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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 to the "Marshall" title, 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 in 1135 with no male heir (his legitimate son & heir: William (Normandie) of England (1103-1120), had been lost at sea in 1120). King Henry I's nephew, Stephen (Blois) of England (ca.1092-1154), seized the throne, opposed by his cousin, Henry I's legitimate daughter Empress (of the Holy Roman Empire by marriage), Matilda (Normandie) of England (1102-1167), fighting for her son's (Henry I's grandson) rights. Ultimately Matilda's son; Henry Plantagenet (1133-1189), became King Henry II in 1164. The Anglo-Norman nobility nearly wrecked the country in a lengthy 29-year 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]
"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.
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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John is 33 degrees from Herbert Adair, 26 degrees from Richard Adams, 28 degrees from Mel Blanc, 30 degrees from Dick Bruna, 28 degrees from Bunny DeBarge, 38 degrees from Peter Dinklage, 26 degrees from Sam Edwards, 27 degrees from Ginnifer Goodwin, 28 degrees from Marty Krofft, 24 degrees from Junius Matthews, 25 degrees from Rachel Mellon and 28 degrees from Harold Warstler on our single family tree. Login to find your connection.
M > Marshal | F > FitzGilbert > John (Marshal) FitzGilbert
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I found the above Essay series (Copyright © 1999 by Catherine Armstrong), appears to be very well researched and presented. Catherine appears to have accessed the correct documents to support her contention. In the absence of other reliable information, I would be looking at what she has to say about Gilbert, John and William Marshall (3 separate essays).
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=123363224