William Marshal
d. 1219
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About
William Marshal was a penniless younger son who became the most celebrated soldier in Europe, served five kings of England, and ended as regent of the kingdom for the boy Henry the Third. It was he who reissued Magna Carta in the child king's name and so turned a failed peace treaty into the foundation of English law. Archbishop Langton called him the greatest knight that ever lived. He married Isabel de Clare, heiress of Leinster and Pembroke, daughter of Strongbow and Aoife, which is how the Gaelic royal line and the Norman one meet in this family.
Research notes
✓ DOCUMENTED (Entered 23 Jul 2026 under the relaxed rule (standard, undisputed peerage/royal account; provenance so noted).): WILLIAM MARSHAL, 1ST EARL OF PEMBROKE (c.1146-1219) - "THE GREATEST KNIGHT THAT EVER LIVED" (Archbishop Langton's eulogy); the penniless younger son who served five kings, unhorsed Richard Coeur de Lion and spared him, and as REGENT OF ENGLAND for the boy Henry III won the battle of Lincoln at ~70 and REISSUED MAGNA CARTA (1216, 1217) - not a surety but the man who saved the charter; effigy in Temple Church, London. m. 1189 Isabel de Clare, the greatest heiress in the realms. Father of Isabel (our line). Direct ancestor. Added 23 Jul 2026.