Biography
Marc is thought to have come from the French province of Touraine which is south of the Loire. This land had been lost by King John to King Philip II of France in 1204.
In 1207, Marc was ordered to collect 100 pounds from "three men of Newark". The nature of this task can be judged by a later demand he made for another 100 pounds from debtors in Lexington. The request was accompanied by a threat that they would be burnt to the ground. They had to pay if they wanted to "enjoy the King's peace". The Sheriff was appointed by the King (or Queen) but they were not paid. They took their profit from the confiscated lands that they had taken from debtors.
Marc was appointed Sheriff in 1208. In the seventh year of the reign of King John, Marc was given the bailiwick of Burton.
In 1214, Marc had a deputy named Eustace of Lowdham who may have already been working for him for five years. Like Marc himself, Eustace has been proposed as a contender for the Sheriff of Nottingham mentioned in the Robin Hood legends. However there was no "Sheriff of Nottingham" until much later. Marc was the High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire and the Royal Forests and Eustace was his deputy. Marc was not popular; he and his relatives have been judged a "bad lot". He and his relatives are specifically mentioned in the Magna Carta. At Runnymede, King John agreed to many clauses, but clause 50 specifically calls for the end of Marc.
"Item 50. We will entirely remove from their bailiwicks, the relations of Gerard of Athee (so that in future they shall have no bailiwick in England); namely, Engelard of Cigogné, Peter, Guy, and Andrew of Chanceaux, Guy of Cigogné, Geoffrey of Martigny with his brothers, Philip Mark with his brothers and his nephew Geoffrey, and the whole brood of the same."During the rebellion, Eustace of Lowdham did not take the side of the King, but rather that of John de Lacy; in 1216 both the deputy and Marc make their peace with King John.
On 18 October 1216, Marc was named in the unusual appointment of Nicholaa de la Haye, as joint Sheriff of Lincolnshire. It is thought that following the rebellions, loyalty was so rare that the unlikely appointment of a woman was made at the end of the King's life.
Marc still held the post of Sheriff until he was replaced on 28 December 1217 by Ralph FitzNicholas, but it is thought that his role may have been actually carried out by Eustace as it was he who presents the accounts each year. However Marc did enjoy regional military powers.
Read more about this topic: Philip Marc
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