Marshal

Who he is

Name

William Marshal (Guillaume le Marechal)

Title

Earl of Pembroke (girded 27 May 1199), lord of Striguil (Chepstow) and Usk, Marshal of England

Since

Striguil and the Clare lands by marriage to Isabel de Clare in August 1189; Pembroke and the earldom from John in 1199

Born

1146 or 1147

Family

Wife Isabel de Clare, daughter of Richard Strongbow and Aoife of Leinster. Children on 1 January 1200: William (born 1190), Richard (1191), Maud (1194), Gilbert (1197), Walter (about 1199). Isabel the daughter is born 9 October 1200. His brother Henry is bishop of Exeter.

Confidence

high

Wikipedia (William Marshal); the Cardigan burgess charter of 3 December 1199, which he witnessed.

Overlord

King John

What it holds

• Striguil (Chepstow) castle and borough, the lordship of Netherwent, and the patronage of Tintern abbey
• The lordship of Usk with Trellech and Raglan's fee
• The county of Pembroke: Pembroke castle and borough, Tenby, Castlemartin, with sub-tenants at Manorbier (the de Barri), Carew and elsewhere
• A claim to Cilgerran and to Caerleon through the Clare inheritance
• Outside this sheet: the lordship of Leinster (irl), Longueville in Normandy, Caversham and other English manors

How it was acquired

Marriage (1189) and royal grant (1199).

Allies and rivals

John's man, though not an intimate. Rivals: Gruffydd ap Rhys and Maelgwn over Cilgerran; Hywel ab Iorwerth over Caerleon; Meiler FitzHenry in Ireland.

How things stand that morning

Holds Striguil, Usk and Pembroke firmly; absent with the king overseas; his castles run by his constables (names not pinned).

Wealth

The Wye and Severn trade at Chepstow, the ports of Pembroke and Tenby, the Flemish wool and cloth of the south-west, the rents of Netherwent.

Military

Chepstow, Usk and Pembroke castles; the knights of the Pembroke and Striguil fees. His own record as a tourneyer and commander is the best of the age.

Threats

• The princes of Deheubarth on the Teifi
• The Welsh of Gwent

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 9 October 1200His daughter Isabel is born.Depends on: Natural course Stopped by: Play

Later, on the likely course

1. 1204Takes Cilgerran from Maelgwn.Depends on: Marshal's free hand after Normandy Stopped by: Peace with the Welsh
2. 1204Granted Goodrich castle.Depends on: John's favour Stopped by: A quarrel with John

Places of note

• Chepstow castle: Caput of Striguil
• Usk castle: Clare castle of Usk
• Pembroke castle: Caput of the county of Pembroke
• Tenby: Walled port of the county
• Tintern abbey: Cistercian abbey under his patronage

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Marshal's life is the best recorded of any baron; his Welsh constables are not named for 1200.

On the map: Pembroke's northern edge with Narberth and Haverfordwest is approximate.

Primary sources for March of Wales

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Wales, Anonymous (St Davids and other Welsh houses) (10th to 13th centuries; the B and C texts continue to 1286 and 1288). Short Latin annals whose later versions are kept at St Davids and Cistercian houses. Read online
• Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
• Chronicle of the Princes, Anonymous (Welsh translation of a lost Latin chronicle kept at Strata Florida) (Latin original to about 1282, compiled from contemporary annals; Welsh versions about 1300 and later). The native Welsh record of the year. Read online
• Monastic Annals (Margam, Tewkesbury, Burton, Winchester, Waverley, Dunstable, Bermondsey, Worcester, Osney) (12th to 14th centuries). Nine sets of house annals, each with a short entry for 1200. Read online
• The History of William Marshal, Anonymous (a poet called John, writing for the Marshal family) (about 1224 to 1226). A knight's view of the Angevin succession: the council at Vaudreuil in April 1199 where the Marshal and Hubert Walter argued for John over Arthur, the Marshal's crossing to secure England, John's coronation, and the Marshal's part in Normandy in 1199 and 1200 as holder of Longueville and Orbec and a go-between with Philip. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online
• The Charter Rolls of King John (1199 to 1216, at the royal chancery). The enrolled charters of John's first years, beginning with his accession in 1199: confirmations to towns, bishoprics and abbeys, grants of land and office, and the great grants to men like William Marshal and the king's new allies in Poitou. Read online
• The Great Rolls of the Pipe for 1199 and Michaelmas 1200 (1199 and 1200, at the Exchequer). The audited accounts of every sheriff and farmer for the Exchequer year ending Michaelmas 1200: county farms, the scutage of 1199, the carucage of 1200, debts of magnates and towns, wardships, and the fines offered to the new king.

3 more in the sources library for The British Isles.