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Birth:          ABT 1144 of Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales
Christening:    12 May 1146 
Death:          14 May 1219 Caversham Manor, England
Burial:         BEF 31 May 1219 Round Chapel of Knights' Temple, London, England

Notes
b c 1144/6
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Marshal,_1st_Earl_of_Pembroke
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 or 1147 – 14 May 1219), also called 
William the Marshal (Norman French: Williame le Mareschal), was an Anglo-Norman 
soldier and statesman.[1] He served five English kings – Henry II, his sons The "Young 
King" Henry, Richard I, John, and John's son Henry III.

Knighted in 1166, he spent his younger years as a knight errant and a successful 
tournament competitor; Stephen Langton eulogized him as the "best knight that ever 
lived."[2] In 1189, he received the title of Earl of Pembroke through marriage during 
the second creation of the Pembroke Earldom. In 1216, he was appointed protector 
for the nine-year-old Henry III, and regent of the kingdom.

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). 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.[3]
Early life[edit]

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".[4]

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 pierrière, a type of 
trebuchet towards the castle. Fortunately for the child, Stephen could not bring 
himself to harm young William.[5] 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.

Knight-Errant[edit]

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. This would have included basic biblical stories and prayers 
written in Latin, as well as exposure to French romances, which conferred the basic 
precepts of chivalry to the budding knight.[6] In addition, while in Tancarville’s 
household, it is likely that Marshal also learned important and lasting practical lessons 
concerning the politics of courtly life. According to his thirteenth-century biography, 
L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechal, Marshal had a number of adversaries in court who 
machinated to his disadvantage—these individuals likely would have been threatened 
by the boy’s close relationship with the magnate.[7] He was knighted in 1166 on 
campaign in Upper Normandy, then being invaded from Flanders. His first experience 
in battle came with mixed reviews. According to L'Histoire, everyone who witnessed 
the young knight in action agreed that he had acquitted himself well in combat. 
However, as medieval historian David Crouch explains, “War in the twelfth century 
was not fought wholly for honour. Profit was there to be made…”[8] 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. As described in L'Histoire, the Earl of Essex, 
who was expecting the customary tribute from his valorous knight following battle, 
jokingly remarked: “Oh? But Marshal, what are you saying? You had forty or sixty of 
them — yet you refuse me so small a thing!”[9] In 1167 he was taken by William de 
Tancarville to his first tournament where he found his true métier. Quitting the 
Tancarville household 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.

Thereafter 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.[10]
Death and legacy[edit]


 


 William Marshal was interred in Temple Church, London
Marshal's health finally failed him early in 1219. In March 1219 he realised 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, 
where he called a meeting of the barons, Henry III, the Papal legate Pandulf 
Verraccio, the royal justiciar (Hubert de Burgh), and Peter des Roches (Bishop of 
Winchester and the young King's guardian). William rejected the Bishop's claim to the 
regency and entrusted the regency to the care of the papal legate; he apparently did 
not trust the Bishop or any of the other magnates that he had gathered to this 
meeting. 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.[1]

Descendants of William Marshal and Isabel de Clare[edit]
1.William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1190–6 April 1231), married (1) Alice de 
Béthune, daughter of Earl of Albemarle; (2) 23 April 1224 Eleanor Plantagenet, 
daughter of King John of England. They had no children.
2.Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1191–16 April 1234), married Gervase le 
Dinant. He died in captivity. They had no children.
3.Maud Marshal (1194–27 March 1248), married (1) Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, 
they had four children; (2) William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, they had two 
children; (3) Walter de Dunstanville.
4.Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke (1197–27 June 1241), married (1) Marjorie of 
Scotland, youngest daughter of King William I of Scotland; by an unknown mistress he 
had one illegitimate daughter: 1.Isabel Marshal, married to Rhys ap Maeldon Fychan.

