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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Paternal Family Tree: Craven
Maternal Family Tree: Anne Bond 1615
Around 1605 [his father] William Craven (age 57) and [his mother] Elizabeth Whitmore (age 20) were married. The difference in their ages was 37 years.
Before 10th June 1610 John Craven 1st Baron Craven was born to [his father] William Craven (age 62) and [his mother] Elizabeth Whitmore (age 25).
On 10th June 1610 John Craven 1st Baron Craven was baptised at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map].
On 18th July 1618 [his father] William Craven (age 70) died. He was buried at St Andrew Undershaft Church, Aldgate Ward [Map].
In 1624 [his mother] Elizabeth Whitmore (age 39) died.
Before 1626 [his brother-in-law] Percy Herbert 2nd Baron Powis (age 27) and [his sister] Elizabeth Craven Baroness Herbert (age 25) were married. She by marriage Lady Powis of Red Castle in Montgomeryshire.
On 12th March 1627 William Craven 1st Earl Craven (age 18) was created 1st Baron Craven of Hamstead Marshall in Berkshire with a special remainder to his brothers John (age 16), who was later created Baron Craven of Ryton, and Thomas, both of whom predeceased William, rendering the remainder ineffective.
Between 1634 and 1643 John Craven 1st Baron Craven (age 23) and Elizabeth Spencer Baroness Craven (age 17) were married.
On 19th December 1636 [his father-in-law] William Spencer 2nd Baron Spencer (age 45) died. His son [his brother-in-law] Henry (age 16) succeeded 3rd Baron Spencer Wormleighton.
Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke
Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson.
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On 20th July 1639, some sources say 11th July 1639, [his brother-in-law] Henry Spencer 1st Earl of Sunderland (age 18) and Dorothy Sidney Countess Sunderland (age 21) were married at Penhurst Rother. She by marriage Baroness Spencer Wormleighton. Her long-term suitor, she was the 'Sacharissa' of his poems, Edmund Waller (age 33) wrote a letter to the bride's sister (age 12) on the occasion of the wedding. She the daughter of Robert Sidney 2nd Earl of Leicester (age 43) and Dorothy Percy Countess Leicester (age 41). They were third cousins.
Madam,
In this common joy at Penshurst, I know none to whom complaints may come less unseasonably than to your ladyship, the loss of a bedfellow being almost equal to that of a mistress; and therefore you ought at least to pardon, if you consent not to the imprecations of, the deserted, which just Heaven no doubt will hear. May my lady Dorothy, if we may yet call her so, suffer as much, and have the like passion for this young lord, whom she has preferred to the rest of mankind, as others have had for her; and may his love, before the year go about, make her taste of the first curse imposed upon womankind, the pains of becoming a mother. May her first born be none of her own sex, nor so like her but that he may resemble her lord as much as herself. May she that always affected silence and retirement have the house filled with the noise and number of her children, and hereafter of her grandchildren; and then may she arrive at that great curse, so much declined by fair ladies, old age; may she live to be very old and yet seem young; be told so by her glass, and have no aches to inform her of the truth; and when she shall appear to be mortal, may her lord not mourn for her, but go hand in hand with her to that place where we are told there is neither marrying nor giving in marriage, that being there divorced we may all have an equal interest in her again! My revenge being immortal, I wish all this may befall her posterity to the world's end and afterwards! To you, madam, I wish all good things, and that this loss may in good time be happily supplied with a more constant bedfellow of the other sex. Madam, I humbly kiss your hands, and beg pardon for this trouble, from
Your ladyship's
most humble servant,
E. Waller.
In November 1640 John Craven 1st Baron Craven (age 30) was elected MP Tewkesbury during the Long Parliament.
In 1643 [his brother-in-law] Henry Spencer 1st Earl of Sunderland (age 22) was created 1st Earl of Sunderland. Dorothy Sidney Countess Sunderland (age 25) by marriage Countess of Sunderland.
Between 1643 and 1647. Follower of Anthony Van Dyck. Portrait of John Craven 1st Baron Craven (age 32).
On 21st March 1643 John Craven 1st Baron Craven (age 32) was created 1st Baron Craven of Ryton in Shropshire. [his wife] Elizabeth Spencer Baroness Craven (age 26) by marriage Baroness Craven of Ryton in Shropshire.
On 20th September 1643 [his brother-in-law] Henry Spencer 1st Earl of Sunderland (age 22) died. His son Robert (age 2) succeeded 2nd Earl of Sunderland, 4th Baron Spencer Wormleighton.
In 1648 John Craven 1st Baron Craven (age 37) died. Baron Craven of Ryton in Shropshire extinct.
On 7th July 1648 Henry Howard (age 28) and [his former wife] Elizabeth Spencer Baroness Craven (age 31) were married. He the son of Thomas Howard 1st Earl Berkshire (age 60) and Elizabeth Cecil Countess Berkshire (age 52). They were fourth cousins.
In or after 1663 William Crofts 1st Baron Crofts (age 52) and [his former wife] Elizabeth Spencer Baroness Craven (age 46) were married. They were fourth cousins.
On 11th August 1672 [his former wife] Elizabeth Spencer Baroness Craven (age 55) died.
GrandFather: William Craven 
Father: William Craven
GrandFather: William Whitmore of Balmes Manor in Hackney
Mother: Elizabeth Whitmore
GrandMother: Anne Bond