The History of William Marshal was commissioned by his son shortly after William’s death in 1219 to celebrate the Marshal’s remarkable life; it is an authentic, contemporary voice. The manuscript was discovered in 1861 by French historian Paul Meyer. Meyer published the manuscript in its original Anglo-French in 1891 in two books. This book is a line by line translation of the first of Meyer’s books; lines 1-10152. Book 1 of the History begins in 1139 and ends in 1194. It describes the events of the Anarchy, the role of William’s father John, John’s marriages, William’s childhood, his role as a hostage at the siege of Newbury, his injury and imprisonment in Poitou where he met Eleanor of Aquitaine and his life as a knight errant. It continues with the accusation against him of an improper relationship with Margaret, wife of Henry the Young King, his exile, and return, the death of Henry the Young King, the rebellion of Richard, the future King Richard I, war with France, the death of King Henry II, and the capture of King Richard, and the rebellion of John, the future King John. It ends with the release of King Richard and the death of John Marshal.
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Maternal Family Tree: Ermesinde of Carcassonne 975-1058
Roger de Breteuil Fitzosbern 2nd Earl Hereford was born to William Fitzosbern 1st Earl Hereford and Adelise Tosny Countess Hereford.
On 14th October 1066 the Norman army led by King William "Conqueror" I of England [aged 38] defeated the English army of King Harold II of England [aged 44] at the 14th October 1066 Battle of Hastings fought at Senlac Hill Hastings. Aimery Thouars [aged 42], [his future brother-in-law] Ralph de Gael 2nd Earl East Anglia [aged 24], Eustace II Count Boulogne [aged 51], [his father] William Fitzosbern 1st Earl Hereford [aged 46], Geoffrey Chateaudun II Count Mortain III Count Perche, William Warenne 1st Earl of Surrey, [his uncle] Raoul Tosny, Robert Beaumont 1st Earl of Leicester Count Meulan [aged 26], Hugh Grandesmil [aged 34], Roger "The Great" Montgomery 1st Earl of Shrewsbury (possibly), Robert Mortain Count Mortain 1st Earl Cornwall [aged 35] and Bishop Odo of Bayeux fought for William.
King Harold II of England was killed. Earl Wessex, Earl Hereford extinct.
Leofwine Godwinson 2nd Earl Kent [aged 31] was killed. Earl Kent extinct.
His brothers Gyrth Godwinson Earl East Anglia [aged 34] and Engenulphe Aigle [aged 56] were killed.
In 1067 [his father] William Fitzosbern 1st Earl Hereford [aged 47] was created 1st Earl Hereford.
Before 1071 [his father] William Fitzosbern 1st Earl Hereford [aged 50] and [his mother] Adelise Tosny Countess Hereford were married. She by marriage Countess Hereford. She the daughter of [his grandfather] Roger "The Spaniard" Tosny and [his grandmother] Adelaide aka Godehildis Ramon.
On 20th February 1071 Battle of Cassel was fought between uncle Robert "The Frisian" I Count Flanders [aged 38] and nephew Arnulf III Count Flanders [aged 16], supported by his mother Richilde Countess Flanders and Hainault and Philip I King of the Franks [aged 18], over the succession of Flanders.
Arnulf III Count Flanders was killed. His brother Baldwin [aged 15] succeeded II Count Hainault. Robert "The Frisian" I Count Flanders was appointed I Count Flanders.
[his father] William Fitzosbern 1st Earl Hereford [aged 51] was killed. His son Roger succeeded 2nd Earl Hereford.
Eustace II Count Boulogne [aged 56] and his son Eustace Flanders III Count Boulogne fought for Robert. During the battle Robert "The Frisian" I Count Flanders and Richilde Countess Flanders and Hainault were captured, and subsequently exchanged for each other.
