William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke
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William de Valence, 1st Earl of Pembroke (d. May 16 1296) was a French nobleman, who became important in English politics due to his relationship to Henry III.
He was the fourth son of Isabella of Angouleme, widow of king John of England, and her second husband, Hugh X of Lusignan, count of La Marche, and was thus a half-brother to Henry III of England, and uncle to Edward I of England.
The French conquest of Poitou in 1246 created great difficulties for William's family, and so he and several of his brother's accepted Henry III's invitation to come to England in 1247. The king found important positions for all of them; William was soon married to a great heiress, Joan de Munchesni, only surviving child of Warin de Muchensi and Joan, daughter and eventual co-heiress of William Marshal, 4th Earl of Pembroke. Her portion of the Marshal estates included the castle and lordship of Pembroke and the lordship of Wexford in Ireland.
This favoritism to royal relatives was one of the matters that set off the Barons' War, and in 1258 William was driven out of England. He returned 3 years later after Henry III repudiated the Provisions of Oxford, and fought on the royalist side at the Battle of Lewes. After the battle he fled to Pembroke, where he raised forces that led to the final defeat of the barons at the Battle of Evesham.
In his later years William accompanied his nephew Edward (later Edward I) on pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and from his base in Pembrokeshire was a mainstay of the English fights against the Welsh princes.
Though he is sometimes called earl in contemporary documents, it is uncertain when if ever William was formally created or recognized as Earl of Pembroke.
William and Joan de Muchesni (described above) had three children:
- Aymer de Valence, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
- Isabel, who married John, 1st Lord Hastings. Their grandson Lawrence later became earl of Pembroke
- Joan, who married John Comyn