Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke


Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke was an English peer. He also held the titles of Lord of Striguil and Lord of Leinster.

Life and family

Walter was born in 1196, the fourth son and one of the ten children of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke. His mother was one of the wealthiest heiresses in the kingdom when she married Walter's father.
Upon William Marshal's death in 1219, the earldom passed in succession to Walter's three elder brothers, William, Richard, and Gilbert, all of whom died childless. The latter was killed at a tournament on 27 June 1241 when his horse threw him and his foot caught in the stirrups. He was dragged for some distance and died of his injuries. Walter was present at the tournament, therefore had witnessed his brother's death.
As Gilbert had just one illegitimate daughter Isabel by an unknown mistress, Walter became the next earl of Pembroke. He did not succeed to his titles until 1242 due to King Henry III's anger towards Walter for having disobeyed royal orders which had forbidden tournaments on the grounds that he did not want any of his subjects killing one another in sport. Walter who had attended the tournament which had killed Gilbert shared in his brother's guilt, so had to wait a year before he was invested with the earldom and hereditary post of Earl Marshal. That same year he accompanied King Henry to Gascony.
On 6 January 1242 Walter married the wealthy widow Margaret de Quincy, Countess of Lincoln. Margaret did not bear Walter any children, and when he died suddenly at Goodrich Castle on 24 November 1245, the earldom passed to his younger brother, Anselm Marshal, 6th Earl of Pembroke, who followed him to the grave a month later. Like his four elder brothers, Anselm was also childless.
Walter's widow, Margaret received a dower third from the Pembroke earldom and lordships, and as such she controlled most of the extensive Pembroke estates as her third outweighed the individual holdings of the 13 different co-heirs of his five sisters.
Walter Marshal was buried at Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire.