of King Henry II, and now served the father as a loyal captain through the many difficulties of his final years. The returns of royal favour were almost immediate. Henry II had promised the Marshal the hand and estates of Isabel de Clare (c.1172-1220), but had not completed the arrangements. King Richard however, confirmed the offer and so in August 1189, at the age of 43, the Marshal married the 17-year-old daughter of Richard de Clare (Strongbow). Her father had been Earl of Pembroke, and Marshal acquired large estates and claims in England, Wales, Normandy and Ireland. The marriage transformed the landless knight from a minor family into one of the richest men in the kingdom, a sign of his power and prestige at court.
William was included in the council of regency which King Richard I [the Lionheart] appointed on his departure for the Third Crusade in 1190. He took the side of John, the king's brother, when the latter expelled the justiciar, William Longchamp, from the kingdom, but he soon discovered that the interests of John were different from those of Richard. Before King Richard's return, William Marshal's elder brother John Marshal was killed while defending Marlborough for the king's brother John. Richard allowed Marshal to succeed his brother in the hereditary marshalship, and his paternal honor of Hamstead Marshall. The Marshal served the king in his wars in Normandy against Philip II. On Richard's death-bed the king designated Marshal as custodian of Rouen and of the royal treasure during the interregnum.
William supported King John when he became king in 1199, but they had a falling out in the aftermath of the loss of the duchy of Brittany. Despite their differences, William remained loyal throughout the hostilities between John and his barons which culminated on 15 June 1215 at Runnymede with the sealing of Magna Carta. William was one of the few English earls to remain loyal to the king through the First Barons' War. It was William whom King John trusted on his deathbed to make sure John's nine-year-old son Henry would get the throne. It was William who took responsibility for the king's funeral and burial at Worcester Cathedral.
William Marshal was named by the king's council (the chief barons who had remained loyal to King John in the First Barons' War) to serve as protector of the nine-year-old King Henry III, and regent of the kingdom in spite of his advanced age (around 70).
Marshal's health finally failed him early in 1219. In March 1219 he realized that he was dying, so he summoned his eldest son, also William, and his household knights, and left the Tower of London for his estate at Caversham in Berkshire, near Reading. Fulfilling the vow he had made while on crusade, he was invested into the order of the Knights Templar on his deathbed. He died on 14 May 1219 at Caversham, and was buried in the Temple Church in London, where his tomb can still be seen.
His marriage was happy, despite the vast difference in age between them. William Marshal and Isabel produced a total of five sons and five daughters.
1. William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1190-6 April 1231). Chief Justiciar of Ireland. He married firstly, Alice de Bethune, and secondly, Eleanor Plantagenet, daughter of King John. He died childless.
2. Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1191-1 April 1234 Kilkenny Castle, Ireland), married Gervase le Dinant. He died childless.
3. Maud Marshal (1192-27 March 1248). She married firstly, Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, by whom she had issue; she married secondly, William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, by whom she had children, including John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey who married Alice le Brun de Lusignan; she married thirdly, Walter de Dunstanville. Five queen consorts of Henry VIII: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr were her descendants.
4. Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke (1194-27 June 1241). He married firstly, Marjorie of Scotland, daughter of King William I of Scotland; and secondly, Maud de Lanvaley. He died childless.
5. Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke (1196-24 November 1245). He married Margaret de Quincy, Countess of Lincoln, widow of John de Lacy, 1st Earl of Lincoln, as her second husband. The marriage was childless.
6. Anselm Marshal, 6th Earl of Pembroke (1198-22 December 1245). He married Maud de Bohun. He died childless.
7. Isabel Marshal (9 October 1200-17 January 1240). She married firstly, Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford; and secondly, Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall. She had issue by both marriages. King Robert I of Scotland and Queen consorts Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr were descendants.
8. Sibyl Marshal (1201-before 1238), married William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby, by whom she had issue. Queen consort Catherine Parr was a descendant.
9. Joan Marshal (1202-1234), married Warin de Munchensi, Lord of Swanscombe, by whom she had issue. Both queen consorts Jane Seymour and Catherine Parr were descendants.
10. Eva Marshal (1203-1246), married William de Braose (died 1230). Queen consorts Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr were her descendants.
Isabel died in Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1220 at the age of forty-eight. Her husband had died the year before. She was buried at Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire.
Although her daughters had many children, Isabel's five sons, curiously, died childless. The title of marshal subsequently passed to Hugh de Bigod, husband of Isabel's eldest daughter Maud, while the title of Earl of Pembroke went to William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke, the husband of Joan de Munchensi, daughter of Joan Marshal. He was the first of the de Valence line of the earls of Pembroke.
Within a few generations their descendants included much of the nobility of Europe, including all the monarchs of Scotland since Robert I (1274-1329) and all those of England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom since Henry IV (1367-1413); and, apart from Anne of Cleves, all the queen consorts of Henry VIII.
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| Person ID |
I36229 |
Master File |
| Last Modified |
4 Oct 2016 |
| Father |
John FitzGilbert Marshal, b. Unknown , d. 1165, Wiltshire, England |
| Mother |
Sibyl of Salisbury, b. Nov 1126, Salisbury, England , d. 1176, Pembrokeshire, Wales (Age ~ 49 years) |
| Family ID |
F14950 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
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