William marshal earl of pembroke biography definition
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L'histoire de Guillaume le Marechal, is the verse biography of William Marshal, which was written, at the request of his son, just after his death. At the age of at least seventy he led forces against Louis VIII of France to assist a nine-year old King Henry III retain his throne.
At the age of five or six William was given to King Stephen as a hostage.
He fell ill early in the year 1219 and died on 14th March at his fortified-manor (or castle) in Caversham, on the Thames near Reading. Claiming to have captured more than 500 knights in his career, he apparently signed off with the admission “I cannot defend myself from death”.
William was buried in the Temple Church, London, where his tomb can still be seen.
In return the king gifted William the large royal estate of Cartmel in Cumbria.
During a skirmish in northern France in 1189, William came face to face with the undutiful Richard and promptly unhorsed him; rather than putting the prince to the sword he choose to make his point by killing his horse instead.
Shortly after their chance meeting, Henry II died and Richard became king.
Although William had assisted the prince in rebelling against his father, he had also served with distinction on crusade in the Holy Land for two years. In 1197 at the tender age of 50, he scaled the walls of a besieged French castle and held it until re-enforcements arrived. Her father had been Earl of Pembroke, and this title was granted to William, along with his large estates.
Knights would arrive from all corners of Europe, including Spain, England, Scotland and France, forming teams in order compete. He acted as the King’s hands-on general in his continuing wars in France against King Philip II.
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Again William Marshall travelled to see Philippe to agree peace terms, but his attempts were destroyed by Hubert Walter who sent a secret letter to Philippe telling him not to accept William Marshal's promise that John would do homage to Philippe. With very few rules and as in real war, the prize was whatever ransom could be extracted from other captured knights, princes and nobles.
By the 1170s William had become somewhat of a superstar of the tournament circuit, and had grown very rich as a consequence.
Geoffrey fitz Peter was chosen as Justiciar and William, Earl of Pembroke, became Marshal of John's household. [4]
The castles at Chinon and Loches both fell to the French as Philippe strengthened his position. As the younger son of a minor noble he would have understood from a very early age that he could expect no lands or riches to come knocking at his door, and that he would have to make his own way in life.
He had served five kings.
But was William really as loyal and honourable as he seems? [4]
King Henry III's supporters defeated the forces belonging to Prince Louis and the rebel barons that were besieging the castle at Lincoln.
The defeat of the French fleet left Prince Louis without much hope of taking the English throne.
William spent two years in the Holy Land fighting with King Guy of Jerusalem and the Knights’ Templar.
On his return to England in 1185, William swore allegiance to King Henry II and served as his loyal captain against his rebellious son and heir Richard, soon to be Richard I, The Lionheart.
William Marshal
William Marshal, first Earl of Pembroke [Guillaume le Maréchal] (1146-1219), soldier and statesman.
His eldest son, also called William, inherited the title of Earl of Pembroke. At the Battle of Lincoln, in May 1217, he was at the forefront of the fighting and, later, he prepared the young King Henry III's army for a siege on London, when the war was ended by Hubert de Burgh's Naval victory in the straits of Dover.