A Preface to our Royal Ancestors
Wilbur Rancidbatch stared in disbelief at the loose pages of what would become this book. He hovered over my desk, stammering and fumbling with the paperwork. A look of disbelief was written all over his mug. He was about to implode. The papers dropped from his hand into a tidy little pile on the floor.
“You are descended from the kings and queens of Britain?” There was a pause and he continued to stammer, “I had no idea Doc. You seem like a normal, good guy. You fell timber in the forest, you pound nails, you built this house, you piss behind trees like the rest of us….”
I sat Wilbur down on a chair on the back deck and offered him one of his favorites, a Dead Guy Ale from Rogue Brewery in Oregon. I explained the situation as best I could. “Look, Wilbur. This doesn’t have to mean an end to our friendship. We can still shoot traps, hunt squirrels, walk the dogs, kayak the river and create new microbrews….”
“But you are part of the royal family. Are you a duke, a baron? Do I call you ‘Sir’ or ‘Earl? I had no idea. I mean how could I have known? You live such a simple life…”
There was a long pause as I let Wilbur sink into his chair and his thoughts. With each twitch of his ass, he sank a little deeper and I began explaining. “Wilbur, it is not uncommon to find royal ancestors in a family tree. It is, in fact, very likely that you will find royal bloodlines in your history as well.”
“Seriously?” Wilbur drew a deep breath and put the empty bottle down on the side table. I didn’t hesitate to offer a second beer. “I could have a King in my family tree?” He asked incredulously.
“Odds are in your favor, Wilbur. You see, some of these men fathered as many as 32 children, some were legitimate offspring, many were not. Not all of the royal children lived like kings or queens, many of them lost their royal titles or properties. They dispersed across the kingdoms of Europe and the colonies. Many lost their fortunes, married commoners and within generations, their descendants were found working odd jobs like the rest of us in order to simply survive.”
“I could be descended from a king and queen?” Wilbur stared into the skull on the label of his Dead Guy Ale. I could see his brain actively dealing with reality.
“Wilbur. One king in 1215 a.d., King John of Magna Charta fame, had 32 children. Eight hundred years later, there could 1 billion people on this planet who descend from that one guy. Guys like William the Conqueror, Genghis Khan and Willie McDowell all fathered so many kids that the earth today is littered with their descendants.”
“Whose Willie McDowell?” Wilbur asked.
“A moonshiner in my wife’s family tree. He fathered at least 32 children. ”
Wilbur’s eyes lit up. “Sounds like my kind of guy. I’ll bet I have some of his DNA.”
Royal Connections
From William the Conqueror to Edward III, we have 9 generations of Kings and Queens occupying a seat at our family table. They are a disparate group of rulers, some more given to war than others; some more given to the arts, all with a deep desire to rid themselves of siblings, cousins and offspring who may have harbored any desire to possess, prematurely, what a father or mother possessed.
The accompanying pedigree chart begins with William the Conqueror, but the lineage precedes the Conqueror by several centuries and generations. His ancestors and ours can be traced back into the land of the Vikings (Scandinavia) and Central Europe (Celtic and Saxon roots). The Conqueror was born a Norman (Normandy, France) but his ancestors were interlopers and imposed themselves on Northern France. It was all part of the Viking Expansion Plan (the VEP as it was lovingly referred to, at fish boils along the Nordic coast.)
William brought his sidekick, Sir Roger de Montgomery, to Britain and set him up with accommodations in several tourist hotspots ranging from a prime location (Suffolk) on the English Channel to a rustic getaway lodging in Shropshire.
We owe our ability to track noble lineage to William the Conqueror. He was the original bean counter. He tracked every shilling and pence that came into his tax coffers. He booked every parcel of land that he parceled out to his cronies. His accounting ledgers carried the name of every aristocrat on the island and their offspring as well. The book is known as the Domesday Book. Over the millennia, the British carried the bookwork forward. The names of many of our royal ancestors are found in the collection. The accuracy of the accounts is seldom disputed by historians. It is not my intent to write a biography about each of the many kings, queens and siblings outlined on the chart. Each of these dignitaries is in possession of a Wikipedia page. Many of them have also found their way into Shakespearean plays, historical biographies, historical fiction, romance novels and nursery rhymes.
