Individual Details

Wikipedia:
Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1147 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Guillaume le Maréchal), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He was described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" by Stephen Langton. He served four kings — Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, John and Henry III — and rose from obscurity to become a regent of England for the last of the four, and so one of the most powerful men in Europe. Before him, the hereditary title of "Marshal" designated head of household security for the king of England; by the time he died, people throughout Europe (not just England) referred to him simply as "the Marshal".

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 watch as he hanged William in front of the castle 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!" Fortunately for the child, Stephen could not bring himself to hang young William.

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.

....King Richard however, confirmed the offer [from Henry II] 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. Some estates however were excluded from the deal. Marshal did not obtain Pembroke and the title of earl, which his father-in-law had enjoyed, until 1199, as it had been taken into the king's hand in 1154. However, 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. They had five sons and five daughters, and have numerous descendants.

On 11 November 1216 at Gloucester, upon the death of King John, 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) he prosecuted the war against Prince Louis and the rebel barons with remarkable energy. In the battle of Lincoln he charged and fought at the head of the young King's army, leading them to victory. He was preparing to besiege Louis in London when the war was terminated by the naval victory of Hubert de Burgh in the straits of Dover. William was criticised for the generosity of the terms he accorded to Louis and the rebels in September 1217; but his desire for an expeditious settlement was dictated by sound statesmanship. Self-restraint and compromise were the keynote of Marshal's policy, hoping to secure peace and stability for his young liege. Both before and after the peace of 1217 he reissued Magna Carta, in which he is a signatory as one of the witnessing barons. Without his prestige the Angevin dynasty might not have survived the disastrous reign of John; where the French and the rebels would not trust the English king's word, they would trust William.

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 Masca, 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 effigy can still be seen.

After his death, his eldest son, also named William, commissioned a biography of his father to be written called L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechal. This book, written so soon after his death, has preserved (and probably enhanced) the legend of William Marshal for posterity. While his knightly achievements may be debatable, there is no doubt of his impact on the history and politics of England, from his stalwart defence of the realm to his support of the Magna Carta.

Descendants of William Marshal & Isabel de Clare

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.

Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1191–16 April 1234), married Gervase le Dinant. He died in captivity. They had no children.

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.

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:

Isabel Marshal, married to Rhys ap Maeldon Fychan.

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.

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

Sibyl Marshal (c. 1201–27 April 1245), married William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby–they had seven daughters.
Agnes Ferrers (died 11 May 1290), married William de Vesci.
Isabel Ferrers (died before 26 November 1260)
Maud Ferrers (died 12 March 1298)
Sibyl Ferrers, married Sir Francis or Franco de Bohun.
Joan Ferrers (died 1267)
Agatha Ferrers (died May 1306), married Hugh Mortimer, of Chelmarsh.
Eleanor Ferrers (died 16 October 1274)

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

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.

Joan Marshal (1210–1234), married Warin de Munchensi (d. 1255), Lord of Swanscombe
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. de Valence was half-brother to Henry III and Edward I's uncle.


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 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 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.

This website includes picture of Pembroke castle.
http://www.castlewales.com/marshall.html
William Marshal had been born during the Civil Wars of King Stephen and Empress Mathilda. He trained and knighted one intended king; served faithfully Kings Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, and John Lackland; and knighted and served as regent for a fourth king. As "rector regis et regni," Marshal had the Great Charter reissued in 1216 and in 1217 for the welfare and future of England and the Crown. There are many explanations and definitions of Marshal, his life and his time. Some say he survived so long and so well because of his physical stamina and condition, that he was simply a man of great physical strength. This gives only a piece of the complete portrait of William Marshal. He was a brilliant strategist in terms of his world, militarily and politically. He lived and survived in Henry II's arena, earning Henry's respect and affection. No man of little intelligence would have survived very long there. William Marshal can be understood in terms of his world of feudalism, fealty, loyalty and honour. Marshal stood by King John because of Marshal's oath of fealty and homage to his "lord," who also happened to be the King. William Marshal was a man who lived his life according to his sense of honour, and his sense of honour was defined in the laws and customs of feudalism and knighthood. It is that sense of honour that made no man equal to William Marshal, knight, Earl of Pembroke and Striguil, Lord of Leinster, and Regent of England.

Birth	1147
Marriage	Aug 1189	Tower of London - Isabel de Clare
Death	14 May 1219	Caversham, Berkshire, England

Spouse	Isabel de Clare (1172 - 1220)
Child	Maud Marshal (1192 - 1248)
Child	Isabel Marshal (1200 - )
Child	William Marshal (1190 - 1231)

Father	John Fitz Gilbert the Marshall ( - 1165)
Mother	Sibylle ( - )