Fox and Anderson and Taylor families in USA » John "the Marshal" Marshal FitzGilbert (1126-1165)

Sources

1. WikiTree, via https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Marshal-19...

   John Fitz-Gilbert, also called John Marshal, was the son of Gilbert Giffard, who was like John an hereditary marshal of the household of King Henry I. John and his father Gilbert, it was noted several generations later by King John, had successfully claimed the right to being "chief" marshall against competing claims from Robert de Venoix and William de Hasings.[1] By the time of John's children, the surname was being used as an early example of a surname, not only by his son and heir, but also by his younger sons.
   
   John's career coincided with a dark 19-year period in Anglo-Norman history, called "The Anarchy" (1135-1164). It was an interregnum following King Henry I's death with no male heir (his son had been lost at sea in 1620). Henry I's nephew, Stephen, seized the throne, opposed by his cousin, Henry I's daughter, Empress (of the Holy Roman Empire) Matilda, fighting for her son's (Henry I's grandson) rights. Ultimately he became King Henry II in 1164. The Anglo-Norman nobility nearly wrecked the country in a lengthy civil war.[2]
   
   John's marriage to Aline Pipard was a casualty of this conflict. From 1135 to 1140 John loyally served King Stephen as Marshal of England, managing the Army's supplies and accompanying the King when he secured Normandy to his cause. John received three important castles in Wiltshire as his reward. With Hamstead Marshal, this gave him control of Wiltshire's strategic Kennet River valley. He was bitterly opposed by Patrick de Salisbury (also in Wiltshire), who supported Empress Matilda.[3].
   
   In February 1141, Stephen's army was defeated at Lincoln and the King taken prisoner, temporarily. John, who may have opposed Stephen's questionable military strategy, decided to change sides. Later that year, with great bravery, he helped Empress Matilda escape an ambush in Wiltshire, loosing an eye and being left for dead in the process. At the same time he came to a political/family agreement with his local enemy, the Patrick of Salisbury, by arranging to annul his first marriage to his distant cousin Aline Pipard (for "consanguinity" an often-used excuse by Medieval nobles at a time when divorce was impossible) and marry Patrick's spinster sister, Sybil.[4]
   
   Aline's sons' rights were maintained but they both died within a year of their father, leaving John's lands, and the "Marshal of England" office, to John's third son (first son by Sibyl), John Marshal, who exercised it under King Henry II until his death in 1192. King Richard (Lionheart) then passed the office to his younger brother, William, who had gone to Normandy as squire to his cousin William de Tancarville, High Chamberlain of Normandy. Though William had started out as a fourth son without any inheritance, by the time he became the Marshal of England, his reputation as a soldier and statesman was unmatched. He expanded the powers of the Marshal's office and was later Regent for Henry III when he inherited the throne as a boy[5].
   
   John Fitz-Gilbert Marshal was a ruthless Anglo-Norman baron with considerable daring, energy, and ambition. His abilities as a soldier and his love of military stratagy were well recorded as was his political savvy. Despite what some detractors wrote, he was also quite loyal by contemporary standards. During the Anarchy he only changed sides once, remaining faithful to Matilda and her son after 1141 and defending them skillfully and at his own peril. His son William inherited his father's skills, reportedly rescuing Queen Eleanor (of Aquitaine), Henry II's wife, after an ambush near Lusignan Castle in France in 1167. After his brother's death without issue opened the way for him to become Marshal of England, he also showed great political skills, including helping implement the Magna Carta of 1215 between King John and the Barons. Between them, this father and son, from a relatively-minor Norman house, marked their century and influenced the course of English history.[6]
   
   Burial: Bradenstoke Priory, Wiltshire
   John FitzGilbert the Marshal (Marechal) (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, in Wiltshire. 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, was an a hereditary title held by John's father, Gilbert Giffard, King's Marshal [7] and was passed to John, his eldest son, and then to John's eldest son also named John, who died in 1192. John's younger brother William (later Regent of England) then inherited the title. John the son of Gilbert, also had a daughter, Margaret Marshal, who married Ralph de Somery, son of John de Somery and Hawise de Paynell.
   John was the son of Gilbert Giffard (Royal Serjeant and Marshal to Henry I). In 1141, John arranged an annulment of his marriage to Aline Pipard in order to marry Sibyl of Salisbury, the sister of Patrick of Salisbury, [8] 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 and Walter. 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 (died 1194), inherited the title of Marshal, which he held until his death. The title was then granted by King Richard the Lionheart to John's second son by Sybilla, William, who made the name and title famous. Though William had started out as a younger son without inheritance, by the time he actually inherited the title of Marshal 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, 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.
   Title of "Marshal"
   "Mareschal" is "Marshal" in from old French, the common language of the Anglo-Norman nobility of Medieval England. The title, which in Carolingian times had meant "horse servant". The position evolved into an official position and was imported from Normandy to England. John's father, Gilbert Fitz-Robert, was a marshal of King Henry I.
   
   Marshal was the title of the person in the king's household who maintained discipline at court; supplied receipts for payments, gifts and liveries from the king. He was over all servants of the court connected with the royal sports; over the king's bodyguard, and in charge of the horses. He was required to witness writs. It was an hereditary office. The Marshal took part in the ceremony of coronation. His sign of office was a baton bestowed by the king. [9]
   The Marshal, under the Royal Constable, was responsible for keeping order at the royal court, making billeting arrangements, tallying the household's expenditures, monitoring knights performing military service for the King, and insuring the imprisonment of debtors. Under John's son William, who was often simply called "The Marshal" the office became "Earl Marshal" and is still the seventh of the eight "great Officers of State" of the British monarchy, just below the Lord High Constable and above the Lord High Admiral.[10]

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