Sir Richard DE CLARE

Abt 1153 - Bef 1217  (~ 64 years)

• Name	Richard DE CLARE
  Prefix	Sir
  Born	Abt 1153	Tunbridge Castle, Kent, England
  Gender	Male
  Noteworthy	Was one of the 25 sureties of the Magna Carta in 1215, for which he was excommunicated.
  Occupation	Earl of Clare, 3rd Earl of Hertford
  Died	Bef 28 Nov 1217	Tunbridge Castle, Kent, England
  Person ID	I43289	Main
  Last Modified	26 Jul 2017

  
  

  Family	Amice FITZWILLIAM,   b. Abt 1160, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, England ,   d. 1 Jan 1225, England  (Age ~ 65 years)
  Children	+ 1. Sir Gilbert DE CLARE,   b. Abt 1180, Hertfordshire, England ,   d. 25 Oct 1230, Perres Guirrec Penrose, Bretagne, France  (Age ~ 50 years)
  Last Modified	26 Jul 2017
  Family ID	F30512	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Event Map		Born - Abt 1153 - Tunbridge Castle, Kent, England Died - Bef 28 Nov 1217 - Tunbridge Castle, Kent, England  = Link to Google Earth
  Pin Legend	: Address       : Location       : City/Town       : County/Shire       : State/Province       : Country       : Not Set

  
  

• Notes

  Richard de Clare, appointed to the Twenty Five, of the senior branch of the family, was the s/o Roger de Clare (d. 1173), lord of Tonbridge, who was in turn the younger brother and successor of Gilbert II (d. 1152), to whom King Stephen had granted the title earl of Hertford in or around 1138. In the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries the earls used the title ‘of Hertford’ interchangeably with that of earl of Clare. [3] For over four decades until his death in 1217 Earl Richard was the effective head of the house of Clare. He does not appear to have been especially active, however, playing little part in national affairs either in the last years of Henry II’s reign or in that of Richard the Lionheart. He only emerged as a figure of political importance towards the end of his life in the crisis of John’s reign, when he was appointed to the Twenty Five, most probably in recognition less of his personal qualities than his family’s exalted standing in the realm.[3] On 9 Nov. 1215 he was one of the commissioners on the part of the Barons to treat of peace with the king. He sided with the Barons against King John. He played a leading part in the negotiations with the King, becoming a Magna Carta Surety. His lands were taken, and he and his son were among the Barons excommunicated by Pope Innocent III in 1216. On returning to fealty 5 Oct. 1217, he had restitution. On the death of her sister, Isabel, Countess of Gloucester, in 1217, Amice became sole heir to their father, William, Earl of Gloucester. [1] He sided with the Barons against King John, even though he had previously sworn peace with the King at Northampton, and his castle of Tonbridge was taken. He played a leading part in the negotiations for Magna Carta, [6] being one of the twenty five sureties. On 9 November 1215, he was one of the commissioners on the part of the Barons to negotiate the peace with the King. In 1215, his lands in counties Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex were granted to Robert de Betun. He and his son were among the Barons excommunicated by the Pope in 1215. His own arms were: Blazon for Richard Earl of Clare, Hertford and Gloucester: Or, three chevronels gules.[2] Earl Richard was an active participant on the baronial side in the civil war that followed in the wake of King John’s rejection of Magna Carta. He fought with Louis and the French at the battle of Lincoln in May 1217 and was taken captive by none other than William Marshal, the Regent, whose daughter, Isabel, he was later to marry. In 1225 he was a witness to Henry III’s definitive reissue of Magna Carta. In 1230 he accompanied Henry on his expedition to Brittany, but died on the way back at Penros, in the duchy. The earl’s body was brought by way of Plymouth to Tewkesbury, where he was buried before the high altar of the great abbey. A monument, now lost, was erected to his memory by his widow.[3]