I have never been impressed when people claim royal blood as if it is somehow a unique and important attribute. Most of the people on this planet descend from royal blood at some point in their family tree. This chart reveals connections to Longshanks via four of his children. An additonal chart reveals the descent of our family from Joan of Kent and Llywelen the Great ap Iowerth. Joan was the daughter of King John I, Lackland. Llywelen descended in a line the kings of a Welsh kingdom known as Gwynedd. There are several characters in these branches of our tree that I will ask to join me on this stage. Something about the biography of each of these characters caught my eye. The lives of the following individuals reflect the cultural, economic and social upheaval of a feudal system gone wrong. Keep in mind, we are not alone. There are a billion people on Earth who can claim these rascals as ancestors.
A note of caution: In pursuing these links (Chart 27 and 28) I found connections made by other family historians that lacked the kind of evidence I would like to see in a family tree. Often, the evidence has been exhausted by researchers who have gleaned the records over the course of centuries. Links have remained in various family trees and, over time, accepted as valid. My efforts, over the course of years, did not uncover any further evidence.
I found it relatively easy to validate every link found in my wife’s lineage to the monarchs, but not so in my own tree.
Pedigree Chart 27: Royal Lineage of a Dubious Sort (1 of 2)
| 24x | William the Conqueror m Matilda of Flanders | 23x | |||
| 23x | King Henry I m Matilda of Scotland | 22x | |||
| 22x | Matilda, Empress of the Holy Roman Empire m Geoffry de Anjou | 21x | |||
| 21x | Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine (See also Chart II) | 20x | |||
| 20x | King John I ‘Lackland’ m Isabella d’Angouleme | 19x | |||
| 19x | King Henry III m Eleanor d’Provence Berringer | 18x | |||
| 18x | King Edward I, ‘Longshanks’ & Marguerite of France | King Edward I, ‘Longshanks’ m Queen Eleanor d’Castile | King Edward I, ‘Longshanks’ & Marguerite of France | King Edward I, Longshanks m Queen Eleanor d’Castile | 17x |
| 17x | Thomas of Brotherton m Alice de Hales | Elizabeth m Humphrey de Bohun | Edmund of Woodstock m Margaret Wake
had daugther |
King Edward II m Isabella of France have son | 16x |
| 16x | Dau. Margaret of Norfolk m John de Seagrave | William de Bohun m Elizabeth Badlesmere | Joan of Kent Plantagenet m Thomas de Holland | King Edward III m Philippa de Hainault | 15x |
| 15x | Elizabeth Seagrave m John Mowbray | Elizabeth de Bohun m Richard Fitzalan | Son, Thomas Holland m Alice Fitzalan | John of Gaunt m Katherine d’Roet | 14x |
| 14x | Thomas Mowbray m Elizabeth Fitzalan | Eleanor Holland m Roger Mortimer | Joan Beaufort m Ralph de Neville | 13x | |
| 13x | Margaret Mowbray m Robert Howard
(The Howard lineage descends to Catherine Howard, wife of Henry VIII) |
Anne Mortimer m Richard Conisburgh | It took this lineage one less generation to reach the marriage of Cecily 12x | ||
| 12x | John Howard m Katherine Moleyns | Richard Conisburgh III m Cecily Neville | 12x | ||
| 11x | Thomas Howard m Agnes Tilney | Dau, Elizabeth of York m John de la Pole | 11x | ||
| 10x | William Howard m Margaret Gamage | Humphrey de la Pole m Alice Quarles | 10x | ||
| 9x | Margaret Howard m Richard Hynson | Agatha Pole m Richard Newman | 9x | ||
