William Marshal the Younger Coat of Arms, Lion Rampant - c.1200 - Historical Wax Seal Stamp

William Marshal the Younger, 2nd Earl of Pembroke - c.1220 - Historical Wax Seal Stamp

Wax seal stamp featuring the heraldic arms of William Marshal the Younger, 2nd Earl of Pembroke and eldest son of the celebrated William Marshal and Isabel de Clare.

Born around 1190, William inherited one of the most powerful lordships in early 13th-century Britain. His father had risen from a younger son of a relatively modest family to become Earl of Pembroke and one of the most influential figures of his age, while his mother Isabel brought the extensive Clare inheritance in Wales and Ireland into the Marshal family.

William the Younger was already an important political figure before succeeding his father. In 1215 he was named among the twenty-five barons appointed to oversee the observance of Magna Carta. After the political upheavals that followed, he became reconciled with the young Henry III and joined his father in supporting the restored royal government.

Following his father’s passing in 1219, William inherited the title Earl of Pembroke, the hereditary office of Marshal of England and the family’s extensive estates in England, Wales and Ireland.

His arms continued the distinctive Marshal heraldic design:

Per pale Or and Vert, a lion rampant Gules.

In modern terms, the shield is divided vertically into gold and green halves, with a red lion rampant placed across the centre. The arms are recorded for William the Younger in medieval heraldic material and were subsequently carried by his brothers as they succeeded one another as Earls of Pembroke.

William’s career was particularly closely connected with Wales and Ireland. During the 1220s he recovered important Marshal territories in south-west Wales and was appointed Justiciar of Ireland in 1224, one of the most senior royal offices in the country.

In 1224 he married Eleanor of England, daughter of King John and sister of Henry III, strengthening the already close relationship between the Marshal family and the royal household.

William was also responsible for commissioning the Histoire de Guillaume le Maréchal, the extraordinary early 13th-century biography of his father. Completed during the 1220s, it preserves thousands of lines describing William Marshal the Elder’s life and remains one of the richest surviving accounts of aristocratic and knightly culture in medieval Europe.

William the Younger died in 1231 without surviving children. The Earldom of Pembroke and the Marshal inheritance subsequently passed successively through his younger brothers Richard, Gilbert, Walter and Ansel.

Design: Arms of William Marshal the Younger
Person: William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke
Dynasty: Marshal
Heraldic Blazon: Per pale Or and Vert, a lion rampant Gules
Date: c.1220
Period: Early 13th century
Title: Earl of Pembroke / Marshal of England
Stamp Size: 30 mm
Material: Solid brass
Type: Wax seal stamp / sealing stamp

Each stamp is made of solid brass, fitted with a wooden handle and presented in a velvet pouch.

Suitable for letters, envelopes, historical collections, medieval displays, heraldry collections, genealogy projects, traditional stationery and decorative sealing.

“Willelmus Mareschallus Angliæ, Comes Penbrochiæ”

“William Marshal of England, Earl of Pembroke.”