Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester

Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester, 2nd Lord of Glamorgan, 8th Lord of Clare (4 August 1222 – 14 July 1262) was son of Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford and Isabel Marshal.[1][2] He was also a powerful Marcher Lord in Wales and inherited the Lordship of Glamorgan upon the death of his father. He played a prominent role in the constitutional crisis of 1258–1263.

Richard de Clare 5th Earl of Hertford 6th Earl of Gloucester 2nd Lord of Glamorgan
Arms of Richard, count of Clare referring to his knighting
Hereditary
Earl of Hereford Earl of Gloucester	1230–1262 1230–1262
Predecessor	Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford
Successor	Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford
Detail Titles and styles 8th Lord of Clare 8th Lord of Tonbridge 7th Lord of Cardigan
Born	4 August 1222 Clare Castle, Clare, Suffolk, England
Died	14 July 1262(1262-07-14) (aged 39) Waltham, Canterbury, England
Buried	Tewkesbury Abbey
Family	de Clare
Spouse	Margaret de Burgh Maud de Lacy
Issue Isabel, Marchioness of Montferrat Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond Bogo de Clare Margaret, Countess of Cornwall Rohese de Mowbray, Baroness de Mowbray Eglentina de Clare
Father	Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford
Mother	Isabel Marshal
Occupation	Peerage of England

Early life

On his father's death, when he became Earl of Gloucester (October 1230), Richard was entrusted first to the guardianship of Hubert de Burgh. On Hubert's fall, his guardianship was given to Peter des Roches (c. October 1232); and in 1235 to Gilbert, Earl Marshall.[3]

Marriage

Richard's first marriage to Margaret or Megotta, as she was also called, ended with either an annulment or her death in November 1237. They were both about 14 or 15. The marriage of Hubert de Burgh's daughter Margaret to Richard de Clare, the young Earl of Gloucester, brought de Burgh into some trouble in 1236, for the earl was as yet a minor and in the wardship of King Henry III, and the marriage had been celebrated without the royal licence. Hubert, however, protested that the match was not of his making, and promised to pay the king some money, so the matter passed by for the time.[4][5] Even before Margaret died, the Earl of Lincoln offered 5,000 marks to King Henry to secure Richard for his own daughter. This offer was accepted, and Richard's second marriage, on 2 February 1238, was to Maud de Lacy, daughter of John de Lacy, 1st Earl of Lincoln[6]

Military career

Richard joined in the Barons' letter to the Pope in 1246 against the exactions of the Curia in England. He was among those in opposition to the King's half-brothers, who in 1247 visited England, where they were very unpopular, but afterwards he was reconciled to them.[7]

In August 1252/3 the King crossed over to Gascony with his army, and to his great indignation Richard refused to accompany him and went to Ireland instead. In August 1255 the king sent him and John Maunsel to Edinburgh to find out the truth about reports which had reached the King that his son-in-law, Alexander III, King of Scotland, was being coerced by Robert de Roos and John Balliol. They were to try to bring the young King and Queen to him. The Earl and his companion, pretending to be the two of Roos's knights, obtained entry to Edinburgh Castle, and gradually introduced their attendants, so that they had a force sufficient for their defence. They gained access to the Scottish Queen, who complained to them that she and her husband had been kept apart. They threatened Roos with dire punishments, so that he promised to go to the King.[1][4][8]

Meanwhile, the Scottish magnates, indignant that their castle of Edinburgh was in English hands, proposed to besiege it, but they desisted when they found they would be besieging their King and Queen. The King of Scotland apparently travelled south with Richard, for on 24 September they were with King Henry III at Newminster, Northumberland. In July 1258 he fell ill, supposedly poisoned together with his brother William by his steward, Walter de Scotenay. He recovered, but his brother died.[2]

