Matilda/Maud Marshal

Lady Maud Marshal was born at Pembroke Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales in 1192. She died 1247/48. She was the daughter of William Marshal and Isabel De Clare

The Bigod earls, say that “Her career as a wife and mother had shaped the destinies of two of the greatest families in England (and, incidentally, the two greatest families in East Anglia). When her funeral held at Tintern Abbey in Monmouthshire, her eldest son, Roger was naturally present among the mourners. Also in attendance were his younger brothers, Hugh and Ralph, along with Maud's son by her second marriage the teen aged John de Warenne. Together the four of them acted as pallbearers that day, carrying their mother's body through the great abbey church and into the choir, where Maud was finally laid to rest.”


Magna Charta Barons, says that Maud inherited Hempstead-Marshall, in Berks, and the office of Marshal of England, which her son, Roger Bigod, fourth Earl of Norfolk inherited. Maud married Hugh Bigod, and had sons Roger,Hugh and Ralph Bigod. An article printed by the British Archaeological Association, names a few more sons by Hugh Bigod, John and Simon. Blood royal, says that they married before Lent 1207. Some sources say that they also had a daughter Isabel, who married Gilbert de Lacy and John FitzGeoffrey.

Hugh Bigod
Hugh was one of the Magna Charta Sureties. He inherited fro his father in 1221 and became the 3rd Earl of Norfolk.The Bigod Earls, states that at the time of his death (1225), Hugh Bigod held some twenty-three manors, all of which lay in East Anglia. Ten were in Norfolk (Acle, Ditchingham, Earsham (with its half-hundred), Forncett, Framingham Earl, Halvergate, Hanworth, Lopham, Suffield and South Walsham), and a further eleven lay in Suffolk (Bungay, Dunningworth, Earl Soham, Earl Stonham, Framlingham, Hacheston, Hollesley, Hoo, Kelsale, Staverton and Walton). He also held manors at Dovercourt and Great Chesterford in Essex and some woodland at Romsford in Essex.

When he died Maud got 1/3 as her dower share and her son Roger inherited 2/3 until she died.

She remarried to William, Earl of Warren, son of Hamelin Plantagenet, Earl of Warren; her first husband's uncle. William Warenne , Earl of Surrey (1166-1240), was the son of Isabel Warenne and Hamelin Plantagenet. After this remarriage, she styled herself Marshal of England, Countess of Norfolk and Warenne.

William was also known as William Plantagenet. As previously stated, his father was Hamelin Plantagenet. His mother was Isabel De Warenne, daugher ot William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey.

He received the manor of Appleby, in North Lincolnshire from his father.

He had possessions in Normandy when England lost Normandy to the French in the year 1204. King John gave him Grantham and Stamford to compensate his Norman losses.

In 1204 he became Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and served in this position until 1206. He was a Warden of Welch marches between 1208-1213.

During the time that King John was having trouble with the barons, and when they tried to have the French king placed on his throne, William remained loyal. He advised the king to sign the Magna Charta. When King Henry III took the throne in 1217, William was also loyal to him.

He served two tenures as Sheriff of Wiltshire; 1200-1208 and 1213-1226.

In 1214 he served again as Lord Warde of the Cinque Ports.

When he married Maud, he became Earl of Salisbury, in right of his wife. They had a son John, who succeeded him and a daughter named Isabel, who married Hugh d'Aubigny.

William De Warenne died in 27 May 1240 and was buried at Lewes Priory.At the time of his death, his son John was a minor and was placed under the guardianship of Peter of Savoy.

The history of an East Anglian soke says that Maud was given a grant of William's lands in Norfold and Yorkshire, “to hold at farm at the following rents to the Exchequeer:---Manor of Gimingeham, L94 4s. 4D; of Acre, L41 12s 6d; of Marham, L4 12s 8 ½d; of Tefford (Thetford), L30 13s 4d; of Wakefield and Cuniburgh, L244 15s 8d, according to their extent and L100 yearly for increment.

During her lifetime she gave clothing to the nuns at Thetford and three marks a year out of her mill, near the village of Cesterford in pure and perpetual alms.

Maud next married Walter de Dunstanville, 2nd baron of Castle Combe. He was the son of Walter de Dunstanville, 1st baron of Castle Combe, by his wife Ursula, also surnamed Dunstanville. They had sons, Walter, John and Robert de Dunstanville.




The Magna charta barons and their American descendants with the pedigrees of ...‎ - Page 76
by Charles Henry Browning - 1898

The Bigod earls of Norfolk in the thirteenth century‎ - Page 31
by Marc Morris - 2005

The journal of the British Archaeological Association‎ - Page 100
by British Archaeological Association - 1865

Blood royal: issue of the kings and queens of medieval England, 1066-1399 ...‎ - Page 373
by Thelma Anna Leese - 1996

Complete peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United ...‎ - Page 327
by George Edward Cokayne - 1896

The history of an East Anglian soke: studies in original documents ...‎ - Page 19
by Christobel Mary Hoare Hood - 1918

Yorkshire: An historical and topographical introduction to a knowledge of ...‎ - Page 169
by John Wainwright - 1829