Earl of Pembroke

“ It soon became the chief ambition of William to put himself in the position of the old Earls of Pembroke. It has been much disputed when he became Earl of Pembroke. The probability seems that he was never formally created earl, but that, as exercising all the rights of earl over the ‘comitatus’ of Pembroke as protector of his wife's inheritance, he was loosely called ‘Earl of Pembroke’ very occasionally in early years, but more frequently as his position became more established. ”

“ Scarcely knowing what he did in his perplexity, the count retreated slowly to the churchyard of the cathedral, and, setting his back against a wall, he shouted defiance at his assailants as they came resolutely on.
De Perche’s foes formed themselves in front of him in a semi-circle, and the Earl of Pembroke, who could not but admire the count’s dauntless bearing in the hour of defeat and despair, invited him to surrender.
“Yield, sir count,” said the earl in accents which he meant to be persuasive. “You have done all that a brave man could. Therefore yield and live. Life has its sweets.” ”

“ He was a prince of an amiable rather than a shining character, brave, good-natured, modest, and humane, but devoid of great talents and ambition. He had always lived in harmony with the queen, who, during the whole term of their union, and especially in his last illness, approved herself a pattern of conjugal truth and tenderness. At his death the earl of Pembroke was created lord-high-admiral, the earl of Wharton promoted to the government of Ireland, and lord Somers appointed president of the council. ”

“ When John died in 1216, and his young son Henry succeeded him, the policy of England was guided by William Marshall Earl of Pembroke. William Marshall was one of the ministers of Henry II., and by his marriage with the daughter of Strongbow, the conqueror of Ireland, he had become Earl of Pembroke. It was with him that Llywelyn had now to deal. He was too strong in Pembroke to be attacked, but his very presence made it easier for Llywelyn to retain the allegiance of the chiefs who would have been in danger from the Norman barons if Llywelyn's protection were taken away. ”

“ To her he dedicated nearly all his works, one of which he called ‘The Countess of Pembroke's Ivychurch,’ from the name of one of his patroness's residences, and another ‘The Countess of Pembroke's Emanuel.’ Her husband Henry, earl of Pembroke, president of the council of Wales, who also treated the poet with unvarying kindness, recommended him to Lord Burghley in 1590 for the office of queen's solicitor in the court of the marches. He seems to have been an officer of that court as late as 1633, when he celebrated in verse the marriage of Lady Margaret Egerton with Sir Gervase Cutler. ”

“ In 1470, William Herbert, the rival Earl of Pembroke, was captured by the Lancastrians at the battle of Edgecott, in Northamptonshire (usually called the battle of Banbury, from its contiguity to that town) , and was beheaded. Jasper Tudor, who still claimed the title of Earl of Pembroke, landed in the west with George Duke of Clarence (who then sided with the Earl of Warwick in the Lancastrian interest) , and King Edward was driven from his throne and kingdom by the Earl of Warwick. ”

“ Jasper Tudor was shortly afterwards restored to his rank and title, and a second time became Earl of Pembroke, resumed his possessions in Wales; and finding his nephew, Henry Earl of Richmond, then scarcely ten years of age, in the care of the widow of his deceased rival, William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, he removed him from her superintendence, took him and presented him to Henry VI., who, on seeing him, is said (with what truth may well be doubted) to have made a speech almost prophetic of Richmond’s future fortunes. ”

“ The Earl of Pembroke determined to make an example of these marauders, and, to root out so wretched a progeny, ordered them all to be hanged. Upon this, the mother of the felons came to the Earl of Pembroke, and upon her knees besought him to pardon two, or at least one, of her sons, a request which was seconded by the Earl's brother, Sir Richard. But the Earl, finding the condemned men all equally guilty, declared he could make no distinction, and ordered them to be hanged together. ”

“ That enterprising leader proposed to the Earl of Pembroke to join him in an expedition against Louis de Sancerre, the Marshal of France. But Pembroke, jealous of the fame of Sir John, and instigated by his flatterers, who insinuated that with such a renowned general the earl would come off with very little of the glory of the undertaking, declined the proposal. Sir John Chandos, disgusted by the refusal, retired into the city of Poietiers, and dismissed such troops as were not necessary for its defence. ”