Death and legacy

Richard died at John de Criol's Manor of Asbenfield in Waltham, near Canterbury, on 14 July 1262 at the age of 39; it was rumoured that he had been poisoned at the table of Piers of Savoy. On the following Monday he was carried to Canterbury where a requiem mass was sung; his body was then taken to the canons' church at Tonbridge and interred in the choir. From there it was taken to Tewkesbury Abbey and buried 28 July 1262, with great solemnity in the presence of two bishops and eight abbots in the presbytery at his father's right hand.[9] Richard's own arms were: Or, three chevronels gules.[10]

Richard left extensive property, distributed across numerous counties. Details of these holdings were reported at a series of inquisitions post mortem that took place after his death.[11]

Family

Richard had no children by his first wife, Margaret (or "Megotta") de Burgh. By his second wife, Maud de Lacy, daughter of the Surety John de Lacy and Margaret de Quincy, he had:

• Isabel de Clare (c. 1240–1270); m. William VII, Marquess of Montferrat.
• Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester (2 September 1243 – 7 December 1295)
• Thomas de Clare (c. 1245–1287); seized control of Thomond in 1277; m. Juliana FitzGerald
• Bogo de Clare (c. 1248–1294)
• Margaret de Clare (c. 1250–1312); m. Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall
• Rohese de Clare (c. 1252); m. Roger de Mowbray, 1st Baron Mowbray
• Eglentina de Clare (d. 1257); died in infancy.

Richard's widow Maud, who had the Manor of Clare and the Manor and Castle of Usk and other lands for her dower, erected a splendid tomb for her late husband at Tewkesbury. She arranged for the marriages of her children. She died before 10 March 1288/9.[12]

Ancestry

Ancestors of Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester

16. Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare 8. Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford 17. Alice de Gernon 4. Richard de Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford 18. James de St Hilary 9. Maud de St. Hilary 19. Aveline 2. Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford 20. Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester 10. William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester 21. Mabel FitzHamon of Gloucester 5. Amice FitzRobert, Countess of Gloucester 22. Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester 11. Hawise de Beaumont 24. Amice de Montfort 1. Richard De Clare 24. Gilbert Marshal 12. John Marshal (Earl Marshal) 6. William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke 26. Walter of Salisbury 13. Sybil of Salisbury 27. Sibilla de Chaworth 3. Isabel Marshal 28. Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke 14. Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke 29. Isabel de Beaumont 7. Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke 30. Dermot MacMurrough, King of Leinster 15. Eva MacMurrough 31. Mor O'Toole

See also

• Holy Jesus Hospital

References

1. Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1887). "Clare, Richard de (1222-1262)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 10. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
2. History of Tewkesbury by James Bennett 77
3. "Annals of Tewkesbury": H.R. Luard (ed.), 'Annales de Theokesberia', in Annales Monastici, Rolls Series, 4 vols (Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green 1864), I, pp. 41–180. (Internet Archive) (British Library Cottonian MS Cleopatra A. vii. In Latin).
4. Stephen, Leslie, ed. (1886). "Burgh, Hubert de" . Dictionary of National Biography. 7. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
5. Tewkesbury Annals p. 102 ; Worcest Ann. p. 428 ; Matt. Paris, vi. 63, 64; Land of Morgan, p. 126
6. "Annals of Tewkesbury", as 1237, p. 106; Pat. Rolls, 17 b
7. Altschul, Michael. A Baronial Family in Medieval England: The Clares, 1217–1314, 1965
8. Tewkesbury Annals, i. 66, 77, 83
9. "Annals of Tewkesbury", sub anno 1262, p. 169.
10. Annals of Tewkesbury, p. 102
11. Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem, 1st series, Vol. 1, Nos. 530 & 531.
12. In Calendar of Close Rolls, 1288–1296, p. 6 an entry dated 10 March 1288/9 refers to the death of Maud, countess of Gloucester.

Peerage of England
Preceded by Gilbert de Clare	Earl of Hertford 1230–1262	Succeeded by Gilbert de Clare
	Earl of Gloucester 1230–1262