In honor of getting nominated for membership, the Knight of the week will be Sir William Marshal. - I will be doing this a little different, and put the information in a timeline theme:
William Marshal TIMELINE:
William's family were royal Marshal's, hence the name. It derives from Marescallus, roughly translating as Horsemaster and way, way back they were head stable boys.
1144 – born
1156 – sent to Normandy as Squire to Wm of Tancerville. (Wm wears his arms)
1164 – William is knighted (wears arms of Tancerville till ~1167) With the advice from his cousin, he ventured into his first tournament. William was despondent because he had no warhorse. His lord promised him one, but when it came to sharing out the horses available to the Tancarville knights, William was last in line and had to have the destrier that no one wanted. The horse's name was Blancart. Though successful as a knight in mock combat, William was still wearing the crest of Tancarville, though no longer a part of that household.
1165 thru 1166 - William travels and practices the art of battle in the tournament. (As Knight Errant)
1167 – Marshal returns to England and serves Patrick, the Earl of Salisbury (He now wears the coat of arms of Salisbury.) Quitting the Tancarville household he then served in the household of his mother's brother, Patrick, Earl of Salisbury. William joined the entourage of his uncle Patrick, Earl of Salisbury, who was acting as a governor of Poitou. William was once again across the channel into France where they were escorting Eleanore of Aquatain, queen wife of Henry II, as they were to suppress an uprising in her home land. He is taken prisoner.
1170 - Henry II crowns his eldest son, also named Henry, as a king. Henry II also names William as head of the new young King's household as well as being placed in charge of his military training.
1174 - The young King and William separate after rumors of William and
young Henry's Queen are maliciously spread by envious knights. William
travels through Europe, beginning 12 years of knight-errantry and a
successful participation with the tourny.
1179 - William Marshal was sufficiently wealthy to raise his own banner over his own company of knights. (Knight Bannerette)William rejoins the young King's household, continuing to fight in tournaments. Philip II is now King of France. (Knight Bannerette) - We can also see from history that it was from this period he began to carry the banner that was to become famous – the red lion on a parti-coloured green and yellow background.
(Motto: Utilem pete finem. Seek a useful end. His coat of arms is party per pale or, vert, a lion rampant gules; Crest. — An antelope's head erazed, or, gorged gules.)
1183 - After a tourny, William receives word to rush to meet young Henry. Upon his arrival to the household of the young King, he discovers young Henry has taken seriously ill. Now on his death bed, the young King, who has just taken his Crusader's vow, requests William to take his Crusader's cloak to Jerusalem and place it on the Holy Sepulchre.
1184-1186 – Knight Templar in Styria
1186 -William Marshal Enters Henry II's mesnie (i.e. household).
1187 - Returning to England, Henry II request the service of William.
1188 – Given wardship of John d’Erly (age 14) as his squire. (If a squire served a knight banneret, he would often get to bear the banner.)
1189 – William is now Lord of Pembroke, Striguil and Leinster -While covering the flight of Henry II from Le Mans to Chinon, William unhorsed the undutiful Richard in a skirmish. William could have killed the prince but killed his horse instead, to make that point clear. He is said to have been the only man ever to unhorse Richard.
1194 – Richard went off to battle in Syria and Europe, spending little to no time at all in England. William Appointed Marshal of England. He also knights his Squire. Marries the Earl of Pembroke’s daughter - John remained as William Marshal's ward until he came of age in 1194, when he was knighted. d'Erly remained as one of Sir William's "household knights."
Between 1195 and 1198 - William Marshal and John d’Erly were with Richard in France
1199–. In March, King Richard marched to the castle of Challus in the Limousin region of France. William Marshal and John d’Erly took their leave of the King to attend to Royal business in Normandy. The King was wounded by a crossbow bolt. The wound turned septic and he died on 6th April. King Richard's brother, John, then succeeded to the throne.
William becomes earl of Pembroke. As granted to him by King John.
1204 - William Marshal, John d’Erly and a great company of knights and men at arms seized the castle of Cillgeran from the Welsh, surprising them with a dawn attack. King John gave Goodrich castle to William Marshal on his marriage to the heiress of the earldom of Pembroke.
1205 - King John summoned William Marshal and other magnates to a meeting and ordered that they mount an expedition to France in order to regain the Crown's lost lands in Poitou. William refused and found himself and his household out of Royal favour.
1207 - William Marshal, his wife Isabel and his household knights arrived in Ireland. Carlow Castle was constructed by William Marshal, Earl of Striguil and Lord of Leinster, c1207-13, to guard the vital river crossing.
1209 - The situation between the Marshal and King John flared up again.
1212 - The King, fearing a plot to assassinate him again, felt the need of the Marshal's good
will.
1213 - The King's favor continued and gave William Marshal the town and castle of Haverford
1215 - With sympathies with the barons but loyalties lay with John, William rode with the King to Runnymeade for the signing of Magna Carta. While William signs on behalf of the royal court, his eldest son signs on behalf of the barons.
1216 – King John fell ill and died. At the last, he asked that the Marshal look after his son, Henry, a boy of nine. William becomes Regent of England.
1217 - Royal lands in South Wales had been attacked by the Welsh prince, Morgan ap Hywel, Lord of Caerleon. The main holding of the Welsh was the castle of Caerleon. This was attacked in September by John d’Erly, then Bailiff at Striguil (Chepstow), and captured.Philip orders the Count of Persche to lay siege on Lincoln Castle near Dover. They successfully take the region, but William, defending the crown of the new young king, leads the army into battle at the age of 75.
1219 –William Marshal fell ill with great pains. He dies. Sir John dErly was at his side and was exexuter of his will.
Next week I will post about his closest companion: Sir John d'Erly
I also added a secondsecond picture...since I did a lot more research on Sir William, and have redone his helm with an earl's crown and his crest.
