Notes:

He married Eleanor of England, daughter of John I 'Lackland', King of England and Isabella d'Angoulême, on 23 April 1224. He was also reported to have died on 6 April 1231. William Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke also went by the nick-name of William 'the Younger'.

Other Events:

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Notes:

He was the son of John FitzGilbert and Sybil de Salisbury. He married Isabella de Clare, Countess of Pembroke, daughter of Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and Aoife MacMorrough, in August 1189 at London, England. William Marshal also went by the nick-name of William 'the Elder'.

Sir William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1147 - 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Guillaume le Maréchal), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He was described as the "greatest knight that ever lived" by Stephen Langton. He served four kings - Henry II, Richard the Lionheart, John and Henry III - and rose from obscurity to become a regent of England for the last of the four, and so one of the most powerful men in Europe. Before him, the hereditary title of "Marshal" designated head of household security for the king of England; by the time he died, people throughout Europe (not just England) referred to him simply as "the Marshal".

Early life

William's father, John Marshal, supported King Stephen when he took the throne in 1135, but in about 1139 he changed sides to back the Empress Matilda in the civil war of succession between her and Stephen which led to the collapse of England into "the Anarchy".

When King Stephen besieged Newbury Castle in 1152, according to William's biographer, he used the young William as a hostage to ensure that John kept his promise to surrender the castle. John, however, used the time allotted to reinforce the castle and alert Matilda's forces. When Stephen ordered John to surrender immediately or watch as he hanged William in front of the castle John replied that he should go ahead saying, "I still have the hammer and the anvil with which to forge still more and better sons!" Fortunately for the child, Stephen could not bring himself to hang young William.

Knight-Errant

As a younger son of a minor nobleman, William had no lands or fortune to inherit, and had to make his own way in life. Around the age of twelve, when his father's career was faltering, he was sent to Normandy to be brought up in the household of William de Tancarville, a great magnate and cousin of young William's mother. Here he began his training as a knight. He was knighted in 1166 on campaign in Upper Normandy, then being invaded from Flanders. His first experience of warfare was not a great success. He failed to take advantage of the knights he had managed to overcome in the street skirmish at Neufchâtel-en-Bray. In 1167 he was taken by William de Tancarville to his first tournament where he found his true métier. Quitting the Tancarville household he then served in the household of his mother's brother, Patrick, Earl of Salisbury. In 1168 his uncle was killed in an ambush by Guy de Lusignan. William was injured and captured in the same skirmish. It is known that William received a wound to his thigh and that someone in his captor's household took pity on the young knight. He received a loaf of bread in which were concealed several lengths of clean linen bandages with which he could dress his wounds. This act of kindness by an unknown person perhaps saved Marshal's life as infection setting into the wound could surely have killed him. After a period of time, he was ransomed by Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was apparently impressed by tales of his bravery. Thereafter he found he could make a good living out of winning tournaments. At that time tournaments were dangerous, often deadly, staged battles, not the jousting contests that would come later, and money and valuable prizes could be won by capturing and ransoming opponents, their horses and armour. His record is legendary: on his deathbed he recalled besting 500 knights during his tourneying career.

William Marshal and the Young King Henry

The Marshal's career entered a new phase in 1170 when he was appointed to the household of Henry the Young King, eldest surviving son of Eleanor and her second husband Henry II of England, crowned that year as associate king to his father. William was intended to be the boy's tutor-in-arms, but became his mentor and idol. He infected the boy with his passion for the tournament, and for the next twelve years he was the Young King's constant companion and tournament team manager. He followed the Young King in his abortive rebellion against his father in 1173-74, and William makes his first appearance in the historical record in a list of rebels compiled by the clerks of Henry II. William is alleged by his biographer to have knighted his young master during the course of the rebellion, but we know from other sources that Young Henry had in fact been knighted by his father before his coronation in 1170.

Between 1174, when Henry was reconciled to his father, and 1182, William led his master's Anglo-Norman team in all the major tournaments of the day, especially frequenting the huge international meetings in Picardy. His job was to devise tactics and during the course of the tournament to act as minder to the Young King, to make sure he avoided the embarrassment of capture. By the time of the French state tournament of 1179 at Lagny-sur-Marne, held to celebrate the coronation of Philip II of France, William Marshal was sufficiently wealthy to raise his own banner over his own company of knights. He was also by then subject to the envy and conspiracy of rivals at the Young King's court. In 1182 they engineered his downfall, by claiming that Marshal was more interested in profiting from tournaments than protecting his lord. There were also accusations of disrespect to the king in his choice of warcry for his company ('God aids the Marshal') and the way his men trumpeted his fame above the king's. His biographer attempts to deflect these serious charges by his enemies, by adding to them the preposterous charge that William Marshal had seduced the king's wife. He was treated coldly by the king, until fed up by the insults, Marshal left to join the tournament team of the Young King's rival and cousin Philip of Flanders. He was however recalled to the Young King's household following the king's second rebellion against his father, and was at his side when Henry died of dysentery near Limoges on 11 June 1183. The Marshal undertook to complete the crusade vow his dead master had made, and took his cloak stitched with the cross to Jerusalem, with the approval of the bereaved father, Henry II.

Royal favour

Upon his return during the course of 1185 William rejoined the court of King Henry II, and now served the father as a loyal captain through the many difficulties of his final years. The returns of royal favour were almost immediate. The king gave William the large royal estate of Cartmel in Cumbria, and the keeping of Heloise, the heiress of the northern barony of Lancaster. It may be that the king expected him to take the opportunity to marry her and become a northern baron, but William seems to have had grander ambitions for his marriage. In 1188 faced with an attempt by Philip II to seize the disputed region of Berry, Henry II summoned the Marshal to his side. The letter by which he did this survives, and makes some sarcastic comments about William's complaints that he had not been properly rewarded to date for his service to the king. Henry therefore promised him the marriage and lands of Dionisia, lady of Châteauroux in Berry. In the resulting campaign, the king fell out with his heir Richard, count of Poitou, who consequently allied with Philip II against his father. In 1189, 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. Nonetheless after Henry's death, Marshal was welcomed at court by his former adversary, now King Richard I, who was not foolish enough to exclude a man whose legendary loyalty and military accomplishments were too useful to ignore, especially in a king who was intending to go on Crusade.

During the old king's last days he had promised the Marshal the hand and estates of Isabel de Clare (c.1172-1220), but had not completed the arrangements. King Richard however, confirmed the offer and so in August 1189, at the age of 43, the Marshal married the 17-year-old daughter of Richard de Clare (Strongbow). Her father had been Earl of Pembroke, and Marshal acquired large estates and claims in England, Wales, Normandy and Ireland. Some estates however were excluded from the deal. Marshal did not obtain Pembroke and the title of earl, which his father-in-law had enjoyed, until 1199, as it had been taken into the king's hand in 1154. However, the marriage transformed the landless knight from a minor family into one of the richest men in the kingdom, a sign of his power and prestige at court. They had five sons and five daughters, and have numerous descendants (see below). William made numerous improvements to his wife's lands, including extensive additions to Pembroke Castle and Chepstow Castle.

William was included in the council of regency which the King appointed on his departure for the Third Crusade in 1190. He took the side of John, the king's brother, when the latter expelled the justiciar, William Longchamp, from the kingdom, but he soon discovered that the interests of John were different from those of Richard. Hence in 1193 he joined with the loyalists in making war upon him. In spring 1194, during the course of the hostilities in England, before King Richard's return, William Marshal's elder brother John Marshal was killed defending Marlborough for John, whose seneschal he was. Richard allowed Marshal to succeed his brother in the hereditary marshalship, and his paternal honour of Hamstead Marshall. The Marshal served the king in his wars in Normandy against Philip II. On Richard's death-bed the king designated Marshal as custodian of Rouen and of the royal treasure during the interregnum.

King John and Magna Carta

A 13th-century depiction of the Second Battle of Lincoln, which occurred at Lincoln Castle on 20 May 1217 during the First Barons' War between the forces of the future Louis VIII of France and those of King Henry III of England. Louis' forces were attacked by a relief force under the command of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke. Thomas du Perche, the Comte de la Perche, who was commanding the French troops, was killed; the illustration depicts his death. Perche had come to England to try and recover the honour of Perche which had been lost in 1204 by his mother (a niece of John, King of England) - this included Newbury and Shrivenham in Berkshire, Toddington in Buckinghamshire, and Haughley in Suffolk. This heavy defeat led to Louis being expelled from his base in the southeast of England.

William supported King John when he became king in 1199, arguing against those who maintained the claims of Arthur of Brittany, the teenage son of John's elder brother Geoffrey Plantagenet. William was heavily engaged with the defence of Normandy against the growing pressure of the Capetian armies between 1200 and 1203. He sailed with King John when he abandoned the duchy in December 1203. He and the king had a falling out in the aftermath of the loss of the duchy, when he was sent with the earl of Leicester as ambassadors to negotiate a truce with King Philip II of France in 1204. The Marshal took the opportunity to negotiate the continued possession of his Norman lands. When William paid homage to King Philip, John took offence and there was a major row at court which led to cool relations between the two men. This became outright hostility in 1207 when John began to move against several major Irish magnates, including William. Though he left for Leinster in 1207 William was recalled and humiliated at court in the autumn of 1208, while John's justiciar in Ireland Meilyr fitz Henry invaded his lands, burning the town of New Ross. Meilyr's defeat by Countess Isabel led to her husband's return to Leinster. He was once again in conflict with King John in his war with the Braose and Lacy families in 1210, but managed to survive. He stayed in Ireland until 1213, during which time he had Carlow Castle erected[1] and restructured his honour of Leinster. Taken back into favour in 1212, he was summoned in 1213 to return to the English court. Despite their differences, William remained loyal throughout the hostilities between John and his barons which culminated on 15 June 1215 at Runnymede with the sealing of Magna Carta. William was one of the few English earls to remain loyal to the king through the First Barons' War. It was William whom King John trusted on his deathbed to make sure John's nine-year-old son Henry would get the throne. It was William who took responsibility for the king's funeral and burial at Worcester Cathedral.