“ It is probable that this was true also of the Earl of Pembroke. These two were sent by John to the barons to get an exact statement of their demands, and returned with a "schedule," which was recited to the king point by point. These were no doubt the same as the "articles" presented to the king afterwards, on which the Great Charter was based. When John was made to understand what they meant, his hot, ancestral temper swept him away in an insane passion of anger. "Why do they not go on and demand the kingdom itself?" ”

“ You must think that such a little boy as Henry was, when he was made king, could not do much for himself, or anything at all for his subjects. But he had a wise guardian, called the Earl of Pembroke, who did many things to repair the mischief done by King John. However, that wise man died very soon, and then the king behaved so ill that there was nothing but quarrelling and fighting for the greater part of his life. ”

“ The Queen’s orders had been successfully carried out. But to the anxious watchers in the palace the affair may have worn the aspect of a defeat, if not of a treason, and there were not wanting those who suspected Pembroke of a betrayal of his trust. A shout was raised that all was lost.
307 “Away, away! a barge, a barge!—let the Queen be placed in safety!” was the cry.
Again Mary was to show that she was a Tudor. She would not beat a retreat before rebels. Where, she inquired, was the Earl of Pembroke? ”

“ Lord Vaux was soon after arrested by the privy council on the complaint of Knightly, and dealt with in the star-chamber.
Certainly no proceedings could indispose the house of peers to the king more than such as these; but meantime Charles was active in endeavouring by other measures to win a party there. The earl of Pembroke had for some time made himself head of the opposition, and on great occasions brought with him on a vote no less than ten proxies, Buckingham himself being only able to command thirteen. He prevailed on Pembroke to be reconciled to the favourite ”

“ Earl Pembroke, slain so impiously!
That slender Youth, a scholar pale,
From Oxford come to his native vale,
He also hath his own conceit:
It is, thinks he, the gracious Fairy,
Who loved the Shepherd Lord to meet
In his wanderings solitary;
Wild notes she in his hearing sang,
A song of Nature’s hidden powers ”

“ The dedication of Venus and Adonis (and subsequently of Tarquin and Lucrece) to the Earl of Southampton is undoubted; nor are intimate friendly relations doubted; but the further supposition—long accredited—that the major part of the Sonnets were addressed to the same Earl—is now generally abandoned—entirely so by the new Shakespearean scholars. William Herbert (Earl of Pembroke) —to whom is dedicated the 1623 folio—is counted by many the “begetter” of these, and the rival of the poet in loves of the “dark-eyed” frail one, whose identity has so provoked inquiry. ”

“ Philip, Earl of Pembroke, an eminent admirer of the arts, who considered the picture as a valuable appendage to an English palace, resolved, if possible, to prevent the bargain being concluded, and went privately to the royal apartments, cut out the head of King Henry from the canvass, placed it in his pocket-book, and retired unnoticed. ”

“ And whereas your Lordship is so desirous to pursue after Wyat and his Band, you see how they have lien in Southwark and within four miles of London these four days [Thursday 1st, to Sunday 4th February 1554] ; and yet not meddled with by the Queen's army, being so near: which is neither for want of men, nor of forwardness in that noble Gentleman, The Earl of Pembroke, the Queen's Lieutenant. the Earl of Pembroke, the Queen's Lieutenant; but upon great policy and further respect no doubt than we seem to conceive. ”

“ Many of the Earls of Pembroke were men of culture and patrons of learning. In 1629 William, the third Earl, gave to the University of Oxford, of which he was Chancellor, a very valuable series [Pg 138] of Greek manuscripts collected by Giacomo Barocci, a gentleman of Venice; and in 1649 his brother Philip, the fourth Earl, gave to the same University, of which he was also Chancellor, a splendidly bound copy of the Paris Polyglot Bible, printed in 1645 in nine volumes. These two brothers are 'the incomparable pair of brethren' to whom the first folio of Shakespeare is dedicated. ”

“ It was difficult, indeed, to believe that the monarchy could be preserved, surrounded as it was by foreign and domestic foes leagued for its destruction, and who held most of the chief castles and cities in the kingdom, the capital included. One man of high rank, destined to save all by his moderation and energy—moderation in the midst of violence, and energy in spite of old age—remained faithful and firm. This was William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, a man whose hair was white, and who had seen many years ”

