To understand how it was possible that a religious house in the Pyrenees
could hold possessions scattered throughout so many different lands, it
must be clearly borne in mind that in the Middle Ages the rule exercised
by the Church took very little cognizance of State limits. The
ecclesiastical power was much stronger than the national influences of
the time, and the Church drew its revenues from all Christian countries,
quite irrespective of political boundaries. At the time when the House
of Roncesvalles at Charing was founded, the overlordship of the Pope had
been felt in England and in France in a very real manner. In addition to
this ecclesiastical bond, the political relationships between England,
France and Northern Spain were of the most intimate character, so that
the all-pervading power of the Church could be exercised with the
greater ease in these countries. During the period of the Norman, and
even more so during the Angevin dynasty, the English barons experienced
the greatest difficulty in detaching themselves from the influences
exerted on them by their foreign relationships, even if they had the
desire to do so. In many cases they seem to have frankly regarded their
insular possessions as sources of revenue and power to be made use of in
order to promote their Continental interests. In this respect they
followed the example set in such unmistakable fashion by kings such as
Richard and John. The Church acted in the same manner, and many foreign
convents were able, by their powerful influence, to obtain possession
of, and to exploit, the rich lands of England for their own support. It
was not until the close of the reign of John and during the reign of
Henry III that the separate destinies of England and France became
apparent to the more sagacious of the English statesmen of that period.
It is very instructive, therefore, to note as evidence of the
complicated and distracting political and social influences still felt
by the English magnates, that the noble family which perhaps most of all
by its example and advice sought to uphold the political independence of
England as apart from France, was nevertheless impelled to become one of
the great benefactors of a foreign religious house.
[Illustration:
FIG. 3. FIG. 4.
Figs. 3 and 4.—Front and profile views of the effigy in the Temple
Church of William Marshall, sen., Earl of Pembroke (_ob._ 1219).
]
WILLIAM MARSHALL, EARL OF PEMBROKE (1219-31), FOUNDER OF ST. MARY
RONCEVALL.
The House of Roncesvalles appears to have owed most of its property in
England and in Ireland to the liberality of William Marshall, Earl of
Pembroke, the eldest son of the great William Marshall—_Rector regis et
regni_—the Protector of the King and his kingdom after the death of
John. The elder Marshall stands out in conspicuous fashion as the most
steadfast of all the advisers of the king during the dark period
coinciding with the reigns of Richard I and John. His early years were
passed in France, acquiring skill in the martial exercises commonly
practised by the young nobles of the day, and his courage and
proficiency in arms were such that he had early acquired the reputation
of being one of the most redoubtable knights in Christendom. If no other
evidence remained of his prowess, the historic passage of arms against
Richard Cœur de Lion while still Count of Poitiers will be sufficient
proof.[5] On this occasion he overthrew Richard and held him at his
mercy, preventing the mad attack on his father, and probably saved the
Prince from the fate of being a parricide. In addition to his skill in
the use of arms, he gradually built up for himself a reputation for
prudence, sagacity and loyalty, so that while still a young man he was
entrusted with the guardianship of the young Henry, son of Henry II, and
in the succeeding reigns occupied the most prominent positions under the
English Crown, trusted by the barons and even by John. The testimony of
the French King Philip Augustus, when informed of the death of William
Marshall, as to his reputation for loyalty and honour remains on record:
“Et, en vérité le Maréchal fut l’homme le plus loyal que j’aie jamais
connu.”[6]
Footnote 5:
“Al conte Richard ki veneit.
E quant li quens le vit venir
Si s’escria par grant haïr:
‘Par les gambes Dieu! Maréchal
Ne m’ociez; ce sereit mal.
Ge sui toz desarmes issi.’
Et li Maréchal respondi:
‘Nenil! diables vos ocie!
Cor jo ne vos ocirai mie.’”
—“L’Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal,” 8836-8844; publié pour la
Société de l’Histoire de France par Paul Meyer.
Footnote 6:
“Dist li reis ‘mes li Maréchal Fu, al mien dit, li plus leials, Veir,
que jeo unques coneusse En nul liu ou je unques fusse.”
—“L’Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal,” 19149-19152.
During the many years of William Marshall’s residence abroad he
travelled widely throughout France and no doubt in Northern Spain. It is
well known that he went on pilgrimage to the Holy Sepulchre in
fulfilment of a promise given to the young Henry on his deathbed.
Marshall must have been very familiar with the reputation of the
Monastery at Roncesvalles. There can be little doubt that he had passed
it on his journeyings; the military-religious character of its Rule
would have appealed to him, and he may even have rested in the House of
the Convent. His piety is evidenced by the fact that he became closely
associated with the Order of the Knights Templars, was one of their
great benefactors in England, and at his death received sepulture in
their church, then newly built in London.
The elder Marshall died in the year 1219, and was succeeded by his
eldest son, also called William, who then became possessed of one of the
most extensive heritages in England, for the English and Welsh lands of
the Clares, Earls of Pembroke, and in addition their great Irish
inheritance in Leinster, had come into the possession of the Marshall
family.
