William was born in England. The family surname, Marshal, was an occupational designation, though it isn't clear today just what the Marshal family were marshals of. A marshal could be a military function, a legal function similar to a constable, or could work in the court of a king or high noble. What's for certain is that this family was made of stern stuff. During the Anarchy, William's father John initially supported King Stephen, but transferred his allegiance to Matilda after Stephen took young William hostage. When Stephen threatened to launch young William against the walls of his father's castle in a form of trebuchet, John Marshal told the King's messengers that if William was killed, he had the hammer and anvil to make even better sons. Stephen couldn't bring himself to kill a child and William was spared. It would've been an abject lesson for anyone.
William was the son of a minor nobleman and had to make his own way in the world. He became a knight-errant, offering his services to whichever nobleman would pay him. He also became known for competing in tournaments, where prize money and the captured armor and horses of defeated opponents made him wealthy. He served William de Tancarville and a maternal uncle, Patrick, Earl of Salisbury. He entered royal service as a military tutor to Henry the Young King and saved Eleanor of Aquitaine from an ambush, getting himself captured in the process. Eleanor paid his ransom. Marshal remained loyal to Henry II during the final tumultuous years of the older man's reign. As Henry fled before the forces of his son Richard, William met Richard in single combat and knocked the young Lionheart off his horse. It was the beginning of a close friendship between the two men. King Richard arranged the marriage of William, now 43, with the 17-year-old heiress Isabel de Clare, daughter of Richard de Clare (Strongbow), Earl of Pembroke. Though he wouldn't be made Earl of Pembroke until 1199, Marshal was now the wealthiest man in the kingdom.
When Richard left on the Third Crusade, he appointed William Marshal to the council of Regency which would govern England in his absence. Marshal joined forces with John against Richard's Justiciar, William Longchamp, but soon came to realize that John was using the conflict with Longchamp as an excuse to seize Richard's throne. Marshal transferred to the Loyalist side of the conflict trying to keep Richard's kingdom together until he returned. During John's reign, Marshal remained just as loyal to him, though the two men did not get along and had several public quarrels over lands and honors involving Marshal's extensive holdings in Ireland and Normandy. Marshal was one of the few barons who remained loyal to John during the lead-up to the signing of Magna Carta in 1214. At John's death in 1216, he appointed Marshal regent for his young son, Henry III. Marshal held this post until his death in 1219, at which time he turned his duties as Regent over to the Papal Legate, not trusting any of the barons or English clergy to serve the young king as loyally as he had.
Marshal had always wanted to go on Crusade. He had traveled in the Holy Land but wanted to do more. Before his death, he was made a Knight Templar and buried in the robes of the order in Temple Church, London. He and Isabel had had 10 children together. William's five boys duly succeeded him as Earls of Pembroke 2-6, but none of them had sons to take the title any further. Some claim this was due to an Irish curse on Marshal's line because of his harsh treatment of tenants on his Irish lands. I'll leave that to individual readers to believe or not. However, Marshal and history would have the last word. The Pembroke honor passed to his daughter, who married the Earl of Norfolk. This marriage made the title Earl Marshal hereditary to the Earls and later Dukes of Norfolk for centuries. William was also the great-grandfather of Robert Bruce, courtesy of his daughter Maud, who married the Earl of Hertford and her daughter married the Lord of Annandale, grandfather of Robert Bruce. Through another granddaughter, Marshal was ancestor of Edward III. Thus, Marshal was the ancestor of the final Plantagenet kings, Edward IV and his sons, and Richard III. And, through Elizabeth of York, he's the ancestor of all English kings from Henry VIII and including the current Queen and her family. Not bad for a knight errant who almost got shot out of a catapult as a kid.
(I'm updated to reader Elizabeth Chadwick and other members of the British Medieval History website on Facebook for updated information, which I've included here along with a picture of Marshal's effigy showing his correct shield. Elizabeth maintains a Facebook group and website page devoted to William Marshal.)
The illustration at the top of the page is of William Longespee, Earl of Salisbury.
ReplyDeleteThe duties of the Marshal are fairly extensively known - see David Crouch's biography of William Marshal among others.
He served William de Tancarville as a squire and was trained in his household i.e. sent there to learn his craft and when Tancarville dismissed him, he took up service with his uncle Patrick of Salisbury. Rather than being a sword for hire to anyone, he was using family connections to find secure employment in his younger days. His riches and fame on the tourney field were to come when he was tutor to Henry II's eldest son Henry the Young King.
It wasn't hearsay of bravery that got him taken into Eleanor's household, it was the fact that he saved her from ambush while escorting her. He was captured and taken for ransom and she paid his ransom and took him into her household.
I note there is no mention of the Marshal's service in the employ Henry the Young King in 1170 on whose behalf (after the Young King's demise) and his own, (yes he did go on crusade to Jerusalem despite the last paragraph from late summer 1183 returning in the early spring of 1186), in 1183, having spent the better part of 13 years in the young man's service.