On 11 November 1216 at Gloucester, upon the death of King John, William Marshal was named by the king's council (the chief barons who had remained loyal to King John in the First Barons' War) to serve as protector of the nine year old King Henry III, and regent of the kingdom. In spite of his advanced age (around 70) he prosecuted the war against Prince Louis and the rebel barons with remarkable energy. In the battle of Lincoln he charged and fought at the head of the young King's army, leading them to victory. He was preparing to besiege Louis in London when the war was terminated by the naval victory of Hubert de Burgh in the straits of Dover. William was criticised for the generosity of the terms he accorded to Louis and the rebels in September 1217; but his desire for an expeditious settlement was dictated by sound statesmanship. Self-restraint and compromise were the keynote of Marshal's policy, hoping to secure peace and stability for his young liege. Both before and after the peace of 1217 he reissued Magna Carta, in which he is a signatory as one of the witnessing barons. Without his prestige the Angevin dynasty might not have survived the disastrous reign of John; where the French and the rebels would not trust the English king's word, they would trust William.

Death and legacy

William Marshal was interred in Temple Church, London

Marshal's health finally failed him early in 1219. In March 1219 he realised that he was dying, so he summoned his eldest son, also William, and his household knights, and left the Tower of London for his estate at Caversham in Berkshire, near Reading, where he called a meeting of the barons, Henry III, the papal legate Pandulf Masca, the royal justiciar (Hubert de Burgh), and Peter des Roches (Bishop of Winchester and the young King's guardian). William rejected the Bishop's claim to the regency and entrusted the regency to the care of the papal legate; he apparently did not trust the Bishop or any of the other magnates that he had gathered to this meeting. Fulfilling the vow he had made while on crusade, he was invested into the order of the Knights Templar on his deathbed. He died on 14 May 1219 at Caversham, and was buried in the Temple Church in London, where his effigy can still be seen.

After his death, his eldest son, also named William, commissioned a biography of his father to be written called L'Histoire de Guillaume le Marechal. This book, written so soon after his death, has preserved (and probably enhanced) the legend of William Marshal for posterity. While his knightly achievements may be debatable, there is no doubt of his impact on the history and politics of England, from his stalwart defence of the realm to his support of the Magna Carta.

Descendants of William Marshal & Isabel de Clare

William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1190-6 April 1231), married (1) Alice de Béthune, daughter of Earl of Albemarle; (2) 23 April 1224 Eleanor Plantagenet, daughter of King John of England. They had no children.
Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1191-16 April 1234), married Gervase le Dinant. He died in captivity. They had no children.
Maud Marshal (1194-27 March 1248), married (1) Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, they had four children; (2) William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, they had two children; (3) Walter de Dunstanville.
Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke (1197-27 June 1241), married (1) Marjorie of Scotland, youngest daughter of King William I of Scotland; by an unknown mistress he had one illegitimate daughter:
Isabel Marshal, married to Rhys ap Maeldon Fychan.
Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke (c. 1199-November 1245), married Margaret de Quincy, Countess of Lincoln, granddaughter of Hugh de Kevelioc, 3rd Earl of Chester. No children.
Isabel Marshal (9 October 1200-17 January 1240), married (1) Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, whose daughter Isabel de Clare married Robert Bruce, 5th Lord of Annandale, the grandfather of Robert the Bruce; (2) Richard Plantagenet, Earl of Cornwall
Sibyl Marshal (c. 1201-27 April 1245), married William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby-they had seven daughters.
Agnes Ferrers (died 11 May 1290), married William de Vesci.
Isabel Ferrers (died before 26 November 1260)
Maud Ferrers (died 12 March 1298)
Sibyl Ferrers, married Sir Francis or Franco de Bohun.
Joan Ferrers (died 1267)
Agatha Ferrers (died May 1306), married Hugh Mortimer, of Chelmarsh.
Eleanor Ferrers (died 16 October 1274), married to:
Eva Marshal (1203-1246), married William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny
Isabella de Braose (b.1222), married Prince Dafydd ap Llywelyn. She died childless.
Maud de Braose (1224-1301), in 1247, she married Roger Mortimer, 1st Baron Wigmore and they had descendants.
Eve de Braose (1227- 28 July 1255), married Sir William de Cantelou and had descendants.
Eleanor de Braose (c.1228- 1251). On an unknown date after August 1241, she married Sir Humphrey de Bohun and had descendants.
Anselm Marshal, 6th Earl of Pembroke (c. 1208-22 December 1245), married Maud de Bohun, daughter of Humphrey de Bohun, 2nd Earl of Hereford. They had no children.
Joan Marshal (1210-1234), married Warin de Munchensi (d. 1255), Lord of Swanscombe
Joan de Munchensi (1230-20 September 1307) married William of Valence, the fourth son of King John's widow, Isabella of Angoulême, and her second husband, Hugh X of Lusignan, Count of La Marche. de Valence was half-brother to Henry III and Edward I's uncle.

The Fate of the Marshal Family

During the civil wars in Ireland, William had taken two manors that the Bishop of Ferns claimed but could not get back. Some years after William's death, that bishop is said to have laid a curse on the family that William's sons would have no children, and the great Marshal estates would be scattered. Each of William's sons did become earl of Pembroke and marshal of England, and each died without issue. William's vast holdings were then divided among the husbands of his five daughters. The title of "Marshal" went to the husband of the oldest daughter, Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, and later passed to the Mowbray dukes of Norfolk and then to the Howard dukes of Norfolk, becoming "Earl Marshal" along the way. The title of "Earl of Pembroke" passed to William of Valence, the husband of Joan Marshal's daughter, Joan de Munchensi; he became the first of the de Valence line of earls of Pembroke.

William married Isabella de Clare, Countess of Pembroke Aug 1189, London, England. Isabella (daughter of Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and Aoife MacMorrough) was born 1172, Ireland; died 1220; was buried Monmouthshire, Wales. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Isabella de Clare, Countess of Pembroke is the daughter of Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and Aoife MacMorrough. She married William Marshal, son of John FitzGilbert and Sybil de Salisbury, in August 1189 at London, England. She gained the title of 4th Countess of Pembroke [E., 1138], suo jure.

Isabella de Clare, Countess of Pembroke is the daughter of Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and Aoife MacMorrough. She married William Marshal, son of John FitzGilbert and Sybil de Salisbury, in August 1189 at London, England. She gained the title of 4th Countess of Pembroke [E., 1138], suo jure.

Isabel de Clare, suo jure Countess of Pembroke and Striguil (1172 - 1220), was a Cambro-Norman-Irish noblewoman and one of the wealthiest heiresses in Wales and Ireland. She was the wife of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who served four successive kings as Lord Marshal of England. Her marriage had been arranged by King Richard I.

Family inheritance

Isabel was born in 1172 in Ireland, the eldest child of Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1130 - 20 April 1176), known to history as "Strongbow", and Aoife of Leinster, who was the daughter of Dermot MacMurrough, the deposed King of Leinster and Mor Ui Thuathail. The latter was a daughter of Muitchertach O'Toole and Cacht Inion Loigsig O'Morda. The marriage of Strongbow and Aoife took place in August 1170, the day after the capture of Waterford by the Cambro-Norman forces led by Strongbow.

Isabel's paternal grandparents were Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabella de Meulan. She had a younger brother Gilbert de Striguil who, being a minor, was not formally invested with either the earldom of Pembroke or of Striguil. It is unlikely that his father could have passed on the title to Pembroke as he himself did not possess it. When Gilbert died in 1185, Isabel became Countess of Pembroke in her own right (suo jure) until her death in 1220. In this way, she could be said to be the first successor to the earldom of Pembroke since her grandfather Gilbert, the first earl. By this reckoning, Isabel ought to be called the second countess, not the fourth countess of Pembroke. In any event, the title Earl was re-created for her husband as her consort. She also had an illegitimate half-sister Basile de Clare, who married three times. Basile's husbands were: Robert de Quincy; Raymond Fitzgerald, Constable of Leinster: Geoffrey FitzRobert, Baron of Kells.

Isabel was described as having been "the good, the fair, the wise, the courteous lady of high degree". She allegedly spoke French, Irish and Latin. After her brother Gilbert's death, Isabel became one of the wealthiest heiresses in the kingdom, owning besides the titles of Pembroke and Striguil, much land in Wales and Ireland. She inherited the numerous castles on the inlet of Milford Haven, guarding the South Channel, including Pembroke Castle. She was a legal ward of King Henry II, who carefully watched over her inheritance.

Marriage

The new King Richard I arranged her marriage in August 1189 to William Marshal, regarded by many as the greatest knight and soldier in the realm. Henry II had promised Marshal he would be given Isabel as his bride, and his son and successor Richard upheld the promise one month after his accession to the throne. At the time of her marriage, Isabel was residing in the Tower of London in the protective custody of the Justiciar of England, Ranulf de Glanville. Following the wedding, which was celebrated in London "with due pomp and ceremony", they spent their honeymoon at Stoke d'Abernon in Surrey which belonged to Enguerrand d'Abernon.

Marriage to Isabel elevated William Marshal from the status as a landless knight into one of the richest men in the kingdom. He would serve as Lord Marshal of England, four kings in all: Henry II, Richard I, John, and Henry III. Although Marshal did not become the jure uxoris 1st Earl of Pembroke, Earl of Striguil until 1199, he nevertheless assumed overlordship of Leinster in Ireland, Pembroke Castle, Chepstow Castle, as well as Isabel's other castles in Wales such as the keep of Haverford, Tenby, Lewhaden, Narberth, Stackpole.

Shortly after their marriage, Marshal and Isabella arrived in Ireland, at Old Ros, a settlement located in the territory which belonged to her grandfather, Dermot MacMurrough. A motte was hastily constructed, a medieval borough quickly grew around it, and afterwards the Marshals founded the port town by the river which subsequently became known as New Ross. The Chronicles of Ros, which are housed in the British Museum, described Isabella and Marshal's arrival in Ireland and records that Isabella set about building a lovely city on the banks of the Barrow.

In 1192, Isabel and her husband assumed the task of managing their vast lands; starting with the rebuilding of Kilkenny Castle and the town, both of which had been damaged by the O'Brien clan in 1173. Later they commissioned the construction of several abbeys in the vicinity.

The marriage was happy, despite the vast difference in age between them. William Marshal and Isabel produced a total of five sons and five daughters.