What we know of the son shows him to have been a man of much the same
type as his father—probably not so rugged, but with the same steadfast
ideals of loyal conduct. It is evident that his character was as
strongly tinctured with religious feeling as was that of his father. He
also was an Associate of the Order of the Knights Templars, and was one
of their principal supporters after their removal to the “New Temple,”
where the “Temple” Church still stands. His admiration for his father is
clearly shown by the priceless biography of the elder William which we
still possess. This poem is known as “L’Histoire de Guillaume le
Maréchal” and is evidently the work of a professional writer of the
period, but it was composed under the direction of the son of the great
Marshall with the assistance of Jean d’Erleé,[7] his father’s old
companion and faithful squire.
Footnote 7:
Erlée; Earley (Erleia, Erlegh, &c.), near Reading.
[Illustration:
FIGS. 5, 6, and 7.—Front and profile views of the effigy in the
Temple Church of William Marshall, jun., Earl of Pembroke (_ob._
1231).
]
During the lifetime of William Marshall and his son, and for long before
and after, the high road through the Pass of Roncesvalles was much
frequented. It was the main line of communication by land between France
and Spain on the western frontier, and was used both by peaceful
travellers and by the numerous military expeditions passing from one
country to the other. These expeditions resulted not only from the
constant warfare of the border but were also organized by Crusaders on
their way to help the Spaniard against the Moor, frequently with the
purpose of travelling farther to the Holy Land. At this time also the
relationships formed by Henry II and his sons with the Courts of the new
kingdoms in the north of Spain, which were beginning to arise as the
tide of Moorish invasion receded, were of the most intimate character.
It will be remembered that Richard, when King of England, married
Berengaria, daughter of Sancho VI of Navarre, after a very troublesome
wooing, and that the younger Sancho took the part of Richard while the
latter was on crusade against their common enemies in the South of
France. The relationship between the Courts of Aragon and Castile and
the Angevin Kings was no less intimate. William Marshall and his eldest
son were in the closest association with the Royal House. They both
travelled far and wide over France and Northern Spain, so that the
Angevin dominions in Aquitaine and the neighbouring kingdom of Navarre
must at one time have been as well known to the Marshall family as their
home in England.
Another reason which brought many travellers along the road through
Roncesvalles was the attraction of the Shrine of St. James at
Compostella. The pilgrimage to Compostella was undertaken by knights and
their squires as the result of vows made on the field of battle, and was
famed for its efficacy among all engaged in military affairs. But the
pilgrimage even to armed bands was a dangerous one on account of the
disturbed state of the frontier. An interesting example of this is
presented in the relationships between Richard and his neighbour the
Count of Toulouse. The ostensible cause for Richard’s warfare against
the Count of Toulouse was the inveterate inclination of the latter to
acts of brigandage. When war was declared the Count of Toulouse had
actually captured and ill-treated two English knights named Robert le
Poer and Ralph Fraser, on their return from a pilgrimage to Compostella.
The reputation of the Hospital of St. Mary in the Pass of Roncesvalles
and of the Convent which supported the Hospital was known to every
traveller—peaceful or warlike—in Western Europe, and would certainly
have appealed to the benevolence of such a man as the younger William
Marshall. The probability is that both father and son had stronger
motives for giving alms to the Community—the result of benefits received
from the Convent and Hospital during their journeys between France and
Spain.
THE COMING OF THE BRETHREN TO ENGLAND (1229) AND THE FOUNDATION OF THE
CONVENT AT CHARING.
The first knowledge we have of the presence in England of members of the
Community of Roncesvalles is obtained from the letters of protection
given to certain brethren by Henry III, in the year 1229. These letters
were of the usual complete character, and it is clear that the intention
of the deputation from Roncesvalles was to seek alms in England for the
support of their House in the remote valley in the Pyrenees. This
purpose was definitely encouraged by a special clause in the letters of
protection.
The brethren seem to have been taken under the patronage of the younger
William Marshall from the beginning. They may even have come to England
on his invitation, for we find that he soon commenced to make
arrangements to give them revenues and an establishment in this country.
Very unfortunately for the Convent, the Earl died in the year 1231, soon
after his return to England from Henry’s disastrous campaign in Poitou
and Brittany, where he had held the chief command. But the record of his
great gift remains, for on August 11, 1232, Henry confirmed at Wenlock
“the grant to Saint Mary and the Hospital at Roncevaux (_Roscida
Vallis_) of the gift which William Marshall, sometime Earl of Pembroke,
made to them of all his houses at Cherring, and the houses and
curtilages adjoining them formerly belonging to William Briwere, and of
100_s._ at Suthanton payable from the houses of the said Earl there, of
13_l._ of land in Netherwent in the moor of Magor, and of a carucate of
land in Assandon, which he bought from Robert de Rochford.”
It was thus in consequence of the munificence of William Marshall the
younger that the brethren of Roncesvalles obtained the land on the banks
of the Thames at Charing where they subsequently built their conventual
dwelling, their Hospital for the sick, and the Chapel by the riverside,
which were to remain an important feature of London for over three
hundred years.