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Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke (c. 1194/1207 – 27 June 1241) was the third son of
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 or 1147 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Anglo-Norman language, Norman French: ', French language, French: '), was an Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman during High Med ...
and Countess Isabel, the daughter of Richard son of Gilbert, earl of Striguil. He was a member of the Marshal family.


Early life

By calculating back from the date of his coming of age, Gilbert must have been the child with which his mother was pregnant during the insurrection against the Marshals in Leinster in 1207, and so was born in Ireland at the beginning of his father's political exile there. He would have been about twelve when his father died, and the Marshal biographer calls him then a 'clerk' which signifies he was then in minor orders. He was credited with the title 'magister' (master) in 1234 which he only would have acquired from a period of advanced study at a major school. The name of his private tutor is known to have been Master Henry of Hoo. In 1227, he was presented to Westminster abbey's wealthy living of
Oakham Oakham is a market town and civil parish in Rutland (of which it is the county town) in the East Midlands of England. The town is located east of Leicester, southeast of Nottingham and northwest of Peterborough. It had a population of 12,14 ...
in
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at which point he was still an
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one of the junior clerical orders. His orders did not stop him taking a sexual partner, by whom he had a daughter Isabel. He was destined at the time for a distinguished career in the church, and indeed was reconciled to it, as he built a large mansion for himself in Oakham. The cleric who composed the Welsh annals described him at this time as 'a very cultivated and capable young man'.


Succession

When
Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...
his elder brother rebelled against King Henry III in the summer of 1233, Gilbert was despatched by his brother to Ireland as his agent in dealing with the Anglo-Irish barons and the king's justiciar, Maurice fitz Gerald. At the end of 1233, Gilbert was still in Ireland when Earl Richard crossed over to counter the growing threat of the loyalists and the justiciar, during the course of which the earl was surrounded and cut down outside
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. Richard died of his injuries a fortnight later on 15 April 1234. Gilbert was now heir to the earldom of Pembroke and at war with the king whose cooperation was necessary to succeed to it. Gilbert returned to Wales with his brother and through intermediaries was reconciled with King Henry at the end of May. On 11 June the king - who was the same age as Gilbert - knighted him at Worcester, thus cancelling his status as a cleric. He was created earl of Pembroke and Marshal of England immediately afterwards. To consolidate his standing as a layman he negotiated a prestigious marriage with Marjorie (120017 November 1244), daughter of King William of Scotland. They were married on 1 August 1235 in
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. Their marriage was childless.


Earl Gilbert and Wales

King Henry treated Gilbert generously, granting him at the end of 1234 the honour of
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in compensation for the late Earl Richard's Norman and French lands, to which Gilbert was not allowed to succeed by
Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis VI ...
. In January 1235 the king went much further, granting Gilbert wardships and royal castles which gave him almost complete control of the southern March of Wales. Gilbert took the opportunity to settle scores with the rival Welsh lord of
Caerleon Caerleon ( ; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable ...
, which led to an intervention by Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth of Gwynedd and a subsequent climbdown. On Llywelyn's death in April 1240 Gilbert launched a major campaign in West Wales, led by his younger brother Walter Marshal, which rapidly expelled Welsh troops from Cardigan castle and compelled the southern Welsh lord Maelgwyn Fychan to offer Gilbert homage. As part of the treaty Gilbert married his daughter Isabel to Rhys, son of Maelgwyn.


Enmity with the Fitz Geralds and death

Earl Gilbert's tenure of the earldom is notable for the consequences of the violent death of his elder brother at Kildare. Gilbert was bound in honour to punish those responsible, especially as he had to establish his credentials as a knight and the head of the powerful Marshal affinity in England, Wales and Ireland. Rather than single out Walter de Lacy and Richard de Burgh who were principally responsible for the death, he fixed on Maurice Fitz Gerald lord of Offaly and the king's justiciar, and solemnly swore mortal enmity against him. This brought the full weight of the whole Marshal clan and their powerful relatives and vassals against Fitz Gerald until he undertook to make restitution for Earl Richard's death. King Henry III was willing to act as an intermediary and in August 1234 Fitz Gerald made a formal admission of responsibility to the earl. This did not by any means end the antagonism between Gilbert and Fitz Gerald, and the murder at Westminster of Henry Clement, Fitz Gerald's agent, in 1235 was believed to have been procured by the earl. The feud was not settled until in 1240 the earl pardoned Fitz Gerald his mortal enmity on his promising to found an abbey for the sake of the soul of the late Earl Richard. Even so, the notorious antagonism between the aristocratic groups had so disturbed the political community and court that when Earl Gilbert died violently on the tournament field of
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on 27 June 1241 it was commonly believed that agents of the Fitz Geralds had a hand in the affair. Gilbert's death was more likely the consequence of a need to justify the Marshal name and live up to his father's and brothers' reputations, for the St Albans chronicler
Matthew Paris Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris (;  1200 – 1259), was an English people, English Benedictine monk, English historians in the Middle Ages, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts, and cartographer who was based at St A ...
reported gossip that Gilbert was 'inexperienced and useless as a knight'. There was some truth in it, as his inability to manage the magnificent but wild Spanish stallion he had selected for the day's sport led to his being thrown from his horse and dragged for some distance on the ground. He died later that evening from the injuries received. He was buried at
Temple Church The Temple Church, a royal peculiar in the Church of England, is a church in the Inner Temple, Inner and Middle Temple, Middle Temple, London, Temples located between Fleet Street and the River Thames, built by the Knights Templar for their En ...
next to his father. His title was passed to his younger brother
Walter Walter may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walter (name), including a list of people and fictional and mythical characters with the given name or surname * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–19 ...
a year after his death. Walter was not immediately confirmed as Earl of Pembroke and Lord Marshal due to the King's anger at Walter's disobedience of royal orders, as he had also attended the tournament.Crouch, 'Earl Gilbert', 393-403


References


Sources

* ''Acts and Letters of the Marshal Family 1156-1248: Earls of Pembroke and Marshals of England,'' ed. David Crouch, Camden Society 5th series, 47 (Cambridge: CUP, 2015). * * D. Crouch, 'Earl Gilbert Marshal and his mortal enemies,’ ''Historical Research'', 87 (2014), 393-403. *R.F. Walker, ‘The Earls of Pembroke, 1138-1389’ in, ''Pembrokeshire County History'' ii, ''Medieval Pembrokeshire'', ed. R.F. Walker (Haverfordwest, 2002). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pembroke, Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl Of Year of birth uncertain 1241 deaths Earls Marshal Gilbert Burials at the Temple Church