Issue

William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (1190 - 6 April 1231). Chief Justiciar of Ireland. He married firstly, Alice de Bethune, and secondly, Eleanor Plantagenet, daughter of King John. He died childless.
Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke (1191 - 1 April 1234) Kilkenny Castle, Ireland), married Gervase le Dinant. He died childless.
Maud Marshal (1192 - 27 March 1248). She married firstly, Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, by whom she had issue; she married secondly, William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey, by whom she had issue, including John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey who married Alice le Brun de Lusignan; she married thirdly, Walter de Dunstanville. Queen consorts Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, and Catherine Parr are descendants.
Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke (1194 - 27 June 1241). He married firstly, Margaret of Scotland; and secondly, Maud de Lanvaley. He died childless.
Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke (1196 - 24 November 1245). He married Margaret de Quincy, Countess of Lincoln, widow of John de Lacy, 1st Earl of Lincoln, as her second husband. The marriage was childless.
Anselm Marshal, 6th Earl of Pembroke (1198 - 22 December 1245). He married Maud de Bohun. He died childless.
Isabel Marshal (9 October 1200 - 17 January 1240). She married firstly, Gilbert de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford; and secondly, Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall. She had issue by both marriages. Queen consorts Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard and Catherine Parr were descendants.
Sibyl Marshal (1201 - before 1238), married William de Ferrers, 5th Earl of Derby, by whom she had issue. Queen consort Catherine Parr was a descendant.
Joan Marshal (1202-1234), married Warin de Munchensi, Lord of Swanscombe, by whom she had issue. Both queen consorts Jane Seymour and Catherine Parr were descendants.
Eva Marshal (1203-1246), married William de Braose (died 1230). She had issue, from whom descended, queens consorts Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr.

Legacy

Isabel died in Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1220 at the age of forty-eight. Her husband had died the year before. She was buried at Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire; however a cenotaph was discovered inside St. Mary's Church in New Ross, Ireland whose slab bears the partial inscription "ISABEL: LAEGN" and her engraved likeness.

It was suggested in 1892 by Paul Meyer that Isabel might have encouraged the composition of the Song of Dermot which narrates the exploits of her father and maternal grandfather. However, the Song of Dermot as now known was composed a few years after her death (though based on earlier writings).

Although her daughters had many children, Isabel's five sons, curiously, died childless. This is supposedly attributed to a curse placed upon William Marshal by the Irish Bishop of Ferns. The title of marshal subsequently passed to Hugh de Bigod, husband of Isabel's eldest daughter Maud, while the title of Earl of Pembroke went to William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke, the husband of Joan de Munchensi, daughter of Joan Marshal. He was the first of the de Valence line of the earls of Pembroke.

Notes:

John FitzGilbert married Sybil de Salisbury, daughter of Walter de Salisbury and Sybil de Chaworth. John FitzGilbert also went by the nick-name of John 'the Marshal'.

John FitzGilbert the Marshal (c. 1105 - 1165) was a minor Anglo-Norman nobleman during the reign of King Stephen, and fought in the 12th century civil war on the side of the Empress Matilda. Since at least 1130 and probably earlier, he had been the royal marshal to King Henry I. When Henry died, John FitzGilbert swore for Stephen and was granted the castles of Marlborough and Ludgershall, Wiltshire during this time. Along with Hamstead Marshal, this gave him control of the valley of the River Kennet in Wiltshire. Around 1139, John changed sides and swore for the Empress Matilda. In September 1141, Matilda fled the siege of Winchester and took refuge in the Marshal's castle at Ludgershall. While covering her retreat from Winchester, John Marshal was forced to take refuge at Wherwell Abbey. The attackers set fire to the building, and John lost an eye to dripping lead from the melting roof.

In 1152, John had a legendary confrontation with King Stephen, who had besieged him at Newbury Castle. After John had broken an agreement to surrender, Stephen threatened to kill his son, whom John had given as a hostage. John refused, saying he could make more sons, but Stephen apparently took pity on the young boy and did not kill him. The boy grew up to be William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, a legendary figure in medieval lore, and one of the most powerful men in England.

The office of Lord Marshal, which originally related to the keeping of the King's horses, and later, the head of his household troops, was won as a hereditary title by John, and was passed to his eldest son, and later claimed by William. John also had a daughter, Margaret Marshal, married Ralph de Somery, son of John de Somery and Hawise de Paynell.

Family

John was the son of Gilbert, Royal Serjeant and Marshal to Henry I, and his wife Margaret. After his father died in 1129 John inherited the title of the king's marshal. In 1134 John married Aline Pipard whose father Walter Pipard had been a friend of John's father. In 1144, John arranged an annulment of his marriage to Aline Pipard in order to marry Sibyl of Salisbury, the sister of Patrick of Salisbury, who had been a local rival of his, and a supporter of King Stephen, up to that point. John had two sons by Aline - Gilbert (1134-1166) and Walter (1138-bef.1165). Walter predeceased his father and Gilbert died shortly after inheriting his father's lands.

John's eldest son by Sybilla of Salisbury, also called John Marshal (1145-1194), inherited the title of Marshal, which he held until his death. The title was then granted by King Richard the Lionheart to his second son by Sybilla, William (1147-1219), who made the name and title famous. Though he had started out as a younger son without inheritance, by the time he actually inherited the title his reputation as a soldier and statesman was unmatched across Western Europe. John Marshal had four sons in total by his second wife. As well as John and William, there was Henry (1150-12), who went on to become Bishop of Exeter, and Ancel, who served as a knight in the household of his kinsman, Rotrou, Count of Perche. There were also two daughters Sybilla and Margaret.

John FitzGilbert married Sybil de Salisbury, daughter of Walter de Salisbury and Sybil de Chaworth. John FitzGilbert also went by the nick-name of John 'the Marshal'.

John — Sybil de Salisbury. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

He was the son of Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabella of Meulan. He married Aoife MacMorrough, daughter of Dermot MacMorrough, King of Leinster, circa 26 August 1171. He died on 20 April 1176, without surviving male issue.

Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke also went by the nick-name of Richard 'Strongbow'. He was styled as Earl of Buckingham. He succeeded to the title of 2nd Earl of Pembroke [E., c. 1138] in 1149. He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Dictionary of National Biography

Clare, Richard de, or Richard Strongbow, second Earl of Pembroke and Strigul d. 1176, was son of Gilbert Strongbow, or De Clare, whom Stephen created earl of Pembroke in 1138, and grandson of Gilbert de Clare d. 1115? [qv.] (Ord. Vit. xiii. 37). His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, earl of Leicester and Mellent (Will. of Jumièges, viii. 37; Dugdale, i. 84). He appears to have succeeded to his father's estates in 1148 (Marsh, p. 55; Dugdale, i. 208); but the name of Richard, count of Pembroke, first appears among the signatures to the treaty of Westminster (7 Nov. 1153), which recognised Prince Henry as Stephen's successor (Brompton, 1039n. 60). It appears that he was allowed to retain his title even after the accession of Henry II, when so many of Stephen's earldoms were abolished; but according to Giraldus Cambrensis he had either forfeited or lost his estates by 1167-8 (Expugn. Hib. i. cxii). We learn from Ralph de Diceto (i. 330) that he was one of the nobles who accompanied Princess Matilda on her marriage journey to Minden in Germany early in 1168.

According to the Irish historians it was in 1166 that Dermot [see MacMurchada, Diarmid], driven from Leinster by the combined forces of Roderic O'Connor, king of Connaught, and Tighernan O'Ruarc, king of Breifni, appealed to Henry for aid in the recovery of his kingdom (Annals of Four Masters, i. 1161). This date, according to Giraldus, seems two years too early. Henry gave letters empowering any of his subjects to assist the dethroned monarch, who secured the services of Earl Richard, promising in return for his assistance to give him his eldest daughter in marriage, together with the succession to Leinster (Gir. Camb. v. 227-8; Anglo-Norman Poet, ll. 328, &c.). The earl engaged to cross over with an army in the ensuing spring; but stipulated that he must have express permission from Henry before starting (Gir. 228; Anglo-Norm. Poet, ll. 356-7). Earlier aid was promised by Robert FitzStephen and Maurice FitzGerald, who appear to have crossed over to Wexford about 1 May 1169 (Gir. 230; A. F. M. i. 1173). If this date be correct, the meeting of Dermot and the earl must have taken place about July 1168, to which year Hoveden assigns the invasion of Ireland (i. 269; Gir. 229, with which cf. A.-N. P. pp. 16-19). In the conquest of Wexford and the expeditions against Ossory and Dublin Earl Richard took no part; but according to Giraldus he was represented in this campaign by his nephew, Hervey de Mountmaurice.

It was apparently towards the close of this year that Dermot, despairing of the arrival of the Earl of Strigul, offered his daughter to Robert FitzStephen and Maurice FitzGerald, and on their refusal sent a pressing invitation to the earl: The swallows have come and gone, yet you are tarrying still. On receiving this letter, Earl Richard, after much deliberation, crossed over to Henry and received the requisite permission to carve out a heritage for himself in foreign lands; but, according to Giraldus, the king granted his request ironically rather than seriously (246-8). A much later writer, Trivet (c. 1300), has preserved a tradition that the earl had been an exile in Ireland previous to this (Trivet, 66-7).

Before crossing to Ireland himself, Earl Richard sent forward a small force under one of his own men, Raymond le Gros, the nephew of FitzStephen and FitzGerald. Landing near Waterford about the beginning of May 1170, he was immediately joined by Hervey de Mountmaurice (Gir. 248, &c.; A.-N. P. pp. 67, &c.). According to the Anglo-Norman Poet, Earl Richard crossed very soon after (ll. 1500-3); both accounts agree that he appeared before Waterford with from twelve to fifteen hundred men on St. Bartholomew's eve (23 Aug.) Within two days the city had fallen; but Dermot, accompanied by Maurice and Robert, came up in time to save the lives of the captives. The marriage between Eva and the earl was celebrated at once, and the whole army set out for Dublin, after setting an English guard at Waterford (A.-N. P. ll. 1508-1569; Gir. 255-6). If the Anglo-Norman Poet may be trusted, there were from four to five thousand English who took part in the march to Dublin, before which town they arrived on 21 Sept. (l. 1626). Meanwhile, Roderic of Connaught had mustered thirty thousand men for its relief. While peace negotiations were going on, Milo de Cogan and Raymond le Gros took the city by assault, without the consent of either Dermot or the earl (A.-N. P. ll. 1680-2; Gir. 256-7). Asculf MacTurkill, the Danish ruler, was driven into exile, and his town handed over to Earl Richard, who appears to have resided here till the beginning of October, when he started to attack O'Ruarc in Meath, leaving Dublin in charge of Milo de Cogan (Gir. 257; A.-N. P. ll. 1709-23; A. F. M. 1177). From Meath he seems to have withdrawn to Waterford for the winter; while Dermot took up his abode at Ferns, where he died on 1 May 1171 (Gir. 263; A.-N. P. 1724-31).