| 8x | William Hynson m Elizabeth Norwich | Robert Newman m Elizabeth King | 8x | ||
| 7x | Thomas Hynson m Ann Letchworth | Jane Newman m William Presly | 7x | ||
| 6x | Thomas Hynson m Grace | Peter Presly m Elizabeth Thompson | 6x | ||
| 5x | John Hynson m Rachel | Elizabeth Presly m John Taylor | 5x | ||
| 4x | Elizabeth Hinson m Thomas Rogers | Elizabeth P Taylor m James Smith | 4x | ||
| 3x | Rowland Rogers m Rachel Oldham | Peter Smith m Jemima Simpson | 3x | ||
| 2x | William Rogers m Rebecca Davis* | George R Smith m Lydia Tate | 2x | ||
| GGP | Lydia Rogers m Davis Stilley | Peter Smith m Matilda Montgomery | GGP | ||
| GP | Jane Stilley m James Monroe Smith | James Monroe Smith m Jane Stilley | GP | ||
| P | Lebanon F Smith m Mary Hughes | Lebanon F Smith m Mary Hughes | P | ||
| James D Smith m Doris Weiherman | James D Smith m Doris Weiherman | ||||
Pedigree Chart 28: Royal Lineage (2 of 2)
– This chart reflects a descent from Lackland, Joan of Wales & Llywelen
| 27xGGP | William the Conqueror m Matilda of Flanders |
The 3 separate branches in the column below, each feeds into the column to the left: 1) the warrior statesman William Marshal, 2) Lionel of Antwerp whose descendants claimed the throne and 3) Celebrity author Geoffrey Chaucer. |
| 26xGGP | King Henry I m Matilda of Scotland | |
| 25xGGP | Matilda, Empress of the Holy Roman Empire m Geoffry de Anjou | |
| 24xGGP | Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine | |
| 23xGGP | King John I ‘Lackland’ & Clemence | John Marshal had son: |
| 22xGGP | Joan of Wales m Llywelyn the Great | William Marshall m Isabel de Clare had: |
| 21xGGP | Gwladus m Ralph de Mortimer | Daughter: Eva Marshall m William de Braose |
| 20xGGP | Roger de Mortimer m Maud de Brarose | Had: Daughter Maud de Braose 20xGGP |
| 19xGGP | Edmund de Mortimer m Margaret Fiennes | |
| 18xGGP | Roger de Mortimer m Joan de Geneville | |
| 17xGGP | Edmund de Mortimer m Elizabeth Baldesmere | King Edward III m Philippa de Hainault and had: |
| 16xGGP | Roger de Mortimer m Philippa Montacute | Son, Lionel of Antwerp m Elizabeth de Burgh |
| 15xGGP | Edmund Mortimer m Philippa de Clarence | Had daughter: Philippa de Clarence: 15xGGP |
| 14xGGP | Roger de Mortimer m Eleanor Holland | Geoffrey Chaucer m Philippa Roet had: |
| 13xGGP | Anne Mortimer m Richard Conisberg | Son: Thomas Chaucer m Matilda Burghersh |
| 12xGGP | Richard Conisberg III m Cecily Neville | Had: Alice Chaucer m William de la Pole and |
| 11xGGP | dau Elizabeth of York m John de la Pole | Had son, John de la Pole: 11xGGP |
| 10GGP | Humphrey de la Pole m Alice Quarles |
This Chart 29 picks up the descent of Anne Mortimer (13xGGP) also found on Chart 28. Her lineage presented a strong case for the House of York in their bid against the House of Lancaster for control of the Crown and rule of Britain. The clash is remembered as the Wars of the Roses. Anne descended from King Edward I by way of her mother and King Edward III through her grandparents Edmund Mortimer and Philippa de Clarence. Her line also descended from King John I and his daughter Joan of Wales (29xGGP). Anne’s grandson, King Richard III, did rule Britain for two years. He is the same King Richard III whose corpse was recently discovered lying underneath a parking lot at Greyfriars Church in Leicester, England after being killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field and given a hasty burial by his fleeing troops.