5.Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke (c. 1199 – November 1245), married Margaret 
de Quincy, Countess of Lincoln, granddaughter of Hugh de Kevelioc, 3rd Earl of 
Chester. No children.
6.Isabel Marshal (9 October 1200 – 17 January 1240), married (1) Gilbert de Clare, 5th 
Earl of Hertford, whose daughter Isabel de Clare married Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of 
Annandale, the grandfather of Robert the Bruce; (2) Richard Plantagenet, Earl of 
Cornwall
7.Sibyl Marshal (c. 1201–27 April 1245), married William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby–
they had seven daughters. 1.Agnes Ferrers (died 11 May 1290), married William de 
Vesci.
2.Isabel Ferrers (died before 26 November 1260)
3.Maud Ferrers (died 12 March 1298), married (1) Simon de Kyme, and (2) William de 
Vivonia (de Forz), and (3) Amaury IX of Rochechouart.
4.Sibyl Ferrers, married Sir Francis or Franco de Bohun.
5.Joan Ferrers (died 1267)
6.Agatha Ferrers (died May 1306), married Hugh Mortimer, of Chelmarsh.
7.Eleanor Ferrers (died 16 October 1274), married to:

8.Eva Marshal (1203–1246), married William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny 
1.Isabella de Braose (b.1222), married Prince Dafydd ap Llywelyn. She died childless.
2.Maud de Braose (1224–1301), in 1247, she married Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron 
Mortimer and they had descendants.
3.Eva de Braose (1227 – 28 July 1255), married Sir William de Cantelou and had 
descendants.
4.Eleanor de Braose (c.1228–1251). On an unknown date after August 1241, she 
married Sir Humphrey de Bohun and had descendants.

9.Anselm Marshal, 6th Earl of Pembroke (c. 1208–22 December 1245), married Maud 
de Bohun, daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford. They had no 
children.
10.Joan Marshal (1210–1234), married Warin de Munchensi (d. 1255), Lord of 
Swanscombe 1.Joan de Munchensi (1230–20 September 1307) married William of 
Valence, the fourth son of King John's widow, Isabella of Angoulême, and her second 
husband, Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche. Valence was half-brother to Henry 
III and Edward I's uncle.


Fate of the Marshal family[edit]

During the civil wars in Ireland, William had taken two manors that the Bishop of Ferns 
claimed but could not get back. Some years after William's death, that bishop is said
[15] to have laid a curse on the family that William's sons would have no children, and 
the great Marshal estates would be scattered. Each of William's sons did become earl 
of Pembroke and marshal of England, and each died without legitimate issue. William's 
vast holdings were then divided among the husbands of his five daughters. The title of 
"Marshal" went to the husband of the oldest daughter, Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of 
Norfolk, and later passed to the Mowbray dukes of Norfolk and then to the Howard 
dukes of Norfolk, becoming "Earl Marshal" along the way. The title of "Earl of 
Pembroke" passed to William of Valence, the husband of Joan Marshal's daughter, 
Joan de Munchensi; he became the first of the de Valence line of earls of Pembroke.

Through his daughter Isabel, William is ancestor to both the Bruce and Stewart kings 
of Scots. Through his granddaughter Maud de Braose, William is ancestor to the last 
Plantagenet kings, Edward IV through Richard III, and all English monarchs from 
Henry VIII and afterward.

