House of Howard Earls of Arundel in the 4th quarter. Earl Marshal is a hereditary royal officeholder and chivalric title under the sovereign of the United Kingdom used in England (then, following the Act of Union 1800, in the United Kingdom). It is the eighth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord High Constable and above the Lord High Admiral. The Earl Marshal has responsibility for the organisation of State funerals and the monarch's coronation in Westminster Abbey. He is also a leading officer of arms. The office is hereditary in the Howard Family in their
William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke Because he was an Earl, and also known as the Marshal, the term "Earl Marshal" was commonly used and this later became an established hereditary title in the English Peerage. William's father, John Marshal, supported King Stephen when he took the throne in 1135, but in about 1139 he changed sides to support the Empress Matilda in the civil war of succession between her and Stephen which led to the collapse of England into "the Anarchy". When King Stephen besieged Newbury Castle in 1152, according to William's biographer, he used the young William as a hostage to ensure that John