Flowers of History. 1075. Queen Edith [aged 49] died on the fifth of April. The same year, king William [aged 47] gave the [his sister] daughter of William, the son of Osbert, to earl Radolph [aged 33], as his wife, and gave him also the government of Norfolk and Suffolk. This Radolph was of British extraction, on his mother's side, and his father was an Englishman. He was born in Norfolk, and there he celebrated his marriage, which was the cause of destruction to many persons. At that wedding there were present earl Roger and earl Waltheof; and many bishops and abbots; and they took counsel how to expel king William from his kingdom. And this speedily became known to the king, who was in Normandy, and immediately the king returned to England, and took Waltheof, and Roger, who was his own kinsman, and threw them into prison. As to the rest who were present at the wedding, he deferred his determination.
In 1075 three Earls joined in rebellion against King William "Conqueror" I of England [aged 47]. The three Earls were: Roger de Breteuil Fitzosbern 2nd Earl Hereford, [his brother-in-law] Ralph de Gael 2nd Earl East Anglia [aged 33] and Waltheof Northumbria 1st Earl of Northampton 1st Earl Huntingdon. The ostensible cause of their rebellion was William's the marriage of [his sister] Emma Fitzosbern Countess East Anglia, daughter of [his father] William Fitzosbern 1st Earl Hereford, with Ralph de Gael 2nd Earl East Anglia. Possibly to do with she being Norman and he being British/English.
Roger de Breteuil Fitzosbern 2nd Earl Hereford forfeit Earl Hereford and was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1075. This year King William [aged 47] gave [his brother-in-law] Earl Ralph [aged 33] the [his sister] daughter of William Fitz-Osborne to wife. This same Ralph was British on his mother's side; but his father, whose name was also Ralph, was English; and born in Norfolk. The king therefore gave his son the earldom of Norfolk and Suffolk; and he then led the bride to Norwich [Map]. There was that bride-ale the source of man's bale. There was Earl Roger, and Earl Waltheof, and bishops, and abbots; who there resolved, that they would drive the king out of the realm of England. But it was soon told the king in Normandy how it was determined. It was Earl Roger and Earl Ralph who were the authors of that plot; and who enticed the Britons to them, and sent eastward to Denmark after a fleet to assist them. Roger went westward to his earldom, and collected his people there, to the king's annoyance, as he thought; but it was to the great disadvantage of himself. He was however prevented. Ralph also in his earldom would go forth with his people; but the castlemen that were in England and also the people of the land, came against him, and prevented him from doing anything. He escaped however to the ships at Norwich [Map].97 And his wife was in the castle; which she held until peace was made with her; when she went out of England, with all her men who wished to join her. The king afterwards came to England, and seized Earl Roger, his relative, and put him in prison. And Earl Waltheof went over sea, and bewrayed himself; but he asked forgiveness, and proffered gifts of ransom. The king, however, let him off lightly, until he98 came to England; when he had him seized. Soon after that came east from Denmark two hundred ships; wherein were two captains, Cnute Swainson, and Earl Hacco; but they durst not maintain a fight with King William. They went rather to York, and broke into St. Peter's minster, and took therein much treasure, and so went away. They made for Flanders over sea; but they all perished who were privy to that design; that was, the son of Earl Hacco, and many others with him.
Note 97. Whence he sailed to Bretagne, according to Flor. S. Dunelm, etc.; but according to Henry of Huntingdon he fled directly to Denmark, returning afterwards with Cnute and Hacco, who invaded England With a fleet of 200 sail.
Note 98. i.e. Earl Waltheof.
In 1075 [his brother-in-law] Ralph de Gael 2nd Earl East Anglia [aged 33] and [his sister] Emma Fitzosbern Countess East Anglia were married at Exning. She the daughter of [his father] William Fitzosbern 1st Earl Hereford and [his mother] Adelise Tosny Countess Hereford. He the son of Ralph "Staller" Gael 1st Earl East Anglia.