|
| 9xGGP | Agatha Pole m Richard Newman | |
| 8xGGP | Robert Newman m Elizabeth King | |
| 7xGGP | Jane Newman m William Presly | |
| 6xGGP | Peter Presly m Elizabeth Thompson | |
| 5xGGP | Elizabeth Presly m John Taylor | |
| 4xGGP | Elizabeth Presly Taylor m James Smith | |
| 3xGGP | Peter Smith m Jemima Simpson | |
| 2xGGP | George R Smith m Lydia Tate | |
| GGP | Peter Smith of Posey m Matilda Montgomery | |
| GP | James Monroe Smith m Jane Stilley | |
| P | Lebanon F Smith m Mary Hughes | |
| James D Smith m Doris Weiherman |
A note regarding the previous charts: The position of William the Conqueror in my father’s family tree is always contingent upon which branch one is researching. In Chart 28, William is a 23xGGF if tracing the lineage to father via King Edward III and his son John of Gaunt through the Presly/Smith line. Also, in Chart 28, the Conqueror is a 24xGGF if researching any of the other three children of Longshanks in our tree. Those children being Thomas, Elizabeth and Edmund. In Chart 29 the Conqueror arrives at father’s doorstep as a 27xGGF. The difference is accounted for by the age at which children married and initiated the birth of another generation in Chart 28.
And now for a few snapshots of folks in this tree:
Eleanor of Aquitane: (1124- 1204)
A 20, 21 or 24x GGP depending on the descent (tree branch)
Eleanor was one of the most powerful and wealthiest of people in western Europe, a patron of the arts. She led armies several times in her life and was a leader of the Second Crusade. She married King Louis VII of France, and soon afterwards sought an annulment of her marriage. She married King Henry II of England in 1154. Henry was 11 years younger. She was a cougar! He was a pistol. She bore eight children: five sons, three of whom became kings; and three daughters. However, Henry and Eleanor eventually became estranged as they wrestled for control of England and Aquitane. Henry imprisoned Eleanor in 1173 for supporting their son Henry’s revolt against him. ‘Free Eleanor’ T-shirts would have been all the rage if only someone had invented printing presses a tad bit sooner in history. She was not released until July 6, 1189, when Henry died and their second son, Richard the Lionheart, ascended the throne. The movie A Lion in Winter really captures the character of Eleanor and Henry and the love/hate relationship that propelled them through the Dordogne River Valley of France where their castles still stand.
The Demise of King Edward II
King Edward II (1284-1327) was my father’s 16x great grandfather (See right hand column in Chart 28). He took his place as King of England in 1307 at the age of 23. He was born at Caenarfon Castle in Wales and knighted as the first Prince of Wales. In 1301 he married Isabella, the daughter of Philip IV, King of France. Isabella was my father’s 16x great grandmother. Her father, the King of France, was my father’s 17x great grandfather. Isabella and Edward had two sons and two daughters. The son would gain fame as my father’s 15xGGF.
Edward’s twenty-year reign as King was a tumultuous time in England. His alleged affair with a gentleman, Pere Gaveston, caused great stress in the Kingdom, and his failures as a military leader cost England control of Scotland. He was despised by his chief rival and cousin, Thomas, the Second Earl of Lancaster, who had a legitimate claim to the throne. Edward’s wife, Isabella, turned on Edward as she tired of watching him cavort with Gaveston. She returned to her father’s home in France and plotted her next move.
Isabella was soon engaged in a heated romance with another of my father’s 18xGGF, Roger de Mortimer (1287-1330). Mortimer had escaped England as a foe of the King and was living in exile in Paris. He was eager to raise an army and drive Edward II from the throne. Isabella contacted other monarchs in Europe and found support among the enemies of Edward. An army was gathered, a navy provided, and an invasion organized. The attack was successful, Edward II was dethroned, and Isabella had her husband Edward dragged off to prison where he was executed. Isabella arranged to have her son, Edward III, anointed King. Edward III was but seven years of age, so mother and her boyfriend, Mortimer, ran the country for less than a decade, waiting for Eddie to grow up. Edward III was my father’s 15xGGF.
Things didn’t end well for Mortimer. When Edward III was old enough to raise a sword and support an army, he seized power and had Mortimer executed. Edward III was 14 years old. Many children his age were fishing for eels and popping zits. He was arranging for the removal of his mother’s boyfriend from the castle. I suspect Edward III was being coached by adults, each of whom had something to gain from Roger Mortimer’s death.