Meanwhile, Henry II, who had grown jealous of his vassal's success, had forbidden the transport of fresh forces to Ireland, and ordered all who had already crossed to return by Easter 1171 (28 March). To prevent the enforcement of this decree, the earl despatched Raymond le Gros to the king in Aquitane, with instructions to place all his conquests at the king's disposal (Gir. 259).

On the death of Dermot there was a general combination against the English. All the earl's allies, excepting some three or four, (A.-N. P. ll. 1732-43), deserted him, and a force of sixty thousand men was collected under Roderic O'Connor to besiege Dublin about Whitsuntide (16 May) 1171. Earl Richard, to whose assistance Raymond le Gros had already returned, sent for aid to FitzStephen at Wexford, from which place he received a reinforcement of thirty-six men, a step which so weakened the Wexford garrison, that it had to surrender later (? c. 1 July). On hearing of this disaster the earl, fearing starvation, offered to do fealty to Roderic for Leinster. Roderic, however, refused to concede more than the three Norse towns, Waterford, Dublin, and Wexford; if these terms were rejected, he would storm the town on the morrow (A.-N. P. pp. 85-9; Gir. 265, &c.). In this emergency the earl ordered a sudden sally in three directions, led by Milo, Raymond, and himself. A brilliant success was achieved; the siege was raised, and the earl was left free to set out to the relief of FitzStephen, whom the Irish had shut up in the island of Becherin. Dublin was once more entrusted to Milo de Cogan. On his march through Idrone he was attacked by O'Ryan, the king of this district; but hearing that the Irish had left Wexford for Becherin, he proceeded to Waterford, whence he sent a summons to his brother-in-law, the king of Limerick, to aid in an attack on MacDonchid, the king of Ossory. The Anglo-Norman Poet (pp. 97-101) says that it was only the chivalrous honour of Maurice de Prendergast that now prevented the earl from acting with the utmost treachery to the latter king. The earl then departed for Ferns, where he stayed eight days before going in pursuit of Murrough O'Brien, who was put to death at Ferns, together with his son. About the same time, acting as the over-king of Leinster, he confirmed Muirchertad (Murtherdath) in his kingdom of Hy-Kinsellagh (near Wexford), and gave the pleis of Leinster to Donald Kevenath, the faithful son of Dermot (A.-N. P. pp. 103-5).

Probably about the middle of August Hervey de Mountmaurice returned from a second mission to the king, and urged the earl to lose no time in making peace with Henry personally (Gir. 273; A.-N. P. pp. 105). After entrusting Waterford to Gilbert de Borard, Strongbow crossed over to England with Hervey, found the king at Newnham in Gloucestershire, and, after much trouble, succeeded in pacifying him, by the resignation of all his castles and maritime cities. On 18 Oct. the king reached Waterford, which was at once handed over to Robert FitzBernard (Gir. 273; Bened. i. 24, &c.; A.-N. P. 125). From Waterford the king marched through Ossory to Dublin, receiving the homage of the Irish princes as he went. He spent Christmas at Dublin, which on his departure he gave in charge to Hugh de Lacy (A.-N. P. ll. 2713-16). It would seem that during the greater part of the six months Henry spent in Ireland Earl Richard kept his own court at Kildare.

A Dyvelin esteit li reis HenrizEt à Kildare li quens gentils(ll. 2695-6).

That the king to some extent distrusted the intentions of his great vassal is evident by the steps he took to weaken the earl's party and power (Gir. 284).

Towards the beginning of Lent (c. 1 March 1172) Henry reached Wexford. Three or four weeks later came the news of the threatened rebellion of his sons; but his passage to England was delayed till Easter Monday (17 April). Before leaving Ireland he had made Hugh de Lacy lord of Meath, and entrusted Wexford to William FitzAldhelm. Meanwhile, Earl Richard withdrew to Ferns, where he married his sister Basilia to Robert de Quenci, who was given the constableship of Leinster (Bened. i. 25; Gir. 287; A.-N. P. ll. 2741-50).

For the next two years Kildare seems to have been Earl Richard's headquarters (ll. 2769-72), whence he appears to have made forays on the district of Offaly. On one of these expeditions Robert de Quenci was slain, upon which Raymond le Gros demanded the widow in marriage. This request, which implied a claim to the constableship of Leinster and the guardianship of Basilia's infant daughter, was refused, although the refusal seems to have cost the earl the services of Raymond and his followers, who at once returned to Wales (A.-N. P. pp. 133-6; but cf. Gir. 310).

On the breaking out of the rebellion of 1173 (c. 15 April 1173) Henry summoned the earl to his assistance in Normandy, where, according to the Anglo-Norman Poet, he was given the castle of Gisors to guard. From Ralph de Diceto we know that he was present at the relief of Verneuil (9 Aug.) (cf. Eyton, 172, 176). He was apparently dismissed before the close of the first year of war, and as a reward of his fidelity received the restoration of Wexford, Waterford, and Dublin. On reaching Ireland he at once despatched Robert FitzBernard, FitzStephen, and others to aid against the rebels in England, where, if we may trust the Anglo-Norman Poet, the Irish forces were present at the overthrow of the Earl of Leicester (17 Oct.) at Bury St. Edmunds (A.-N. P. pp. 136-41; Diceto, i. 375, 377; Gir. 298, but cf. remarks in list of authorities at end of article).

On Raymond's departure Earl Richard gave the constableship to Hervey de Mountmaurice (Gir. 308). Dissatisfied with his generalship, the troops clamoured for the reappointment of Raymond, whom Henry had sent back to Ireland with the earl, and their request was granted (ib. 298). About the latter part of 1174 the earl led his army into Munster, against Donald of Limerick, and met with the great disaster that forced him back to Waterford, where he was closely besieged by the Irish, while Roderic O'Connor advanced to the very walls of Dublin. In this emergency the earl sent over a messenger begging that Raymond would come to his aid, and promising him his sister's hand. The two nobles met in an island near Waterford. Earl Richard was brought back to Wexford, where the marriage was celebrated. On the next day Raymond started to drive the king of Connaught out of Meath (A. F. M. ii. 15-19, with which cf. Gir. 310-12; A.-N. P. pp. 142-4). It was now that, at Raymond's suggestion, the earl gave his elder daughter Alina to William FitzMaurice. To Maurice himself he assigned Wicklow Castle; Carbury to Meiler FitzHenry, and other estates to various other knights. Dublin was handed over to the brothers from Hereford. With his sister Earl Richard granted Raymond Fothord, Idrone, and Glaskarrig (Gir. 314; for full list, see A.-N. P. pp. 144-8). It appears that the earl was now supreme in Leinster, having hostages of all the great Irish princes (ll. 3208, &c.).

It was probably in 1175 that Earl Richard was called upon to relieve Hugh de Lacy's newly built castle of Trim. After this success he withdrew to Dublin, having determined to send his army under Raymond against Donald O'Brien of Limerick. He does not seem to have taken any personal share in the latter expedition (c. 1 Oct. 1175), and indeed may possibly have been in England in this very month (Eyton, 196). After the fall of Limerick Hervey persuaded the king to recall his rival Raymond, whom, however, the peril of the English garrison detained in Ireland long after the receipt of the summons, since the earl's men refused to advance under any other leader. On Tuesday, 6 April 1176, Raymond once more entered Limerick, from which town he soon started for Cork, to relieve Dermot Macarthy, prince of Desmond. While thus engaged he received a letter from his wife, Basilia, informing him that that huge grinder which had caused him so much pain had fallen out. By this phrase he understood that Earl Richard was dead (c. 1 June according to Giraldus; but 5 April according to Diceto). After Raymond's arrival the earl was buried in the church of the Holy Trinity, where his tomb is still shown. Other accounts make him buried at Gloucester (A.-N. P. ll. 3208, &c.; Giraldus; Diceto, i. 407).

Earl Richard seems to have left an only daughter, Isabella by name. At the age of three she became the heiress to her father's vast estates, and was married by King Richard to William Marshall in 1189 (Hoveden, iii. 7; Diceto, i. 407). The question as to whether he had other issue has been fiercely contested by genealogists; but there seems to be no reason for doubting that he was married before espousing Dermot's daughter. The earl's daughter, Alina, mentioned above, cannot well have been his child by Eva. In the Irish Annals we read (a.d. 1171) of a predatory expedition led into Kildare by the earl's son (A. F. M. 1185). A Tintern charter granted by the younger William Marshall, and dated Strigul 22 March 1206, makes mention of Walter, filius Ricardi, filii Gilberti Strongbowe, avi mei (Dugdale, v. 267). But even this evidence can hardly be considered to confirm the current story as to how the earl met his son fleeing before the enemy and, enraged at such cowardice, clave him asunder with his sword. A tomb is still shown in Christ Church, Dublin, which passes for that of Richard Strongbow. This monument, which is described as displaying the cross-legged effigy of a knight, is said to have been restored by Sir Henry Sidney in 1570. On the left lies a half-figure of uncertain sex, which is popularly supposed to represent the earl's son. On it are inscribed the lines:Nate ingrate mihi pugnanti terga dedisti:Non mihi sed genti, regno quoque terga dedisti.

But there is no evidence as to the original state of this monument or the extent of Sir Henry's restorations. The whole legend was well known to Stanihurst in 1584; but it may date much further back than the sixteenth century (Marsh, 62).

According to Giraldus's rhetorical phrase, Richard de Clare was vir plus nominis hactenus habens quam ominis, plus genii quam ingenii, plus successionis quam possessionis. More trustworthy, perhaps, is Giraldus's personal description of the earl: A man of a somewhat florid complexion and freckled; with grey eyes, feminine features, a thin voice and short neck, but otherwise of a good stature. He was rather suited, continues the same historian, for the council chamber than the field, and better fitted to obey than to command. He required to be urged on to enterprise by his followers; but when once in the press of the fight his resolution was as the standard or the rallying-point of his side. No disaster could shake his courage, and he showed no undue exhilaration when things went well. In the pages of Giraldus the earl appears as a mere foil to the brilliant characters of the Fitzgeralds, and is never credited with any very remarkable military achievement. On the other hand, in the pages of the Anglo-Norman Poet he fills a much more prominent position; he leads great expeditions, and is specially distinguished at the siege of Dublin. But even in the verse of this writer his special epithets are, li gentils quens, le bon contur. It is more rarely that we find him styled li quens vailland.

