Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 36.djvu/231

 Marshal This fully bears out the singularly concordant eulogy of those who, writing after his death, speak of him as ‘a man endowed with all honourable qualities, distinguished for his noble birth, well instructed in liberal arts, most vigorous in the exercise of arms, and one who kept God before his eyes in all his works’ (Ann. Mon. ii. 313). Though circumstances forced Marshal into the attitude of rebellion, there seems no reason to doubt the substantial truth of the history of his last years, as preserved in the annals of the time, or the explanation which he himself repeatedly gave of his conduct. This was to the effect that he desired to put an end to the evil influence of the king's foreign advisers; and that it was only when Henry under their guidance attacked him that he resorted to arms for the sake of justice, on behalf of the laws of England, and to secure the expulsion of the Poitevin favourites, who were ruining the land. If Marshal had lived it is not impossible that he might have averted much of the evil of the next twenty years; even as it was, the circumstances of his death confirmed for the time the good influence that Archbishop Edmund was able to exert. Two letters written to Marshal by Robert Grosseteste [q. v.] in 1231, have been preserved (Letters of Grosseteste, pp. 38-43, Rolls Ser.); they bear evidence to a familiar friendship between the earl and future bishop.

Marshal left no children, and he was succeeded in his titles and estates by his next brother, Gilbert [see under, first ].

 MARSHAL, WILLIAM, first and  of the Marshal line (d. 1219), regent of England, was second son of John Marshal (d. 1164?) [q. v.], by his second wife, Sibyl, sister of Patrick, earl of Salisbury. He is represented as describing himself as over eighty years of age in 1216 (Histoire,l. 15510), but his father and mother were not married till 1141 (ib. 11. 372-83), and 1146 is a more likely date for his birth. When Stephen besieged John Marshal at Newbury in 1152, the young William was given as hostage for a truce and the surrender of the castle. John Marshal refused to keep the terms, and his son's life would have been sacrificed had not Stephen, attracted by the child's bold spirit and pretty ways, protected him (ib. 11. 400-650; cf., p. 284). When peace was made William was restored to his father, and early in the reign of Henry II was sent to his cousin William, the Chamberlain of Tancarville, in Normandy, to be trained in knightly accomplishments. As he grew to manhood Marshal earned a high reputation for valour, but most of the incidents referred to this time in the ‘Histoire’ belong rather to 1173. In the autumn of 1167 Marshal returned to England, and, joining his uncle, Earl Patrick, at Salisbury, accompanied him in the following spring to Poitou. Hardly had Patrick arrived in that province when he was slain on 27 March by the Poitevins under Geoffrey de Lusignan. Marshal endeavoured to revenge his uncle's death, but was himself wounded and taken prisoner. After a miserable captivity in Geoffrey's hands he was at length ransomed by Queen Eleanor, who furnished him with arms and money.

On his return to England in 1170 Marshal was chosen by the king to be one of those in charge of his eldest son Henry (Histoire, ll. 1940-8). The friendship thus commenced lasted till the young king's death, and when the war of 1173 broke out Marshal sided with his master (Gesta Henrici, i. 46). But first he went to the Chamberlain of Tancarville, who knighted him at Driencourt or Neufchatel-en-Bray,and under whom he won distinction in the half-hearted warfare of the Norman barons with the Flemings before Neufchatel in July 1173. Then he rejoined the young king, who elected to receive knighthood at his hands, and with whom he went over to England in May 1175, remaining there till April 1176. Despite his share in the rebellion, Marshal does not seem to have forfeited the trust of Henry II, who once more charged him with the care of his son (Histoire, ll. 2428-30). For the next seven years he was constantly with the young king, winning universal admiration by his prowess in tournaments, and rising steadily in his master's favour (ib. ll.2500-5000). His position made him many enemies, who endeavoured to poison the young Henry's mind against him. Marshal treated their  Rh