After 1087 Roger de Breteuil Fitzosbern 2nd Earl Hereford died.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1088. In this year was this land much stirred, and filled with great treachery; so that the richest Frenchmen that were in this land would betray their lord the king, and would have his brother Robert king, who was earl in Normandy. In this design was engaged first Bishop Odo, and Bishop Gosfrith, and William, Bishop of Durham. So well did the king by the bishop [Odo] that all England fared according to his counsel, and as he would. And the bishop thought to do by him as Judas Iscariot did by our Lord. And Earl Roger was also of this faction; and much people was with him all Frenchmen. This conspiracy was formed in Lent. As soon as Easter came, then went they forth, and harrowed, and burned, and wasted the king's [aged 32] farms; and they despoiled the lands of all the men that were in the king's service. And they each of them went to his castle, and manned it, and provisioned it as well as they could. Bishop Gosfrith, and Robert the peace-breaker, went to Bristol, and plundered it, and brought the spoil to the castle. Afterwards they went out of the castle, and plundered Bath, and all the land thereabout; and all the honor112 of Berkeley they laid waste. And the men that eldest were of Hereford, and all the shire forthwith, and the men of Shropshire, with much people of Wales, came and plundered and burned in Worcestershire, until they came to the city itself, which it was their design to set on fire, and then to rifle the minster, and win the king's castle to their hands. The worthy Bishop Wulfstan, seeing these things, was much agitated in his mind, because to him was betaken the custody of the castle. Nevertheless his hired men went out of the castle with few attendants, and, through God's mercy and the bishop's merits, slew or took five hundred men, and put all the others to flight. The Bishop of Durham did all the harm that he could over all by the north. Roger was the name of one of them;113 who leaped into the castle at Norwich, and did yet the worst of all over all that land. Hugh also was one, who did nothing better either in Leicestershire or in Northamptonshire. The Bishop Odo being one, though of the same family from which the king himself was descended, went into Kent to his earldom, and greatly despoiled it; and having laid waste the lands of the king and of the archbishop withal, he brought the booty into his castle at Rochester. When the king understood all these things, and what treachery they were employing against him, then was he in his mind much agitated. He then sent after Englishmen, described to them his need, earnestly requested their support, and promised them the best laws that ever before were in this land; each unright guild he forbade, and restored to the men their woods and chaces. But it stood no while. The Englishmen however went to the assistance of the king their lord. They advanced toward Rochester, with a view to get possession of the Bishop Odo; for they thought, if they had him who was at first the head of the conspiracy, they might the better get possession of all the others. They came then to the castle at Tunbridge; and there were in the castle the knights of Bishop Odo, and many others who were resolved to hold it against the king. But the Englishmen advanced, and broke into the castle, and the men that were therein agreed with the king. The king with his army went toward Rochester. And they supposed that the bishop was therein; but it was made known to the king that the bishop was gone to the castle at Pevensea. And the king with his army went after, and beset the castle about with a very large force full six weeks. During this time the Earl of Normandy, Robert, the king's brother, gathered a very considerable force, and thought to win England with the support of those men that were in this land against the king. And he sent some of his men to this land, intending to come himself after. But the Englishmen that guarded the sea lighted upon some of the men, and slew them, and drowned more than any man could tell. When provisions afterwards failed those within the castle, they earnestly besought peace, and gave themselves up to the king; and the bishop swore that he would depart out of England, and no more come on this land, unless the king sent after him, and that he would give up the castle at Rochester. Just as the bishop was going with an intention to give up the castle, and the king had sent his men with him, then arose the men that were in the castle, and took the bishop and the king's men, and put them into prison. In the castle were some very good knights; Eustace the Young, and the three sons of Earl Roger, and all the best born men that were in this land or in Normandy. When the king understood this thing, then went he after with the army that he had there, and sent over all England. and bade that each man that was faithful should come to him, French and English, from sea-port and from upland. Then came to him much people; and he went to Rochester, and beset the castle, until they that were therein agreed, and gave up the castle. The Bishop Odo with the men that were in the castle went over sea, and the bishop thus abandoned the dignity that he had in this land. The king afterwards sent an army to Durham, and allowed it to beset the castle, and the bishop agreed, and gave up the castle, and relinquished his bishopric, and went to Normandy. Many Frenchmen also abandoned their lands, and went over sea; and the king gave their lands to the men that were faithful to him.
Note 112. i.e. jurisdiction. We have adopted the modern title of the district; but the Saxon term occurs in many of the ancient evidences of Berkeley Castle.
Note 113. i.e. of the conspirators.