Sources:

The two principal authorities for the career of Richard Strongbow are Giraldus Cambrensis and a poet who, towards the close of the twelfth century, wrote an account of the conquest of Ireland in Norman-French verse. The narrative of the latter, according to its author's statement, is largely based on the information derived from Dermot's interpreter or clerk, Maurice Regan. In many points these two writers are not in absolute accord, and the chronology is rendered still more obscure by the fact that the Anglo-Norman Poet gives no yearly dates at all, while Giraldus is not entirely consistent with himself. Each author supplies much that is peculiar to himself at other times, when they seem to differ it may be that they refer to different occasions. The latter view has been taken in the article in the case of Raymond's return to England. Giraldus Cambrensis, Expugnatio Hibernica, ed. Dimock (Rolls Series), v.

Anglo-Norman Poet, ed. Wright and Michel (London, 1837)
Eyton's Itinerary of Henry II
Green's English Princesses, i.
Benedict of Peterborough and Ralph de Diceto, ed. Stubbs (Rolls Series)
Trivet, ed. Hog (Engl. Hist. Soc.)
Dugdale's Baronage, i., and Monasticon (ed. 1817-1846)
William of Jumièges ap. Migne, cxxxix. col. 906
Brompton's Chronicon, ap. Twysden's Decem Scriptores
Annals of the Four Masters, ed. Donovan
Marsh's Chepstow Castle
Orderic Vitalis (Bohn), iv. 203
Journal of Archæological Association, x. 265.

Contributor: T. A. A. [Thomas Andrew Archer]

Published: 1887

He was the son of Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabella of Meulan. He married Aoife MacMorrough, daughter of Dermot MacMorrough, King of Leinster, circa 26 August 1171. He died on 20 April 1176, without surviving male issue.

Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke also went by the nick-name of Richard 'Strongbow'. He was styled as Earl of Buckingham. He succeeded to the title of 2nd Earl of Pembroke [E., c. 1138] in 1149. He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Dictionary of National Biography

Clare, Richard de, or Richard Strongbow, second Earl of Pembroke and Strigul d. 1176, was son of Gilbert Strongbow, or De Clare, whom Stephen created earl of Pembroke in 1138, and grandson of Gilbert de Clare d. 1115? [qv.] (Ord. Vit. xiii. 37). His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, earl of Leicester and Mellent (Will. of Jumièges, viii. 37; Dugdale, i. 84). He appears to have succeeded to his father's estates in 1148 (Marsh, p. 55; Dugdale, i. 208); but the name of Richard, count of Pembroke, first appears among the signatures to the treaty of Westminster (7 Nov. 1153), which recognised Prince Henry as Stephen's successor (Brompton, 1039n. 60). It appears that he was allowed to retain his title even after the accession of Henry II, when so many of Stephen's earldoms were abolished; but according to Giraldus Cambrensis he had either forfeited or lost his estates by 1167-8 (Expugn. Hib. i. cxii). We learn from Ralph de Diceto (i. 330) that he was one of the nobles who accompanied Princess Matilda on her marriage journey to Minden in Germany early in 1168.

According to the Irish historians it was in 1166 that Dermot [see MacMurchada, Diarmid], driven from Leinster by the combined forces of Roderic O'Connor, king of Connaught, and Tighernan O'Ruarc, king of Breifni, appealed to Henry for aid in the recovery of his kingdom (Annals of Four Masters, i. 1161). This date, according to Giraldus, seems two years too early. Henry gave letters empowering any of his subjects to assist the dethroned monarch, who secured the services of Earl Richard, promising in return for his assistance to give him his eldest daughter in marriage, together with the succession to Leinster (Gir. Camb. v. 227-8; Anglo-Norman Poet, ll. 328, &c.). The earl engaged to cross over with an army in the ensuing spring; but stipulated that he must have express permission from Henry before starting (Gir. 228; Anglo-Norm. Poet, ll. 356-7). Earlier aid was promised by Robert FitzStephen and Maurice FitzGerald, who appear to have crossed over to Wexford about 1 May 1169 (Gir. 230; A. F. M. i. 1173). If this date be correct, the meeting of Dermot and the earl must have taken place about July 1168, to which year Hoveden assigns the invasion of Ireland (i. 269; Gir. 229, with which cf. A.-N. P. pp. 16-19). In the conquest of Wexford and the expeditions against Ossory and Dublin Earl Richard took no part; but according to Giraldus he was represented in this campaign by his nephew, Hervey de Mountmaurice.

It was apparently towards the close of this year that Dermot, despairing of the arrival of the Earl of Strigul, offered his daughter to Robert FitzStephen and Maurice FitzGerald, and on their refusal sent a pressing invitation to the earl: The swallows have come and gone, yet you are tarrying still. On receiving this letter, Earl Richard, after much deliberation, crossed over to Henry and received the requisite permission to carve out a heritage for himself in foreign lands; but, according to Giraldus, the king granted his request ironically rather than seriously (246-8). A much later writer, Trivet (c. 1300), has preserved a tradition that the earl had been an exile in Ireland previous to this (Trivet, 66-7).

Before crossing to Ireland himself, Earl Richard sent forward a small force under one of his own men, Raymond le Gros, the nephew of FitzStephen and FitzGerald. Landing near Waterford about the beginning of May 1170, he was immediately joined by Hervey de Mountmaurice (Gir. 248, &c.; A.-N. P. pp. 67, &c.). According to the Anglo-Norman Poet, Earl Richard crossed very soon after (ll. 1500-3); both accounts agree that he appeared before Waterford with from twelve to fifteen hundred men on St. Bartholomew's eve (23 Aug.) Within two days the city had fallen; but Dermot, accompanied by Maurice and Robert, came up in time to save the lives of the captives. The marriage between Eva and the earl was celebrated at once, and the whole army set out for Dublin, after setting an English guard at Waterford (A.-N. P. ll. 1508-1569; Gir. 255-6). If the Anglo-Norman Poet may be trusted, there were from four to five thousand English who took part in the march to Dublin, before which town they arrived on 21 Sept. (l. 1626). Meanwhile, Roderic of Connaught had mustered thirty thousand men for its relief. While peace negotiations were going on, Milo de Cogan and Raymond le Gros took the city by assault, without the consent of either Dermot or the earl (A.-N. P. ll. 1680-2; Gir. 256-7). Asculf MacTurkill, the Danish ruler, was driven into exile, and his town handed over to Earl Richard, who appears to have resided here till the beginning of October, when he started to attack O'Ruarc in Meath, leaving Dublin in charge of Milo de Cogan (Gir. 257; A.-N. P. ll. 1709-23; A. F. M. 1177). From Meath he seems to have withdrawn to Waterford for the winter; while Dermot took up his abode at Ferns, where he died on 1 May 1171 (Gir. 263; A.-N. P. 1724-31).

Meanwhile, Henry II, who had grown jealous of his vassal's success, had forbidden the transport of fresh forces to Ireland, and ordered all who had already crossed to return by Easter 1171 (28 March). To prevent the enforcement of this decree, the earl despatched Raymond le Gros to the king in Aquitane, with instructions to place all his conquests at the king's disposal (Gir. 259).

On the death of Dermot there was a general combination against the English. All the earl's allies, excepting some three or four, (A.-N. P. ll. 1732-43), deserted him, and a force of sixty thousand men was collected under Roderic O'Connor to besiege Dublin about Whitsuntide (16 May) 1171. Earl Richard, to whose assistance Raymond le Gros had already returned, sent for aid to FitzStephen at Wexford, from which place he received a reinforcement of thirty-six men, a step which so weakened the Wexford garrison, that it had to surrender later (? c. 1 July). On hearing of this disaster the earl, fearing starvation, offered to do fealty to Roderic for Leinster. Roderic, however, refused to concede more than the three Norse towns, Waterford, Dublin, and Wexford; if these terms were rejected, he would storm the town on the morrow (A.-N. P. pp. 85-9; Gir. 265, &c.). In this emergency the earl ordered a sudden sally in three directions, led by Milo, Raymond, and himself. A brilliant success was achieved; the siege was raised, and the earl was left free to set out to the relief of FitzStephen, whom the Irish had shut up in the island of Becherin. Dublin was once more entrusted to Milo de Cogan. On his march through Idrone he was attacked by O'Ryan, the king of this district; but hearing that the Irish had left Wexford for Becherin, he proceeded to Waterford, whence he sent a summons to his brother-in-law, the king of Limerick, to aid in an attack on MacDonchid, the king of Ossory. The Anglo-Norman Poet (pp. 97-101) says that it was only the chivalrous honour of Maurice de Prendergast that now prevented the earl from acting with the utmost treachery to the latter king. The earl then departed for Ferns, where he stayed eight days before going in pursuit of Murrough O'Brien, who was put to death at Ferns, together with his son. About the same time, acting as the over-king of Leinster, he confirmed Muirchertad (Murtherdath) in his kingdom of Hy-Kinsellagh (near Wexford), and gave the pleis of Leinster to Donald Kevenath, the faithful son of Dermot (A.-N. P. pp. 103-5).

Probably about the middle of August Hervey de Mountmaurice returned from a second mission to the king, and urged the earl to lose no time in making peace with Henry personally (Gir. 273; A.-N. P. pp. 105). After entrusting Waterford to Gilbert de Borard, Strongbow crossed over to England with Hervey, found the king at Newnham in Gloucestershire, and, after much trouble, succeeded in pacifying him, by the resignation of all his castles and maritime cities. On 18 Oct. the king reached Waterford, which was at once handed over to Robert FitzBernard (Gir. 273; Bened. i. 24, &c.; A.-N. P. 125). From Waterford the king marched through Ossory to Dublin, receiving the homage of the Irish princes as he went. He spent Christmas at Dublin, which on his departure he gave in charge to Hugh de Lacy (A.-N. P. ll. 2713-16). It would seem that during the greater part of the six months Henry spent in Ireland Earl Richard kept his own court at Kildare.