“ Dafydd ap Ivan ap Einion, an adherent of the house of Lancaster held out, in Harlech Castle, for nine years after the accession of Edward the Fourth to the throne of England. His determined obstinacy, a p. 138quality for which his countrymen have always been remarkable in war, compelled the king to send a powerful army to dislodge him, under the leadership of William, Earl of Pembroke. ”

“ Impr. 11: 1587: sm. 4o: pp. 54 + [2] : p. 11 beg. Cur temet: Pica Roman and Italic. Contents:—p. 1, title: 3–4, dedication to Henry Herbert earl of Pembroke, in Latin, by “Ioannes Luidus,” New college, Oxford, 26 Aug. 1587: 5–54, the work: 54, two errata.
The title is an allusion to the spurious Peplus of Aristotle, a commemoration of the heroes who fell before Troy. The editor was John Lhuyd, and the poems (almost all Latin) are all by New College men, among whom the earl of Pembroke, Sidney’s brother-in-law, had been educated. See preceding art., and Wood’s Ath. Oxon., i. ”

“ Edward used every exertion to procure the Earl’s liberty, and wrote to several sovereign princes, soliciting them to interfere on the subject; but he did not immediately succeed. In the 11th Edward II., Pembroke was once more in the Scottish wars, and was appointed governor of Rockingham castle; and upon the King’s purposed voyage in the 13th Edward II., to do homage to the King of France for the Duchy of Acquitaine, he was constituted Guardian of the realm during his absence, being then also Custos of Scotland. In the 15th Edward II., he sat in judgment on the Earl of Lancaster at Pontefract ”

“ Some Notices of William Herbert, first Earl of Pembroke of the present creation, by J. E. Nightingale, F.S.A.. 1878; Camden's Annals; Froude's Hist. of England; Aubrey's Lives, ii. 478; Dugdale's Baronage, ii. 258; Collins's Peerage, ed. Brydges, iii. 116 sq.; Doyle's Baronage; Lit. Remains of Edward VI, ed. Nichols (Roxb. Club) ; Machyn's Diary (Camden Soc.) ; Wriothesley's Chronicle (Camden Soc.) ; Chronicle of Queen Mary and Queen Jane (Camd. Soc.) ; Cal. ”

“ The only displeasure he ever incurred at court was when he vindicated the rights and independence of English commoners in his own gallant person against the arrogance of English nobles in the person of the Earl of Oxford. For a time, then, he retired from the court, and sought rest in his loved simplicity. He went to Wilton; and there, for the amusement of his dear sister, Mary, Countess of Pembroke, he wrote, between the years 1579 and 1581, the [180] “Arcadia,” a work whose strange fortune it has been to be too highly valued in one age, and far too underrated in another. ”

“ He was buried in the family vault in Salisbury Cathedral. A very eulogistic funeral sermon by T. C., 'The Ivst Man's Memorial, as it was delivered at Baynard's Castle before the interment of the Body,' was published in 1630, with a dedication to the earl's brother and heir, Philip. Pembroke died intestate, and his debts are said to have reached a total of 80,000l. His income had amounted to 22,000l. a year (Court and Times of Charles I, ii. 73) . ”

“ Pembroke, William, Earl of, has Henry III. crowned; appointed his governor during his minority. Percy, legend of the origin of the name. Peter the Hermit, his appearance at the Council of Clermont; leads the first Crusade; defection of, at the siege of Antioch; sings mass at the Holy Sepulchre. Pevensey, landing of the Normans at. Philippa of Hainault, Edward III.‘s first meeting with; her marriage to him. Philippe I. of France, refuses to aid William the Conqueror’s invasion of England; aids Robert Courtheuse against his father; supports the insurrection at Mantes ”

“ Pembroke castle is a noble ruin, seated on a cliff above the river. Caradoc of Llancaroon says, that it was founded by Arnulph, son to the Earl of Shrewsbury, anno 1094; but Giraldus Cambrensis fixes the time of its erection in the reign of Henry the First, and the rounded arches that occur in the building determine its foundation not to have been later than that prince’s reign. The most remarkable features of this ruin are, the grand entrance, which is still entire; and the juliet, or high round tower, the antient citadel, which has still the “Rofe of stone almost in conum ”