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 1102. In this year at the Nativity was the king Henry [aged 34] at Westminster, and at Easter in Winchester, Hampshire [Map]. And soon thereafter arose a dissention between the king and the Earl Robert of Belesme [aged 46], who held in this land the earldom of Shrewsbury, that his father, Earl Roger, had before, and much territory therewith both on this side and beyond the sea. And the king went and beset the castle at Arundel [Map]; but when he could not easily win it, he allowed men to make castles before it, and filled them with his men; and afterwards with all his army he went to Bridgenorth, and there continued until he had the castle [Map], and deprived the Earl Robert [aged 51] of his land, and stripped him of all that he had in England. And the earl accordingly went over sea, and the army afterwards returned home. Then was the king thereafter by Michaelmas at Westminster; and all the principal men in this land, clerk, and laity.
History of the Dukes of Normandy by William of Jumieges. Afterward, in opposition to the castle of Tillières, which the king had formerly taken from him, the duke built another stronghold no less formidable, which to this day is called Bréteuil, and he entrusted it to William, the son of Osbern, to guard against all who might oppose him. This William was a noble and generous man, and he had in marriage Adeline, the daughter of Roger of Tosny, by whom he fathered two sons, William and Roger1, named "the Defiant", and one daughter2, who later married Ralph, a count of Breton lineage, and journeyed with him to Jerusalem in the days of Pope Urban. This eminent man founded two monasteries of monks in honour of Saint Mary, Queen of Heaven: one at Lyre, where he buried his wife Adeline, and the other at Cormeilles, where he himself rests, and where his son Ralph, who from boyhood had become a monk, long served God. He also, together with Duke William, most strongly subdued the English, and by his wisdom and force held the county of Hereford with a great part of the kingdom.
Postea dux contra Tegulense castrum, quod rex illi dudum abstulerat, aliud oppidum non deterius, quod Bretolium usque hodie vocatur, instaurat, et Willelmo Osberni filio ad custodiendum contra cunctos sibi adversantes commendat. Hic legitimus et liberalis vir Adelisam Rogerii Toenit æ filiam in conjugio habuit, ex qua duos filios, Willelmum et Rogerium Contumacem procreavit et unam filiam, quæ postea Rodulfo comiti genere Britoni nupsit, atque cum codem in diebus Urbani papæ Hierusalem perrexit. Præfatus heros duo coenobia monachorum Sanctæ Mariæ cœli reginæ condidit. Unum apud Liram, ubi Adelisam conjugem suam sepelivit; et alterum apud Cormelias, ubi ipse quiescit et Rodulphus filius ejus a pueritia monachus Deo diu militavit. Ipse quoque cum Willelmo duce Anglos maxime perdomuit et comitatum Herfordiæ cum magna parte regni sensu et viribus obtinuit.
Note 1. Roger de Bretuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford, around 1056-1087+. In 1075 Roger rebelled against King William in a rebellion known as 'The Revolt of the Earls'. He was imprisoned for life.
Note 2. Emma, married in 1075, against the wishes of King William, Ralph de Gaël, Earl of East Anglia, around 1042–1100, who fought at the Battle of Hastings. Ralph and Emma's brother Roger, were leading figures in the The Revolt of the Earls in 1075. Ralph and Emma escaped to his estates around Gaël in Brittany.
Great x 2 Grandfather: Unknown Dane
Great x 1 Grandfather: Herfast aka Arfast de Crépon
GrandFather: Osbern the Steward
Father: William Fitzosbern 1st Earl Hereford
Great x 2 Grandfather: Esperleng
Great x 1 Grandfather: Rodulf of Ivry
Great x 2 Grandmother: Sprota
GrandMother: Emma of Ivry
Great x 1 Grandmother: Eremburga de Canville
Roger de Breteuil Fitzosbern 2nd Earl Hereford
GrandFather: Roger "The Spaniard" Tosny 
Mother: Adelise Tosny Countess Hereford 
Great x 1 Grandfather: Ramon Borrell Count of Barcelona
GrandMother: Adelaide aka Godehildis Ramon
Great x 2 Grandfather: Roger I of Carcasonne
Great x 1 Grandmother: Ermesinde of Carcassonne