A Dyvelin esteit li reis HenrizEt à Kildare li quens gentils(ll. 2695-6).

That the king to some extent distrusted the intentions of his great vassal is evident by the steps he took to weaken the earl's party and power (Gir. 284).

Towards the beginning of Lent (c. 1 March 1172) Henry reached Wexford. Three or four weeks later came the news of the threatened rebellion of his sons; but his passage to England was delayed till Easter Monday (17 April). Before leaving Ireland he had made Hugh de Lacy lord of Meath, and entrusted Wexford to William FitzAldhelm. Meanwhile, Earl Richard withdrew to Ferns, where he married his sister Basilia to Robert de Quenci, who was given the constableship of Leinster (Bened. i. 25; Gir. 287; A.-N. P. ll. 2741-50).

For the next two years Kildare seems to have been Earl Richard's headquarters (ll. 2769-72), whence he appears to have made forays on the district of Offaly. On one of these expeditions Robert de Quenci was slain, upon which Raymond le Gros demanded the widow in marriage. This request, which implied a claim to the constableship of Leinster and the guardianship of Basilia's infant daughter, was refused, although the refusal seems to have cost the earl the services of Raymond and his followers, who at once returned to Wales (A.-N. P. pp. 133-6; but cf. Gir. 310).

On the breaking out of the rebellion of 1173 (c. 15 April 1173) Henry summoned the earl to his assistance in Normandy, where, according to the Anglo-Norman Poet, he was given the castle of Gisors to guard. From Ralph de Diceto we know that he was present at the relief of Verneuil (9 Aug.) (cf. Eyton, 172, 176). He was apparently dismissed before the close of the first year of war, and as a reward of his fidelity received the restoration of Wexford, Waterford, and Dublin. On reaching Ireland he at once despatched Robert FitzBernard, FitzStephen, and others to aid against the rebels in England, where, if we may trust the Anglo-Norman Poet, the Irish forces were present at the overthrow of the Earl of Leicester (17 Oct.) at Bury St. Edmunds (A.-N. P. pp. 136-41; Diceto, i. 375, 377; Gir. 298, but cf. remarks in list of authorities at end of article).

On Raymond's departure Earl Richard gave the constableship to Hervey de Mountmaurice (Gir. 308). Dissatisfied with his generalship, the troops clamoured for the reappointment of Raymond, whom Henry had sent back to Ireland with the earl, and their request was granted (ib. 298). About the latter part of 1174 the earl led his army into Munster, against Donald of Limerick, and met with the great disaster that forced him back to Waterford, where he was closely besieged by the Irish, while Roderic O'Connor advanced to the very walls of Dublin. In this emergency the earl sent over a messenger begging that Raymond would come to his aid, and promising him his sister's hand. The two nobles met in an island near Waterford. Earl Richard was brought back to Wexford, where the marriage was celebrated. On the next day Raymond started to drive the king of Connaught out of Meath (A. F. M. ii. 15-19, with which cf. Gir. 310-12; A.-N. P. pp. 142-4). It was now that, at Raymond's suggestion, the earl gave his elder daughter Alina to William FitzMaurice. To Maurice himself he assigned Wicklow Castle; Carbury to Meiler FitzHenry, and other estates to various other knights. Dublin was handed over to the brothers from Hereford. With his sister Earl Richard granted Raymond Fothord, Idrone, and Glaskarrig (Gir. 314; for full list, see A.-N. P. pp. 144-8). It appears that the earl was now supreme in Leinster, having hostages of all the great Irish princes (ll. 3208, &c.).

It was probably in 1175 that Earl Richard was called upon to relieve Hugh de Lacy's newly built castle of Trim. After this success he withdrew to Dublin, having determined to send his army under Raymond against Donald O'Brien of Limerick. He does not seem to have taken any personal share in the latter expedition (c. 1 Oct. 1175), and indeed may possibly have been in England in this very month (Eyton, 196). After the fall of Limerick Hervey persuaded the king to recall his rival Raymond, whom, however, the peril of the English garrison detained in Ireland long after the receipt of the summons, since the earl's men refused to advance under any other leader. On Tuesday, 6 April 1176, Raymond once more entered Limerick, from which town he soon started for Cork, to relieve Dermot Macarthy, prince of Desmond. While thus engaged he received a letter from his wife, Basilia, informing him that that huge grinder which had caused him so much pain had fallen out. By this phrase he understood that Earl Richard was dead (c. 1 June according to Giraldus; but 5 April according to Diceto). After Raymond's arrival the earl was buried in the church of the Holy Trinity, where his tomb is still shown. Other accounts make him buried at Gloucester (A.-N. P. ll. 3208, &c.; Giraldus; Diceto, i. 407).

Earl Richard seems to have left an only daughter, Isabella by name. At the age of three she became the heiress to her father's vast estates, and was married by King Richard to William Marshall in 1189 (Hoveden, iii. 7; Diceto, i. 407). The question as to whether he had other issue has been fiercely contested by genealogists; but there seems to be no reason for doubting that he was married before espousing Dermot's daughter. The earl's daughter, Alina, mentioned above, cannot well have been his child by Eva. In the Irish Annals we read (a.d. 1171) of a predatory expedition led into Kildare by the earl's son (A. F. M. 1185). A Tintern charter granted by the younger William Marshall, and dated Strigul 22 March 1206, makes mention of Walter, filius Ricardi, filii Gilberti Strongbowe, avi mei (Dugdale, v. 267). But even this evidence can hardly be considered to confirm the current story as to how the earl met his son fleeing before the enemy and, enraged at such cowardice, clave him asunder with his sword. A tomb is still shown in Christ Church, Dublin, which passes for that of Richard Strongbow. This monument, which is described as displaying the cross-legged effigy of a knight, is said to have been restored by Sir Henry Sidney in 1570. On the left lies a half-figure of uncertain sex, which is popularly supposed to represent the earl's son. On it are inscribed the lines:Nate ingrate mihi pugnanti terga dedisti:Non mihi sed genti, regno quoque terga dedisti.

But there is no evidence as to the original state of this monument or the extent of Sir Henry's restorations. The whole legend was well known to Stanihurst in 1584; but it may date much further back than the sixteenth century (Marsh, 62).

According to Giraldus's rhetorical phrase, Richard de Clare was vir plus nominis hactenus habens quam ominis, plus genii quam ingenii, plus successionis quam possessionis. More trustworthy, perhaps, is Giraldus's personal description of the earl: A man of a somewhat florid complexion and freckled; with grey eyes, feminine features, a thin voice and short neck, but otherwise of a good stature. He was rather suited, continues the same historian, for the council chamber than the field, and better fitted to obey than to command. He required to be urged on to enterprise by his followers; but when once in the press of the fight his resolution was as the standard or the rallying-point of his side. No disaster could shake his courage, and he showed no undue exhilaration when things went well. In the pages of Giraldus the earl appears as a mere foil to the brilliant characters of the Fitzgeralds, and is never credited with any very remarkable military achievement. On the other hand, in the pages of the Anglo-Norman Poet he fills a much more prominent position; he leads great expeditions, and is specially distinguished at the siege of Dublin. But even in the verse of this writer his special epithets are, li gentils quens, le bon contur. It is more rarely that we find him styled li quens vailland.

Sources:

The two principal authorities for the career of Richard Strongbow are Giraldus Cambrensis and a poet who, towards the close of the twelfth century, wrote an account of the conquest of Ireland in Norman-French verse. The narrative of the latter, according to its author's statement, is largely based on the information derived from Dermot's interpreter or clerk, Maurice Regan. In many points these two writers are not in absolute accord, and the chronology is rendered still more obscure by the fact that the Anglo-Norman Poet gives no yearly dates at all, while Giraldus is not entirely consistent with himself. Each author supplies much that is peculiar to himself at other times, when they seem to differ it may be that they refer to different occasions. The latter view has been taken in the article in the case of Raymond's return to England. Giraldus Cambrensis, Expugnatio Hibernica, ed. Dimock (Rolls Series), v.

Anglo-Norman Poet, ed. Wright and Michel (London, 1837)
Eyton's Itinerary of Henry II
Green's English Princesses, i.
Benedict of Peterborough and Ralph de Diceto, ed. Stubbs (Rolls Series)
Trivet, ed. Hog (Engl. Hist. Soc.)
Dugdale's Baronage, i., and Monasticon (ed. 1817-1846)
William of Jumièges ap. Migne, cxxxix. col. 906
Brompton's Chronicon, ap. Twysden's Decem Scriptores
Annals of the Four Masters, ed. Donovan
Marsh's Chepstow Castle
Orderic Vitalis (Bohn), iv. 203
Journal of Archæological Association, x. 265.

Contributor: T. A. A. [Thomas Andrew Archer]

Published: 1887

Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (of the first creation), Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland (1130 - 20 April 1176). Like his father, he was also commonly known as Strongbow (French: Arc-Fort). He was a Cambro-Norman lord notable for his leading role in the Norman invasion of Ireland.

Richard was the son of Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Beaumont. Richard's father died when he was about eighteen years old and Richard inherited the title Earl of Pembroke. It is probable that this title was not recognized at Henry II's coronation.

Career

As the son of the first Earl, he succeeded to his father's estates in 1148, but was deprived of the title by King Henry II of England in 1154 for siding with King Stephen of England against Henry’s mother, the Empress Matilda. Richard was in fact, described by his contemporaries as the Earl of Striguil, Striguil being where he had a fortress at a place now called Chepstow, in Monmouthshire on the Wye. He saw an opportunity to reverse his bad fortune in 1168 when he met Dermot MacMurrough (Irish: Diarmait Mac Murchadha), King of Leinster.

Dispossession of the King of Leinster

In 1167, the King of Leinster was deprived of his kingdom by the High King of Ireland - Rory O'Connor (Irish: Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair). The grounds for the dispossession were that MacMurrough had, in 1152, abducted Derbforgaill, the wife of the King of Breifne, Tiernan O'Rourke (Irish: Tighearnán Ua Ruairc). To recover his kingdom, MacMurrough solicited help from Henry II of England.