William Marshal in fiction[edit]
William is the central figure in the Anglo-Norman History of William Marshal. History of 
William Marshal, ed. A.J. Holden, S. Gregory & D. Crouch, 3 vols., ANTS Occasional 
Publications 4–6 (London: Anglo-Norman Text Society, 2002–6)
William appears (named only as the Earl of Pembroke) in William Shakespeare's 
historical play King John.
William Marshal is a central character in the traditional English ballad "Queen Elanor's 
Confession" (Child 156), in which he is (fictitiously) revealed to have seduced Eleanor 
of Aquitaine while escorting her to England.
Four generations of the Marshal family, from Isabel de Clare's parents through William 
fitzWilliam's fictitious bastard son, are the subjects of a series of four historical 
romances by Mary Pershall. Dawn of the White Rose (1985) is the one about William 
Marshal and Isabel de Clare.
William Marshal appears in four of the books authored by Jean Plaidy on the 
Plantagenet Kings: The Revolt of the Eaglets (where he fights for Henry II), The Heart 
of the Lion (his relation with Richard Coeur de Lion), The Black Prince (his relation 
with King John Lackland) and The War of the Queens (in his role as regent of Henry 
III). His daughter Isabella also appears in the next book of the Saga, (The Queen 
came from Provence), as Richard of Cornwall's first wife
William Marshal also appears as a supporting character in Thomas B. Costain's out of 
print novel Below the Salt, and Sharon Kay Penman's novels Time and Chance and 
Devil's Brood, as well as a minor appearance in Penman's When Christ and His Saints 
Slept, illustrating the story about young William's time as King Stephen's hostage and 
John Marshal's defiance.
William Marshal makes appearance in James Blish's historical novel, Doctor Mirabilis. 
He appears at the Convocation at Westminster, and in absentia on his temporary 
break with Henry III. Blish himself acknowledges the historicity of Marshall, and further 
notes that in the company of Sir Miles Bonecor that they appear "... as martial spear 
carriers in this account..." Ultimately, William is merely a figure present in the plot as 
opposed to a significant mover of events within this particular novel.
William Marshal is the main character of the novel A Pride of Kings by Juliet Dymoke, 
published by the New English Library in 1978.
William Marshal is a significant secondary character in the novel The Witch Hunter by 
Bernard Knight, in the author's John Crowner medieval mystery series, published in 
2004.
A new novel about William Marshal, The Greatest Knight by Elizabeth Chadwick, 
based on primary sources and the main secondary source biographies of professors 
Painter, Duby and Crouch was published by Time Warner Books on 3 November 2005. 
A sequel, The Scarlet Lion followed in 2006. As one of the prominent historical figures 
of the period, Marshal also appears as a minor character in several of her other novels 
set around the same time.
In film, Marshal makes a minor appearance in 1968's The Lion in Winter, portrayed by 
Nigel Stock. Clive Wood portrays Marshal in the 2003 remake.
The author of The Lion in Winter, James Goldman, also used William Marshal as a 
supporting character in his novel about King John Myself As Witness (1979).
Another novel about William and his wife is Champion (in German "Der Ritter der 
Könige) from Christian Balling of the year 1988.
William Marshal is a major character in the novels The Devil is Loose and its sequel, 
Wolf at the Door by Graham Shelby. The books are about Richard Lionheart and King 
John, and are historical fictions about the events after the death of Henry II and the 
fall of the Angevin Empire.
William Marshal also has 2 appearances in the historical romance novels "The Falcon 
and the Flower" and "The Dragon and the Jewel" by author Virginia Henley.
He is a major character in Mike Walker's BBC Radio 4 series of plays Plantagenet and 
is played by Stephen Hogan.
William Marshal is a major character in Sir Ridley Scott's Robin Hood epic who tries to 
convince King John to agree to the Magna Carta. He is played by William Hurt.
In another Robin Hood movie, Bandit of Sherwood Forest (1946), as the regent William 
of Pembroke, played by Henry Daniell, an entirely fictitious characterisation as a 
scheming villain who kidnaps young Henry III and revokes the Magna Carta.
William Marshal is also a key character in Christopher Morley's new play The King's 
Disposition.
Peter Robert's radio play Holy Fool is about William Marshal (played by William Chubb) 
narrated by his squire (played by Michael Williams).
A character named "Marshal" (played by James Purefoy), based loosely on the 
historical William Marshal, is the central character in the 2011 film Ironclad.
An alternate history of William Marshal is in Martin Archer's multi-book saga "The 
Archers" - the young William is revealed as a young archer who evolves into William 
the Marshal and places his grandson on the throne.
William Marshal is also the main inspiration for Heath Ledger's character, William 
Thatcher, in the movie A Knight's Tale.

Parents
FITZ GILBERT John "the Marshall" (ABT 1105 - 1165)
DE SALISBURY Sibilla (Sibyl) (ABT 1127 - 3 Jun 1167)

Siblings
LE MARSHAL John (ABT 1144 - Mar 1194)
MARSHALL William (ABT 1144 - 14 May 1219)
FITZ GILBERT Margaret (ABT 1160 - )

Marriage To FITZGILBERT DE CLARE Isabel (1172 - 1220)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
FITZGILBERT DE CLARE Richard "Strongbow" (ABT 1125 - 20 Apr 1176)
MCMURROUGH Eva (Aoife) (ABT 1141 - 1188)

Children by FITZGILBERT DE CLARE Isabel 1172 - 1220
MARSHALL Sibyl (ABT 1188 - 27 Apr 1245)
MARSHALL Maud (Matilda) (ABT 1192 - 27 Mar 1248)
MARSHALL Isabel (9 Oct 1200 - 17 Jan 1240)
MARSHALL Joane (ABT 1202 - ABT 1234)
MARSHALL Eve (1203 - 1246)

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