The Marshal partition of 1247: a medieval text’s journey through early modern Ireland

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Abstract This article analyses the role of the Marshal partition (1247) in political discourse and manuscript transmission in early modern Ireland. It is argued that the early modern interest in the Marshal partition reflects the vulnerability and the identity crisis of the English of Ireland due to British and Irish politics and changing European ideas of power and peerage. Overall, this article uses the Marshal partition as a key to open a broader discussion about noble, political, and manuscript cultures in early modern Britain and Ireland and to advocate for a greater permeation of the ‘medieval’ and ‘early modern’ historiographical divide.