Hakes Family Tree - William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke

Person Chart

Parents

Father	Date of Birth	Mother	Date of Birth
John Fitzgilbert , Marshal of the Horses	1105	Sibyl De Salisbury	27 Nov 1126

Partners

Partner	Date of Birth	Children
Isabel De Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke	1171	Isabel Marshal

Person Events

Event Type	Date	Place	Description
Birth	1146	Pembroke, Wales
Mission	1152		King Stephen used the young William as a hostage to ensure that his father John Marshal surrendered Newbury Castle
Nobility Title	1166	Upper Normandy	Knighted
Occupation	1167		Tournament Knight
Occupation	1170		Appointed to the household of King Henry the Young and became his tutor-in-arms
Occupation	1183		Went on Crusade
Occupation	1185		Returned from Crusade and made Captain in the Court of Henry II
Marriage	August 1189	Tower of London
Occupation	1190		Appointed to the Council of Regency by King Richard
Nobility Title	1199		King John Invested him as Earl of Pembroke
Mission	15 Jun 1215		Present at the signing of the Magna Carta
Occupation	11 Nov 1216	Gloucester	King's Council named him Protector for 9 year old Henry III and Regent of the Kingdom
Military Award	20 May 1217		Defeated Louis VIII of France at Second Battle of Lincoln
Occupation	13 May 1219	Caversham Manor, Oxfordshire, England	Invested into the Order of the Templar Knights on his deathbed
Death	14 May 1219	Caversham Manor, Oxfordshire, England

Notes


The name William Marshal sounds ordinary enough and could belong to any unremarkable Englishman. The chances are that you do not associate it with anyone of note. Yet William Marshal – or William the Marshal – was one of the greatest men ever to have lived and arguably the greatest ever Englishman. At liberty, he made a living out of winning tournaments. Tournaments were at that time dangerous – often deadly – battles, far from the showy jousting contests that they would later become late on. Money, armour, horses and valuable prizes could be won by capturing and ransoming opponents. William’s record on the tournament circuit became legendary. No modern counterpart exists, but some idea of his fame and presige might be imagined by combining the world's most famous footballer with the world heavywieght boxing champion and equestrian Olympic gold medalist. Although inexplicably omitted from schoolroom history he has a dozen claims to fame. He unhorsed Richard, the future King Richard I, the Lionheart, in battle and spared his life. He loyally served five Plantagenate kings, including Richard his erstwhile enemy, who had the sense to recognise Marshal's qualities. He defeated over 500 opponents in single combat, knighted two kings, ruled England as Regent, beat a powerful French army on English soil, saved the kingdom of England, and earned the respect of Europe. He was called “The Flower of Chivalry”. Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury, described him as the "greatest knight that ever lived". Every king and great nobleman in Europe had an officer called a marshal, but by the time of his death in 1219 the whole of Europe knew William as “The Marshal"

The name William Marshal sounds ordinary enough and could belong to any unremarkable Englishman. The chances are that you do not associate it with anyone of note. Yet William Marshal – or William the Marshal – was one of the greatest men ever to have lived and arguably the greatest ever Englishman.

At liberty, he made a living out of winning tournaments. Tournaments were at that time dangerous – often deadly – battles, far from the showy jousting contests that they would later become late on. Money, armour, horses and valuable prizes could be won by capturing and ransoming opponents. William’s record on the tournament circuit became legendary. No modern counterpart exists, but some idea of his fame and presige might be imagined by combining the world's most famous footballer with the world heavywieght boxing champion and equestrian Olympic gold medalist.

Although inexplicably omitted from schoolroom history he has a dozen claims to fame. He unhorsed Richard, the future King Richard I, the Lionheart, in battle and spared his life. He loyally served five Plantagenate kings, including Richard his erstwhile enemy, who had the sense to recognise Marshal's qualities.

He defeated over 500 opponents in single combat, knighted two kings, ruled England as Regent, beat a powerful French army on English soil, saved the kingdom of England, and earned the respect of Europe. He was called “The Flower of Chivalry”. Stephen Langton, the Archbishop of Canterbury, described him as the "greatest knight that ever lived". Every king and great nobleman in Europe had an officer called a marshal, but by the time of his death in 1219 the whole of Europe knew William as “The Marshal"