Earl Marshal of the College of Arms, the body concerned with all matters of genealogy and heraldry. 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. In 1672, the office of Marshal of England and the title of Earl Marshal of England were made hereditary in the Howard family. In a declaration made on 16 June 1673
William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke sources to support this. He was buried in the Temple Church in London, next to his father, where his effigy may still be seen. William was responsible for the commissioning of "L'Histoire de Guillaume le Mareschal," the first known biography of a medieval knight, in order to record his father's extraordinary career. Based on oral and written testimony, it was completed in 1226. As William had no surviving children, his titles passed to his younger brother Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke. His lack of male heirs was credited to a curse bestowed upon the family by the Bishop of