ABSTRACT
The connection of the de Valence family with Ireland began in 1247 when William de Valence (d. 1296), the Poitevin half-brother of Henry III, married Joan, daughter of Joan de Munchensy and heiress to onefifth of the Marshal lordship of Leinster. By this marriage William, lord of Montignac and other lands in France in his own right, became lord of Wexford in Ireland and gained the lands of the earldom of Pembroke in Wales, as well as lands in England. William’s career was focused on the English court; and he served Henry III and Edward I as a counselor and envoy, roles that his son, Aymer, was to fulfill for Edward II. William was particularly interested in increasing his lands and rights in the earldom of Pembroke, the official title to which he coveted.