Humphrey de Bohun (1276-1322)
See Chart 28, 17xGGP
The 4th Earl of Hereford was one of several earls and barons under Edward I and took part in many campaigns in Scotland. He loved the jousting tournaments and gained a reputation as an “elegant” fop. In his youth he was a close friend of Pere Gaveston and Edward (the future King Edward II). He was associated with Robert the Bruce, a great grandparent in my wife’s tree,
during the early campaigns in Scotland, since Bruce, like many other Scots and Border men, moved back and forth from English allegiance to Scottish. Robert the Bruce failed in his first attempts to defeat Edward I, Longshanks, and his properties in England and Scotland were confiscated and presented to his friend and foe, Humphrey de Bohun.
Humphrey was captured by the Scots following the English defeat at the hands of Robert the Bruce at the Battle of Bannockburn. King Edward II (Humphrey’s brother in law) agreed to swap hostages with Robert the Bruce. Robert would give Edward, Humphrey de Bohun, if Edward would give Robert back his own wife, Elizabeth de Burgh and his daughter, Marjorie Bruce.
Humphrey, who had been loyal to Edward I, soon found himself appalled by the excesses of King Edward II and joined with many other barons and Marcher Lords in opposition to the new King of England. His rebel forces were halted by loyalist troops at the wooden bridge at Boroughbridge, Yorkshire, where Humphrey de Bohun, leading an attempt to storm the bridge, met his death in March 1322.
Although the details have been called into question by a few historians, his death may have been particularly gory and can be found online. As recounted by Ian Mortimer:
“The 4th Earl of Hereford led the fight on the bridge, but he and his men were caught in the arrow fire. Then one of de Harclay’s pikemen, concealed beneath the bridge, thrust upwards between the planks and skewered the Earl of Hereford through the anus, twisting the head of the iron pike into his intestines. His dying screams turned the advance into a panic.”‘
Humphrey’s son William was the second husband of Elizabeth de Badlesmere.
Elizabeth de Badlesmere (1313-1356)
The Countess of Northampton (Elizabeth) was the wife of two equally important noblemen, Sir Edmund Mortimer and William de Bohun. See Chart 1 of 2, second column 16xGGP and Chart 2 of 2: 17xGGP. Elizabeth was married at the age of three (3) to Edmund Mortimer. That caught my eye, married at the age of three! WOW. Edmund was the son of Roger de Mortimer (1287-1330) and Joan de Geneville. The same Roger Mortimer who joined Queen Isabella in ridding the island of King Edward II. Edmund was all of fourteen years old on his wedding day. The marriage was arranged and done for business reasons. The married couple lived apart for 12 years. The marriage was consummated when Elizabeth was 14 or 15 years of age and she gave birth to their son Roger, who was born in Ludlow Castle in Shropshire, England. I have been there. It appears to be a great castle, but it was closed for a festival and I was forced to lay siege to the place and threatened to pee on the exterior wall just to get into the bathrooms.
At the age of eight Elizabeth de Badlesmere accompanied her mother, Margaret de Clare, to the Tower of London, where they and four of Elizabeth’s siblings were imprisoned. Unlike many innocent victims sent to the Tower, Margaret de Clare had earned her accommodations there. Her crime was not petty. In fact, her behavior had been bizarre. She had ordered a physical attack on the popular Queen, Isabella of France, the wife of King Edward II. While Edward II was increasingly despised, Isabella remained popular. Isabella had not yet fled to France, nor had she found comfort in the arms of Roger de Mortimer (b. 1287), at least not that history reveals. Margaret de Clare’s conduct was her family’s undoing.
Queen Isabella was the owner of the Leeds Castle in which Margaret de Clare was living. Margaret refused to allow Queen Isabella passage through the front gate. When Isabella insisted, Margaret ordered her archers to reign down a volley of arrows on the visitors to make the point that Isabella was not welcome. Isabella survived the scare but when King Edward received word of what had happened to his wife at Leeds, he was not happy. He ordered a siege of the castle and implemented the use of ballistas to knock holes in the wall and terrorize the occupants. Faced with the choice: Surrender or spend years repairing drywall, Margaret chose to surrender. She was hustled off to prison with her youngsters in tow. Thirteen of Margaret’s posse were immediately hung from the walls of the castle to remind the good citizens of the need to ‘Respect the Queen.’
