Royal: Thomas of Brotherton, Earl of Norfolk, 1300-1338

King Edward I had many children by his two successive wives, but like most parents, he suffered a great deal of bereavement.  Several of his children by his first wife, Eleanor of Castile died either of infant mortality or even of plague.  Years after Eleanor's death, Edward married again, Margaret of France, having two sons and a daughter to comfort his old age.  Thomas of Brotherton was the first of these boys, the younger half-brothers of Edward II.

Thomas, 1300-1338, as his name suggests, was born in Brotherton, Yorkshire.  Margaret had intended to have her baby at Cawood, but went into labor early in Brotherton, after following a hunt.  Even in those days, women rode along with the men as they hunted.  The delivery was hard and Margaret attributed her and the child's survival to St. Thomas Becket and honored him with the baby's name.  Edward I was overjoyed that he'd had another son.  His only son by Eleanor to survive was the future Edward II, with whom the King often didn't get along.  Edward was a careful father to Thomas and Edmund, the little brother who came a year after.  Their education consisted of learning how to be men in the Plantagenet family, which meant learning early the skills leading to knighthood and later combat.  Edward died in 1307 and Thomas was heir presumptive to his older brother until the birth of Edward II's son, Edward III in 1312.  Edward II intended to give his younger brother the Earldom of Cornwall, then as now often a perk of a royal heir.  However, he decided to give this earldom to his favorite, Piers Gaveston.  Roger Bigod, the last of the Bigod Earls of Norfolk had recently passed without heirs, so his earldom reverted to the Crown.  Edward gave Thomas the Earldom instead, in 1312.

The young Earl of Norfolk was given an additional honor in 1316, that of Earl Marshal.  This title made him the premier earl of England.  The Earl Marshal was one of the Great Officers of State, historically in charge of the King's horses and bodyguard, as well as ceremonial events like coronations, weddings and funerals.  While Edward II was away in Scotland, Thomas was made Keeper of the Realm, but his own fiery lion's temper got the better of him.  He was soon at odds with both the Despenser family and Queen Isabella.  However, he sided with Isabella and Mortimer when they invaded England and overthrew Edward II in 1327.  Thomas presided over the trials of the Despensers, and was young Edward III's most trusted advisor.  Thomas commanded the English right wing at Halidon Hill, 1333.

Thomas married twice, but had only one daughter, Margaret.  After his death at Framlingham Castle in Suffolk, he was buried in Bury St. Edmunds.  Margaret was made Countess of Norfolk and later Duchess of Norfolk for life, but as a woman couldn't transmit her title to her own children.  The title passed to the Mowbray family and later to the Howards, who are both Dukes of Norfolk, the Premier Duke of England, and Earls of Arundel, the Premier Earl of England, as well as being Earl Marshal. 

  

Knight: William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke

Centuries before movie stars, rock stars, athletes and the internet famous fed the obsession with celebrity, knights errant and tournament champions were the celebrities of their day.  And none was more famous then William Marshal (c 1146-1219).

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.)