Dermot MacMurrough left Ireland for Bristol from near Bannow on 1 August 1166. He met King Henry II in Aquitaine in autumn 1166. Henry could not help him at this time, but provided a letter of comfort for willing supporters of Dermot’s cause in his kingdom. However, after his return to Wales he failed to rally any forces to his standard. Eventually he met the Earl of Striguil (nicknamed "Strongbow") and other barons of the Welsh Marches. MacMurrough came to an agreement with de Clare: for the Earl’s assistance with an army the following spring, he could have Aoife, Dermot's eldest daughter in marriage and the succession to Leinster. As Henry’s approval or licence to Dermot was a general one, the Earl of Striguil thought it prudent to obtain Henry's specific consent to travel to Ireland: he waited two years to do this. The licence he got was to aid Dermot in the recovery of his kingdom of Leinster.

The invasion of Leinster

An army was assembled that included Welsh archers. It was led by Raymond Fitzgerald (also known as Raymond le Gros) and in quick succession it took the Viking or Scandinavian-established towns of Wexford, Waterford and Dublin in 1169-1170. Strongbow, however, was not with the first invading party, only arriving later, in August 1170.

In May 1171, Dermot died and his son, Donal MacMurrough-Kavanagh (Irish: Domhnall Caemanach mac Murchada) claimed the kingdom of Leinster in accordance with his rights under the Brehon Laws. The Earl of Striguil also claimed the kingship in the right of his wife. The old king's death was the signal of a general rising, and Richard barely managed to keep Rory O'Connor out of Dublin.

Royal intervention

The success of the invasion made King Henry concerned that his barons would become too powerful and independent overseas. He therefore ordered all troops to return to England by Easter 1171. Richard delayed his return until he had repulsed the High King. Immediately afterwards, he hurried to England to solicit help from Henry II, who instead stripped Strongbow of his new holdings. Henry himself invaded in October 1171, staying six months and putting his own men into nearly all the important places, claiming the title "Lord of Ireland". Strongbow returned to favour, and power in Ireland, in 1173 when he aided the king in his campaign against his rebelling sons. Richard went to Normandy to assist the king in the Revolt of 1173-1174. However, he was only permitted to retain the county of Kildare and found himself largely disinherited. The King later concluded a treaty with the High King of Ireland - the Treaty of Windsor 1175. By the terms of the treaty, Rory was left with a kingdom consisting of Ireland outside the petty kingdoms of Leinster, Mide (as they were then), Dublin and County Waterford, as long as he paid tribute to Henry II, and owed fealty to him. All of Ireland was also subject to the new religious provisions of the papal bull Laudabiliter and the Synod of Cashel (1172). In contravention of the royal treaty, de Clare invaded Connacht in 1172 but was severely defeated. Raymond le Gros, his chief general, re-established his supremacy in Leinster. After another rebellion in 1176, Raymond took Limerick for Richard, but just at this moment of triumph, Strongbow died of an infection in his foot.

Marriage and issue

The day after the capture of Waterford, Strongbow married MacMurrough's daughter, Aoife of Leinster. Their children were

Gilbert de Clare, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, a minor who died in 1185
Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke, who became Countess of Pembroke in her own right in 1185 (on the death of her brother) until her own death in 1220.

King Henry II had promised Sir William Marshal that he would be given Isabel as his bride, and his son Richard I upheld the promise one month after his ascension to the throne. The earldom was given to her husband as her consort. Marshall was the son of John the Marshal, by Sibylle, the sister of Patrick, Earl of Salisbury.

Strongbow's widow, Aoife, lived on and was last recorded in a charter of 1188.

Legacy

Strongbow was the statesman, whereas Raymond was the soldier, of the conquest. He is vividly described by Giraldus Cambrensis as a tall and fair man, of pleasing appearance, modest in his bearing, delicate in features, of a low voice, but sage in council and the idol of his soldiers. He was first interred in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral where an alleged effigy can be viewed. Strongbow's actual tomb-effigy was destroyed when the roof of the Cathedral collapsed in 1562. The one on display dates from around the 15th century, bears the coat of arms of the Earls of Kildare and is the effigy of another local Knight. Strongbow is actually buried in the graveyard of the Ferns Cathedral, Ferns, where his grave can be seen in the graveyard.

Richard also held the title of Lord Marshal of England.

Richard married Aoife MacMorrough 29 Aug 1170, Waterford, Ireland. Aoife (daughter of Dermot MacMorrough, King of Leinster and Mor O'Toole) was born 1145; died Aft 1189. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Aoife MacMurrough (1145-1188, Irish: Aoife Ní Diarmait), also known by later historians as Eva of Leinster, was the daughter of Dermot MacMurrough (Irish: Diarmait MacMurchada), King of Leinster, and his wife Mor O'Toole (c.1114-1191).

Marriage

On the 29 August 1170, following the Norman invasion of Ireland that her father had requested, she married Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, better known as Strongbow, the leader of the Norman invasion force, in Reginald's Tower in Waterford. She had been promised to Strongbow by her father who had visited England to ask for an invasion army. He was not allowed to give his daughter away, as under Early Irish Law Aoife had the choice of whom she married, but she had to agree to an arranged marriage.

Under Anglo-Norman law, this gave Strongbow succession rights to the Kingdom of Leinster. Under Irish Brehon law, the marriage gave her a life interest only, after which any land would normally revert to male cousins; but Brehon law also recognised a transfer of "swordland" following a conquest. Aoife conducted battles on behalf of her husband and is sometimes known as Red Eva (Irish: Aoife Rua). She had two sons and a daughter with her husband Richard de Clare, and within several generations her descendants included much of the nobility of northwestern Europe, including Robert the Bruce and Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall who was elected King of the Romans in 1257.

Aoife is the ancestress of many Kings of England by a number of lineal descent, such as that of her granddaughter Eva Marshal, whose daughter Maud de Braose, married Roger de Mortimer. All the monarchs of England from 1413, as well as Mary, Queen of Scots, were directly descended from Maud, as is the current British Royal Family. Queen consorts Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr were also notable descendants of Aoife through multiple lines. By her descendant, Lady Katherine Mortimer, who married Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, Aoife and Strongbow were ancestors of the Earls of Warwick and the last of the Plantagenet kings which included Richard III of England and his wife, Lady Anne Neville.

Gilbert — Margaret. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

He was also known as Walter FitzEdward de Salisbury.

Walter — Sybil de Chaworth. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

He was the son of Gilbert fitz Richard and Adeliza de Clermont. He married Isabella of Meulan, daughter of Robert de Meulan, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth de Vermandois.

Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke also went by the nick-name of Gilbert 'Strongbow'. He was also known as Gilbert FitzGilbert. He was created 1st Earl of Pembroke [England] circa 1138.

Gilbert fitz Gilbert de Clare (c. 1100 - 6 January 1147/8), son of Gilbert Fitz Richard and Alice de Claremont, was sometimes referred to as "Strongbow", although his son is better remembered by this name, was the first Earl of Pembroke from 1138.

Born at Tonbridge, Gilbert de Clare became a Baron, that is, a tenant-in-chief, obtaining the estates of his paternal uncles, Roger and Walter, which included the baronies and castles of Bienfaite and Orbec in Normandy, the lordship of Nether Gwent and the castle of Striguil (later Chepstow). King Stephen created him Earl of Pembroke, and gave him the rape and castle of Pevensey. Gilbert de Clare decided to live near the roof in the Great Hall so he could see what was going on at all times.

After Stephen's defeat at Lincoln on 2 February 1141, Gilbert was among those who rallied to Empress Matilda when she recovered London in June, but he was at Canterbury when Stephen was recrowned late in 1141. He then joined Geoffrey's plot against Stephen, but when that conspiracy collapsed, he again adhered to Stephen, being with him at the siege of Oxford late in 1142. In 1147 he rebelled when Stephen refused to give him the castles surrendered by his nephew Gilbert, 2nd Earl of Hertford, whereupon the King marched to his nearest castle and nearly captured him. However, the Earl appears to have made his peace with Stephen before his death the following year.

He married Isabel de Beaumont (ca. 1102 - ca. 1172), around 1130, daughter of Sir Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan, and Elizabeth de Vermandois. Isabel had previously been the mistress of King Henry I of England. By her he had two daughters (Agnes and Basilia) and two sons (Baldwin and Richard).

Gilbert married Isabel de Beaumont Abt 1130. Isabel (daughter of Robert de Meulan, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth of Vermandois, Countess of Leicester) was born Between 1102 and 1107; died Aft 1172. [Group Sheet]

Other Events:

• Name:

Notes:

Isabel (Elizabeth) de Beaumont (after 1102 - after 1172), daughter of Robert de Beaumont, sister of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester. She married Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke, in 1130. She was also known as Isabella de Meulan.

Isabella of Meulan was born between 1102 and 1107. She was the daughter of Robert de Meulan, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth de Vermandois. She married Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke, son of Gilbert fitz Richard and Adeliza de Clermont. She died after 1172. As a result of her marriage, Isabella of Meulan was styled as Countess of Pembroke.

Notes:

Diarmait Mac Murchada (Modern Irish: Diarmait mac Murchadha or Diarmaid mac Murchadha), anglicized as Dermot MacMurrough or Dermod MacMurrough (1110-1 May 1171), was a King of Leinster in Ireland. In 1167, he was deprived of his kingdom by the High King of Ireland - Turlough Mór O'Connor (Irish: Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair). The grounds for the dispossession were that MacMurrough had, in 1152, abducted Derbforgaill, the wife of the King of Breifne, Tiernan O'Rourke (Irish: Tighearnán Ua Ruairc). To recover his kingdom, MacMurrough solicited help from King Henry II of England. In return, MacMurrough pledged an oath of allegiance to Henry, who sent troops in support. As a further thanks for his reinstatement, MacMurrough's daughter Aoife was married to Richard de Clare, the 2nd Earl of Pembroke (nicknamed "Strongbow"). Henry II then mounted a larger second invasion in 1171 to ensure his control over Strongbow, resulting in the Lordship of Ireland. MacMurrough was later known as Diarmait na nGall (Irish for "Diarmait of the Foreigners").

Early life and family

MacMurrough was born around 1110, a son of Donnchad mac Murchada, King of Leinster and Dublin. His father's grandmother Dervorgilla (Derbforgaill) was a daughter of Donnchad, King of Munster and therefore she was a grand-daughter of Brian Boru. His father was killed in battle in 1115 by his cousin Sigtrygg Silkbeard, king of the Dublin Vikings, and was buried by them in Dublin along with the body of a dog, considered to be a huge insult.

