General Notes

EARLDOM OF PEMBROKE (IV)

ISABEL, suo jure COUNTESS OF PEMBROKE, sister and heir. She married William MARSHAL, 4th son of John FITZGILBERT, styled also JOHN THE MARSHAL, being 2nd son by his 2nd wife, Sibyl, sister of Patrick DE SALISBURY, 1st EARL OF WILTSHIRE, and daughter of Walter DE SALISBURY, hereditary sheriff of Wilts and constable of Salisbury Castle, by Sibyl, da. of Patrick DE CHAOURCES [CHAWORTH]. He was born probably in 1146. In 1152 his father gave him as hostage to Stephen at the siege of Newbury, but in spite of the Marshal's bad faith, the King spared the child. At a later date, his father sent him to William de Tancarville, hereditary Master Chamberlain of Normandy, with whom he remained for 8 years as a squire. In 1167 he returned to England and attached himself to his uncle, the Earl of Salisbury, with whom he proceeded early in 1168 to Poitou, where Patrick was ambushed and slain and William was wounded and captured. Eventually he was ransomed by Queen Eleanor and returned to England, where he was chosen by Henry as a member of the Young King's household. In 1173 he was knighted at Drincourt by Tancarville, and supported the Young King in his rebellion against Henry II. Young Henry chose William to knight him, and on his deathbed (11 June 1183) he charged William to carry his cross to the Holy Sepulchre. When William returned to England circa 1187, the King made him a member of his household. In 1188 and 1189 William was with Henry in France, and in the retreat to Fresnay-sur-Sarthe he checked the pursuit by the King's rebel son and heir by killing Richard's horse with his spear. He was at Henry's deathbed in Chinon, and escorted the body to Fontevrault. Richard at once took him into favour and gave him in marriage Isabel, suo jure COUNTESS OF STRIGOIL or PEMBROKE, whereupon, according to contemporary chroniclers, William was styled EARL OF STRIGOIL. At the Coronation (3 September 1189) he bore the gold sceptre with the cross; and shortly afterwards he was appointed one of the subordinate justiciars under Longchamp. Before September 1190 he had fined for 2,000 marks for a moiety of the lands of Walter Giffard, sometime Earl of Buckingham, whereby he became Lord of Longueville and obtained a great addition to his wife's vast estates. When the Archbishop of Rouen superseded Longchamp in October 1191, William became his chief assistant; and when John revolted in 1193, William besieged and took Windsor Castle. In March 1193/4 he succeeded his brother as hereditary Master Marshal, and in the modest family estates; and hurrying from the funeral rites to join the King, he took part in the siege of Nottingham Castle. From 1194 to 1199 he was mostly with Richard in Normandy. One of Richard's last acts was to appoint him custodian of Rouen and the royal treasure there; and after the King's death William persuaded Archbishop Walter to support John, who sent him to England, where he obtained the support of the magnates at a meeting in Northampton. He was present at the Coronation of John on 27 May 1199, on which day the King girt him with the sword of the Earldom of Pembroke, whereby he became (if he was not already) EARL OF PEMBROKE. On 20 April 1200 he was confirmed in his office of Marshal; and in May he was a surety for the peace with France. He served John actively in Gascony, England, and Normandy; and on 22 April 1202 he was appointed constable of the castle of Lillebonne. In 1204 he invaded Wales and captured Kilgerran. Returning to Normandy, he did homage to the King of France for his lands in the Duchy. In June 1205 the Marshal joined the Archbishop of Canterbury in forcing the King to abandon his projected expedition to Poitou. From 1207 to 1213 he spent most of his time in Ireland. In April 1213 John's desperate position drove him to recall William, and on 15 May 1213, he witnessed John's, charter of resignation to the Pope. He was given charge of the castles of Haverfordwest, Carmarthen, Cardigan and Gower, and Dunamase in Ireland. In 1215 he supported John and was one of his representatives at Runnymede. He was one of the executors of John's will, was present when Henry III was crowned at Gloucester, and was unanimously chosen Regent at a Council held in Bristol on 11 November 1216. On 20 May 1217 he routed the French and the rebel Barons at Lincoln. Some months later he besieged London, and on 11 September he concluded the treaty of Lambeth with Louis. In May 1219, on his death-bed, he committed the young King to the care of the Papal Legate. He founded an Austin priory at Cartmel (Lancs), a Cistercian abbey on the shore of Bannow Bay in Ireland, and priories at Wexford, Duisk and Kilkenny. He was a benefactor to the chapter of Lisieux, the abbeys of Foucarmont, Gloucester, Tintern, Nutley and St. Thomas, Dublln, the priories of Longueville, Bradenstoke, Pembroke, Pill, and Stanley, Holy Trinity and St. Kevin, Dublin, the Templars and other religious bodies.

He married, in August 1189, in London, Isabel, only legitimate daughter and heir (after her brother's death in childhood) of Richard (FITZGILBERT), 2nd EARL OF PEMBROKE, by Eve, daughter of Dermot MACMURROUGH, King of Leinster. He died 14 May 1219, at Caversham, and was buried in the Temple Church, London. His widow died 1220, and was buried at Tintern Abbey.  [Complete Peerage X:358-64, (transcribed by Dave Utzinger)]