Marshal (Fr. marechal; old Tier. Marah, horse, and Scale or Sehalk, servant), a term originally applied to the person who had charge of the horses of the king or other high dignitary.

In the middle aires he was the chief officer of arms, and at tournamenta regulated combats in the lists: but ultimately the title was borne by both civil and military officers. In England, until 1819. the marshal of the king's household presided over the knight marshal's court created by Charles I., which had jurisdiction of personal actions within a circuit of 12 miles around Whitehall. The marshal of the king's bench has the custody of the Marshalsea or king's bench prison in Southwark. The earl marshal is an officer of state, who directs important ceremonies, takes cognizance of matters relating to pedigree and rank, and proclaims the declaration of war or of peace. In the United States, a marshal is an officer of one of the federal judicial districts, having duties similar to those of a sheriff. In ancient Poland the president of the diet was called marshal. - The rank of field marshal (called in German Feldmanehall, in French marechal de France) is the highest military dignity in several countries of Europe. The title appears to have been introduced into France in the time of Philip Augustus, about 1200. It was introduced into England in 177(3 by George III., who created the duke of Argyll field marshal.

The English field marshal, when unemployed, lias the same daily pay as any other general; but when actually commanding he receives £16 8s. 9d. a day for staff duty, while a general receives £9 9s. 6d. In 1874 there were in Great Britain three field marshals, the duke of Cambridge (created in 1862), Sir \V. M. Gomm (1868), and Sir George Pollock (1870). In Austria there were two field marshals, the archduke Albert and Prince Edmund von Schwarzenberg, and in Germany eight, of whom the prince of Saxony and Generals Moltke, Bittenfeld, and Steinmetz were appointed in 1871.