MacMurrough had two wives (as allowed under the Brehon Laws), the first of whom, Sadb of Uí Faeláin, was mother of a daughter named Órlaith who married Domnall Mór, King of Munster. His second wife, Mór Uí Tuathail, was mother of Aoife / Eva of Leinster and Conchobar Mac Murchada. He had two legitimate sons, Domnall Caemhánach (died 1175) and Énna Cennselach (blinded 1169).

King of Leinster

After the death of his older brother, Enna mac Donnchada Mac Murchada, Dermot unexpectedly became King of Leinster. This was opposed by the then High King of Ireland, Toirdelbach Ua Conchobair who feared (rightly) that Mac Murchada would become a rival. Toirdelbach sent one of his allied Kings, the belligerent Tigernán Ua Ruairc (Tiernan O'Rourke) to conquer Leinster and oust the young Mac Murchada. Ua Ruairc went on a brutal campaign slaughtering the livestock of Leinster and thereby trying to starve the province's residents. Mac Murchada was ousted from his throne, but was able to regain it with the help of Leinster clans in 1132. Afterwards followed two decades of an uneasy peace between Ua Conchobair and Diarmait. In 1152 he even assisted the High King to raid the land of Ua Ruairc who had by then become a renegade.

Mac Murchada also is said to have "abducted" Ua Ruairc's wife Derbforgaill (English: Dervorgilla) along with all her furniture and goods, with the aid of Derbforgaill's brother, a future pretender to the kingship of Meath. It was said that Derbforgaill was not exactly an unwilling prisoner and she remained in Ferns with MacMurrough, in comfort, for a number of years. Her advanced age indicates that she may have been a refugee or a hostage. Whatever the reality, the "abduction" was given as a further reason for enmity between the two kings.

Church builder

As king of Leinster, in 1140-70 Dermot commissioned Irish Romanesque churches and abbeys at:

Baltinglass - a Cistercian abbey (1148)
Glendalough
Ferns (his capital - St Mary's Abbey Augustinian Order)
Killeshin

He sponsored convents (nunneries) at Dublin (St Mary's, 1146), and in c.1151 two more at Aghade, County Carlow and at Kilculliheen near Waterford city.

He also sponsored the successful career of churchman St Lawrence O'Toole (Lorcan Ua Tuathail). He married O'Toole's half-sister Mor in 1153 and presided at the synod of Clane in 1161 when O'Toole was installed as archbishop of Dublin.

Exile and return

In 1166, Ireland's new High King and Mac Murchada's only ally Muirchertach Ua Lochlainn had fallen, and a large coalition led by Tigernán Ua Ruairc (Mac Murchada's arch enemy) marched on Leinster. Ua Ruairc and his allies took Leinster with ease, and Mac Murchada and his wife barely escaped with their lives. Mac Murchada fled to Wales and from there to England and France, in order to have King Henry II's consent to be allowed to recruit soldiers to bring back to Ireland and reclaim his kingship. On returning to Wales, Robert Fitz-Stephen helped him organize a mercenary army of Norman and Welsh soldiers, including Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, alias Strongbow.

In his absence Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair (son of Mac Murchada's former enemy, the High King Turlough Mór O'Connor) had become the new High King of Ireland. Mac Murchada planned not only to retake Leinster, but to oust the Uí Conchobair clan and become the High King of Ireland himself. In 1167 he quickly retook Dublin, the Kingdom of Ossory and the Norse-Gaelic settlement of Waterford. Within a short time, all Leinster was again in his control. He then marched on Tara (the political capital at the time) to oust Ruaidrí. Mac Murchada gambled that Ruaidrí would not hurt the Leinster hostages which he had (including Mac Murchada's eldest son, Conchobar Mac Murchada). However Ua Ruairc forced his hand and they were all killed.

Diarmait's army then lost the battle. He sent word to Wales and pleaded with Strongbow to come to Ireland as soon as possible. Strongbow's small force landed in Wexford with Welsh and Norman cavalry thereby precipitating the Norman invasion of Ireland. The Cambro-Norman barons and knights quickly took over both Waterford and Wexford. The capture of Dublin followed soon after. MacMurrough was devastated after the death of his son, Domhnall, retreated to Ferns and died a few months later.

Strongbow married Dermot's daughter Aoife of Leinster in 1170, as she was a great heiress, and as a result much of his (and his followers') land was granted to him under Norman law but contrary to Brehon law.

The scholar Áed Ua Crimthainn was probably Diarmait's court historian. In his Book of Leinster, Áed seems to be the first to set out the concept of the rí Érenn co fressabra, the "king of Ireland with opposition", later more widely adopted. This described Diarmait's ambitions and the achievements of his great-grandfather Diarmait mac Maíl na mBó.

Later reputation

In Irish history books written after 1800 in the age of nationalism, Diarmait Mac Murchada was often seen as a traitor, but his intention was not to aid an English invasion of Ireland, but rather to use Henry's assistance to become the High King of Ireland himself. He had no way of knowing Henry II's ambitions in Ireland. In his time, politics was based on dynasties and Ireland was not ruled as a unitary state. In turn, Henry II did not consider himself to be English or Norman, but a French Angevin, and was merely responding to the realities on the ground.

Gerald of Wales, a Cambro-Norman historian who visited Ireland in 1185 and whose uncles and cousins were prominent soldiers in the army of Strongbow, repeated their opinions of Mac Murchada:

"Now Dermot was a man tall of stature and stout of frame; a soldier whose heart was in the fray, and held valiant among his own nation. From often shouting his battle-cry his voice had become hoarse. A man who liked better to be feared by all than loved by any. One who would oppress his greater vassals, while he raised to high station men of lowly birth. A tyrant to his own subjects, he was hated by strangers; his hand was against every man, and every man's hand against him."

Death and descendants

After Strongbow's successful invasion, Henry II mounted a second and larger invasion in 1171 to ensure his control over his Norman subjects, which succeeded. He then accepted the submission of the Irish kings in Dublin in November 1171. He also ensured that his moral claim to Ireland, granted by the 1154 papal bull Laudabiliter, was reconfirmed in 1172 by Pope Alexander III, and also by a synod of all the Irish bishops at the Synod of Cashel. He added "Lord of Ireland" to his many other titles. Before he could consolidate his new Lordship he had to go to France to deal with his sons' rebellion in 1173.

Ua Conchobair was soon ousted, first as High King and eventually as King of Connacht. Attempting to regain his provincial kingdom, he turned to the English as Mac Murchada had before him. The Lordship directly controlled a small territory in Ireland surrounding the cities of Dublin and Waterford, while the rest of Ireland was divided between Norman and Welsh barons. The 1175 Treaty of Windsor, brokered by St Lawrence O'Toole with Henry II, formalized the submission of the Gaelic clans that remained in local control, like the Uí Conchobair who retained Connacht and the Uí Néill who retained most of Ulster.

Diarmait's male-line descendants such as Art Mac Art continued to rule parts of Leinster until the Tudor conquest of Ireland in the 16th century. Today they live on with the surname "MacMurrough Kavanagh" at Borris in Co. Carlow and at Maresfield, East Sussex, being one of the few surviving "Chiefs of the name". The currently recognized chief of the name is William Butler Kavanagh, The MacMorrough Kavanagh, Prince of Leinster (b. 1944).

Through his daughter Aoife, Diarmait is also an ancestor of a great number of historically-famous people, including George Washington, Marie-Antoinette, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, Robert Emmet, Charles Darwin and Winston Churchill.

More notably he is the ancestor (through Aoife's granddaughter Eva Marshal and her daughter Maud who married Roger Mortimer) of the kings of England Edward IV, Edward V, Richard III, and all kings from Henry VIII onwards. There are other notable descents from Aoife's daughter Isabel de Clare such as that of Katherine Mortimer, Aoife's great-granddaughter, who married Thomas de Beauchamp 11th Earl of Warwick, and was therefore an ancestor of the Earls of Warwick and Kings of England from Edward IV onwards (with the exception of Henry VII).

Dermot married Mor O'Toole 1153. Mor (daughter of Muirchertach Ua Tuathail, King of the Uí Muirdeaigh and Cacht Ní Morda) was born Abt 1114, Castledermot, Kildare, Ireland; died 1191, Castledermot, Kildare, Ireland. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Mór Ní Tuathail (c. 1114-1191) was a Queen-consort of Leinster as the first wife of King Diarmait Mac Murchada. Under Brehon Law, Irish men were allowed more than one wife. King Dermot's second wife was Sadhbh Ní Fhaolain.

Mór was the mother of Aoife of Leinster, the wife of Richard de Clare, Earl of Pembroke, known to history as Strongbow.

Family

Mór was born in Castledermot, Kildare, Ireland in about 1114, the daughter of Muirchertach Ua Tuathail, King of the Uí Muirdeaigh, and Cacht Ní Morda.

Her paternal grandparents were Gilla Comgaill Ua Toole and Sadbh Ní Domnail and her maternal grandparents were Loigsig Ua Morda, King of Laois and Gormlaith Ní Caellaide.

One of Mor's four half-brothers was St. Lorcán Ua Tuathail, Archbishop of Dublin, who was canonised in 1225 by Pope Honorius III.

Marriage and issue

In 1152, King Diarmait Mac Murchada of Leinster abducted Derbforgaill Ní Mhaol Seachlainn, the wife of the King of Breifne, Tighearnán Ua Ruairc (Irish: Tighearnán Ua Ruairc).

Together Dermot and Mór had about three children:

Conchobhar Mac Murchada (died 1167)
Aoife MacMurrough (1145-1188), married 29 August 1170, Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke, known to history as Strongbow, by whom she had two children, including Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke, who became the heiress to her father's titles and estates.
Órlaith of Leinster, married Domnall Mór Ua Briain, King of Thomond, by whom she had issue.

In 1167, Mór's son Conchobhar was killed by Ruaidrí Ua Conchobair, High King of Ireland, after having been taken hostage while Diarmait waged war against Ruaidrí with the aim of overthrowing him in order to take his place as the High King.

Queen Mór died in 1191, three years after her eldest daughter, Aoife. Her husband predeceased her on 1 May 1171 in Ferns, shortly after the Cambro-Norman invasion of Ireland led by their son-in-law, Strongbow.