The loss of the use of the castle was not the only loss suffered by the Badlesmere family in 1321. Husband and father, Bartholomew de Badlesmere was among the nobility (Lancastrians) opposed to the rule of Edward II and Pere Gaveston. Bart was captured by the King’s forces, tried, convicted, drawn, hanged, beheaded, quartered and his corpse left to hang from a tree in his front yard in Blean. His head was posted on Burgh Gate in Canterbury with other men identified as traitors to the King. Their heads and Bart’s body were left in place for two years as a reminder to the good citizens that they should ‘Respect the King.’ The events triggered the Despenser War in the Welsh Marches (1321).
Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)
The father of English literature is popular to this day as the author of The Canterbury Tales. Prior to Chaucer all the great literary works published in Britain were written in either French or Latin. His bawdy stories and rhymes were popular with the public and he created a niche for himself in the market place.
As a young boy, Geoffrey began working as a page in the home of Elizabeth de Burgh, my father’s 14xGGM. He was soon taken under the wing of Elizabeth’s husband, Lionel of Antwerp (14x GGF), son of King Edward III, my father’s 15xGGF. But here’s the surprise: Chaucer, one of my favorite authors of all time, was also my father’s 14x GGF. You will find Chaucer hiding in one of the several pedigree charts provided (See Chart 2 of 2). His great grandson, John de la Pole married Elizabeth of York, from whom the Newman, Preslys, Taylors and Smiths all descend.
Llywelyn the Great ap Iorwerth (1173-1240)
My father’s 22x GGF (See Chart 2 of 2)
I have been to Caernarfon Castle and I stood on the ramparts staring out into the Irish Sea. I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to turn back the hands of time and pledge allegiance to the iconic hero of all of Wales. The castle, open to the public today, wasn’t there when Llywelyn ruled the land of Gwynedd. There was a motte-and-bailey castle in the town of Caernarfon from the late 11th century until 1283 when (King Edward I of England (17x GGF) began replacing it with the current stone structure. The history of Caernarfon Castles dates to the days of the Roman Empire.
Llywelyn’s life, from age 12 onto his death at age 67 was a history of constant struggle and warfare. He came to power in the classic way of Welsh princes – he seized it from his uncles; the very uncles who had shunted their brother, Llywelyn’s father, to one side as they divided Wales among themselves at the time of their father’s death. Llywelyn proved to be the greatest and most constructive Welsh statesman of the Middle Ages. His success required constant warfare, tact under pressure and resilience. He clearly had a vision of organizing a united, Kingdom of Wales, modeled after the Kingdom of Scotland. He sought to unite the north and south of Wales and to have it stand independent of and equal to England and Scotland on the British Isle. His efforts were always thwarted by two forces, neither of which he was able to overcome: the English kings (John I and Henry II) and the princes of Wales who resisted his efforts to unite the various principalities of the Welsh countryside.
In his lifelong effort Llywelyn warred against other clans found in our family tree. He seized Montgomery Castle and Whittington Castle at one point and sacked Shrewsbury in Shropshire. It was all an attempt to secure an eastern front for the Kingdom of Wales he envisioned. It was an era made famous by the Wars of the Marcher Lords and characters like Fulk Fitz Warin (aka Robin Hood) and William Marshal whose own grabs for power and domain brought them into conflict with Llywelyn. They were also double-digit great grandparents.
When he died in 1240 Llywelyn left a principality which held the promise of expanding into a nation state of Wales. There was a moment when an independent Wales seemed possible. The 19th Century historian, John Edward Lloyd, wrote of Llwelyn:
“Among the chieftains who battled against the Anglo-Norman power his place will always be high, if not indeed the highest of all, for no man ever made better or more judicious use of the native force of the Welsh people for adequate national ends; his patriotic statesmanship will always entitle him to wear the proud style of Llywelyn the Great.”
But as great his accomplishments may have been, he was a bit of the Fran Tarkenton, Jim Kelly or Dan Marino of his day. He played in the Super Bowls but never won one. He failed to accomplish his three major ambitions: 1) permanent hegemony, 2) recognition by the king, and 3) a successful transfer of power to his son. In fairness to Llywelyn, he was David taking on Goliath. But the Biblical David’s success came with one well-placed shot on one afternoon and ‘Voila,’ his legend lives forever. Llwelyn rose from his sleep every day from age 12 onward and battled the giant England. That alone is testimony to his character. He just never got in that one good shot that finished off England.
