Earl Marshal

John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk

Earl Marshal (alternatively Marschal or Marischal) is an ancient chivalric title used separately in England and the United Kingdom, and formerly in Ireland and Scotland. The current Earl Marshal is Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk, who inherited the position in 2002.

England

The Earl Marshal of England is a hereditary Royal officeholder under the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The title was "Marshal" until William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, whose titles of "Earl" and "Marshal," though separate (although he is often referred to now as "Earl Marshal"), made it stand for something. After it came into the family of the Dukes of Norfolk, it evolved into "Earl Marshal". The Earl Marshal is the eighth of the Great Officers of State, with the Lord High Constable above him and only the Lord High Admiral beneath him.

In the Middle Ages, the Earl Marshal and the Lord High Constable were the officers of the King's horses and stables. When chivalry declined in importance, the Constable's post declined, and the Earl Marshal became the head of the College of Arms, the body concerned with all matters of genealogy and heraldry, although the Earl Marshal's connection with heraldry came about almost accidentally. In conjunction with the Lord High Constable he had held a court, known as the Court of Chivalry, for the administration of justice in accordance with the law of arms, which was concerned with many subjects relating to military matters, such as ransom, booty and soldiers' wages, and including the misuse of armorial bearings. The Marshal, as eighth Great Officer of State, has to organise coronations and the State Opening of Parliament.

In a declaration made on the 16 June 1673 by Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, the Earl of Anglesey and Lord Privy Seal, in reference to a dispute over the exercise of authority over the Officers of Arms the powers of the Earl Marshal were stated as "to have power to order, judge, and determine all matters touching arms, ensigns of nobility, honour, and chivalry; to make laws, ordinances, and statutes for the good government of the Officers of Arms; to nominate Officers to fill vacancies in the College of Arms; to punish and correct Officers of Arms for misbehaviour in the execution of their places". Additionally it was also declared that no patents of arms or any ensigns of nobility should be granted and no augmentation, alteration, or addition should be made to arms without the consent of the Earl Marshal.

The Earl Marshal has responsibility for the organisation of State funerals and the monarch's coronation in Westminster Abbey.

Ireland

Among the men who have held the title of Earl Marshal of Ireland are William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and Walter Devereux, 1st Earl of Essex (1539–1576).

Scotland

See Earl Marischal.

United Kingdom

The House of Lords Act 1999 removed the automatic right of hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords, but the Act provided that the Earl Marshal and Lord Great Chamberlain continue for the time being to have seats so as to carry out their ceremonial functions in the House of Lords.

Lords Marshal of England, 1135–1397

• Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke 1135–1149
• Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke 1149–1176
• John Marshal 1176–1199
• William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke 1199–1219
• William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke 1219–1231
• Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke 1231–1234
• Gilbert Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke 1234–1242
• Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke 1242–1245
• Anselm Marshal, 6th Earl of Pembroke 1245
• Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk 1245–1269
• Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk 1269–1307
• Robert de Clifford 1307–1308 (1st Baron de Clifford?)
• Nicholas Segrave, Lord Segrave 1308–1315 (or Baron of Stowe (?))
• Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk 1315–1338
• Margaret, Duchess of Norfolk 1338–1377
• Henry Percy, Lord Percy 1377
• John FitzAlan, 1st Baron Arundel, Lord Maltravers 1377–1383
• Thomas Mowbray, 1st Earl of Nottingham 1383–1397

Earls Marshal of England, 1397-present

• Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk 1397–1398
• Thomas Holland, 1st Duke of Surrey 1398–1399
• Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland 1400–1412
• John de Mowbray, 2nd Duke of Norfolk 1412–1432
• John de Mowbray, 3rd Duke of Norfolk 1432–1461
• John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk 1461–1476
• Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York 1476–1483
• John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk 1483–1485
• William de Berkeley, 1st Marquess of Berkeley 1486–1497
• Henry Tudor, Duke of York 1497–1509
• Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk 1509–1524
• Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk 1524–1547
• Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset 1547–1549
• John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland 1549–1553
• Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, restored 1553–1554
• Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk 1554–1572
• George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury 1572–1590
• in commission 1590–1597
• Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex 1597–1601
• in commission 1602–1603
• Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester 1603
• in commission 1604–1622
• Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel and Surrey 1622–1646
• Henry Howard, Earl of Arundel and Surrey 1646–1652
• ??? 1652–1661
• James Howard, 3rd Earl of Suffolk 1661–1662
• in commission 1662–1672
• Henry Howard, 6th Duke of Norfolk 1672–1684
• Henry Howard, 7th Duke of Norfolk 1684–1701
• Thomas Howard, 8th Duke of Norfolk 1701–1732
• Edward Howard, 9th Duke of Norfolk 1732–1777
• Charles Howard, 10th Duke of Norfolk 1777–1786
• Charles Howard, 11th Duke of Norfolk 1786–1815
• Bernard Edward Howard, 12th Duke of Norfolk 1815–1842
• Henry Charles Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk 1842–1856
• Henry Granville Fitzalan-Howard, 14th Duke of Norfolk 1856–1860
• Henry Fitzalan-Howard, 15th Duke of Norfolk 1860–1917
• Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard, 16th Duke of Norfolk 1917–1975
• Miles Francis Stapleton-Fitzalan-Howard, 17th Duke of Norfolk 1975-2002
• Edward William Fitzalan-Howard, 18th Duke of Norfolk 2002–

Deputy Earls Marshal

Deputy Earls Marshal have been named at various times, discharging the responsibilities of the office during the minority or infirmity of the Earl Marshal. Prior to an Act of Parliament in 1824, Protestant deputies were required when the Earl Marshal was a Roman Catholic.

• Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Carlisle 1673–?
• Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle 1701–1706
• Henry Howard, 6th Earl of Suffolk, 1st Earl of Bindon 1706–1718
• Henry Bowes Howard, 4th Earl of Berkshire 1718–1725
• Talbot Yelverton, 1st Earl of Sussex 1725–1731
• Francis Howard, 1st Earl of Effingham 1731–1743
• Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Effingham 1743–1763
• Henry Howard, 12th Earl of Suffolk, 5th Earl of Berkshire 1763–1765
• Richard Lumley-Saunderson, 4th Earl of Scarbrough 1765–1777
• Thomas Howard, 3rd Earl of Effingham 1777–1782
• Charles Howard, Earl of Surrey 1782–1786
• Lord Henry Thomas Molyneux Howard 1816–1824
• Lord Edward Fitzalan-Howard 1861–1868
• Edmund Fitzalan-Howard, 1st Viscount Fitzalan of Derwent 1917–1929
• Edward William Fitzalan-Howard, Earl of Arundel and Surrey 2000–2002

References

• "Earl Marshal"

See also

• Lord Lyon King of Arms