Wrapping up the Marshall

Maybe the greatest warrior in history was William Marshal who became Marshall of England. I started posting about him at http://gordon-feil-history-observations.blogspot.ca/2017/01/getting-ready-for-william-marshall.html and then in a couple of other posts. He began accruing wealth by winning jousting tournaments (http://gordon-feil-history-observations.blogspot.ca/2017/01/the-undefeated-william.html). He came to the attention of Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Henry II and eventual mother of several kings and queens. From there it was easy to go into the service of Henry who ruled an empire that included the British Isles and the western half of today’s France. For Henry, William was Marshall, a position somewhat like a Field Marshall (or five star general for you Americans) today. 

William eventually married the widowed Countess of Pembroke, the wealthiest heiress in the realm and perhaps in the world.  The Pembroke land holdings, like those of John of Gaunt later, were approximately beyond computation.  The new Earl of Pembroke and his wife had 5 sons.  Back to them shortly.

William was protective of his wife and her honor. King John was deprecatory of people generally and sometimes made various ones the brunt of his insults. He said something about the Countess of Pembroke which William would not suffer. Others sucked up the insults, but not the 66 year old warrior who had won hundreds of jousting tournaments and had never been unseated. He challenged John to combat on the spot, and allowed the king to appoint 2 champions as his proxy in the fight. John could not find two men willing to take on the aged Marshall.

William got into a dispute with an Irish cleric over the ownership of a manor house in Ireland. It was a nothing type of property to the Pembroke domains, but William was stubborn about it. The cleric cursed the Marshall’s family, pronouncing that his name would die out. The story of the 5 sons is amazing.  All of them died without male issue, and through strange circumstances.

William served Kings Henry II, Richard I, John and Henry III.  And he did so loyally.  He wanted to retire at age 70, but with the ascendency of the boy Henry III, he was pressed to act as Protector of the kingdom. 10 years later he died, and Hubert de Burgh, the original Humpty Dumpty, stepped into the void.