William Marshal (1146-1219)
My father’s 22x GGF (See Chart 2 of 2)
The story of William Marshal begins with testimony to his stature provided by no less a scholar than Stephen Langton (1150-1228). Langton was the man who invented the Chapters of the Holy Bible. The verses of the Bible had previously existed on parchment scrolls, similar to the Dead Sea Scrolls. Paragraphs of verses would come to an end and lead to another segment of verses with little more than a few blank lines separating one collection of verse from the next. Langton viewed this as a problem and designed a Bible with Chapter headings. For the past few centuries preachers have been implementing the Langton system, asking parishioners to follow along as they read from John, Chapter 3, verse 16. That chapter thing was Langton’s gift to the world. That, and the Magna Charta.
Langton was a Catholic priest who was elevated to the position of Cardinal by the Pope, in defiance of the wish of King John I (Lackland) of England. The Pope’s support of Langton and King John’s objection created the straw that broke the camel’s (King John’s) back in 1215 and forced the signing of the Magna Charta. That’s where William Marshal steps onto center stage.
It was Langton who identified William Marshal as “The best knight that ever lived.” That quote sounds like a Twentieth Century sound bite, not 13th Century, but there you have it. William, according to Langton, was the greatest knight ever. But what made him great? In the eulogy Langton offered at the time of Marshal’s death, I am sure he touched on some of William’s finer points:
- Chief advisor to five kings,
- Loyal to King John I when everyone else bailed on the guy,
- Diplomat to foreign powers
- Cerebral General and successful in battle
- Fierce warrior in armed combat
- Looked good in plaid
William was one of the few English earls to remain loyal to King John I 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. John was one of five kings that Marshal had faithfully served: Henry II, his sons the “Young King” Henry, Richard I, and John, and John’s son Henry III.
William’s career as a soldier, statesman, advisor to the kings and all-round good guy, began as an understudy to his father, the equally respected John Marshal. John was born a FitzGilbert and acquired the surname ‘Marshal’ because of his role as the chief enforcer for King Henry I. When Henry died John Marshal and all of England was thrown into turmoil for a period of two decades (1135-1153) known simply as ‘The Anarchy.’ The rival forces of King Stephen and those of his cousin Matilda, the Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, engaged in a civil war that destroyed England.
When King Stephen besieged Newbury Castle in 1152, he used the young William as a hostage to ensure that John Marshal would surrender the castle. John, however, used the time allotted to reinforce the castle and to alert Matilda’s forces. When Stephen ordered John to surrender immediately or son William Marshal would be hanged, John Marshal replied that he should go ahead with the hanging saying, “I still have the hammer and the anvil with which to forge still more and better sons!” Stephen then threatened John Marshal with a more horrifying spectacle: He would launch William from a trebuchet towards the castle.
In the end, Stephen could not bring himself to harm young William. He spared the child and William’s dream of flying lived to see another day. It would be another 800 years before the Wright brothers would invent an airplane, but William’s career would soar. He fought in battles in Normandy, served Eleanor of Aquitane in the courts of France, led a Crusade in the Holy Land, claimed victory over 500 different knights in tournament battles and negotiated terms of agreement in everything from property disputes to peace treaties. William Marshal is one of the many iconic ancestors found in our family tree as many times great grandparents. People who like to stalk William Marshal claim that he appears in more than 25 romance novels, historical fictions, plays, documentaries, television productions, poems, ballads and as a major secondary character in the 2018 video game Vampyr. I don’t think he saw that coming when he was lying on his death bed and bequeathing large amounts of his wealth to the Knights Templar.
In summation: I could go on. I haven’t even touched on several of the most fascinating women in history:Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd the Welsh warrior princess of the 12th century and Ann Boleyn and Catherine Howard. Check out the Pedigree Charts provided, find a name, conduct a little research of your own and learn more about the folks that got us here today. See if you can locate Ann Boleyn by simply using Wikipedia and what you have learned in this chapter.
Good Luck!
