William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (2nd Creation)
The Earl of Pembroke
Born
1190
Died
6 April 1231
Allegiance
EnglandBattles/wars
First Barons' WarBattle of LincolnWilliam Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (
French:Guillaume) (1190 – 6 April 1231) was a
medieval English
nobleman, one of the
Magna Carta sureties and the son of the famous
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
Early lifeArms of William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
William was born in
Normandy probably during the spring of 1190. He was given as hostage to
King John after his father paid homage to
King Philip of France in 1205 and was from 1205 to 1212 at the court of King John as a guarantee of his father's behaviour.
William married Alice de Bethune, daughter of his father's friend
Baldwin of Bethune, in September 1214. The marriage ended before 1215 when Alice died of unknown causes.
During the
baronial rebellion of 1215, William was on the side of the rebels while his father was fighting for the king. When
Louis of France took
Worcester castle in 1216, however, the younger William was warned by his father to withdraw, which he did just before
Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester retook the castle. In March 1217, he was absolved from
excommunication and rejoined the royal cause. At the
Battle of Lincoln he was fighting with his father.
Earl MarshalAt his father's death in 1219 he succeeded the elder William as both
Earl of Pembroke and as
Lord Marshal of England. These two powerful titles, combined with his father's legendary status, could not help but make William one of the most prominent and powerful nobles in England. In 1224, William married
Eleanor of England, youngest daughter of King John and
Isabella of Angoulême, thereby strengthening the family's connection with the
Plantagenets.
In 1223, William crossed over from his
Irish lands to campaign against
Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, who had attacked his holding of
Pembroke. He was successful, but his actions were seen as too independent by the young
Henry III's
regents. in 1224
Hugh de Lacy began attacking William's and the King's lands in Ireland. William was appointed
Justiciar of Ireland, and managed to subdue Hugh. He founded the
Dominican priory of the Holy Trinty in
Kilkenny in 1225 and began construction of
Carlow and
Ferns castles.
In 1226 he was ordered to surrender the custody of the royal castles of
Cardigan and
Carmarthen, that he had captured from Llywelyn, to the crown. He was also removed from his role as justiciar in 1226 for his opposition to the treatment of Aodh O'Connor during a campaign in Connacht.
William accompanied the king to Brittany in 1230, and assumed control of the forces when the king returned to England. Then, in February 1231, William also returned to England. Here he arranged the marriage of his sister Isabel, widow of
Gilbert de Clare, to
Richard, Earl of Cornwall, brother to King Henry III. William died 6 April 1231.
[nb 1]PosterityWilliam had no heirs, and his titles passed to his younger brother,
Richard. This was credited to a curse bestowed upon the family by
Bishop of Ferns,
Ailbe Ua Maíl Mhuaidh (died 1223). All of William's brothers successively inherited the title, but, as Ua Maíl Mhuaidh predicted, none had children and the male line of the family died out upon the death of Anslem Marshall in 1245.
During his lifetime, William Marshal commissioned a biography of his father to be written, called L'Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal. He was buried in the
Temple Church in London, next to his father, where his
effigy may still be seen.