Richard de , Earl Gloucester & Hertford CLARE

                   Gilbert de Clare, surnamed the Red, 7th Earl of Hertford and 3rd Earl ofGloucester, who, by the king's procurement, m. in 1257, Alice, dau. ofGuy, Earl of Angoulême, and niece of the king of France, which monarchbestowed upon the lady a marriage portion of 5,000 marks. This nobleman,who, like his predecessors, was zealous in the cause of the barons,proceeded to London immediately after the defeat sustained by theinsurrectionary lords at Northampton (48th Henry III) [1264], in order torouse the citizens, which, having effected, he received the honour ofknighthood from Montfort, Earl of Leicester, at the head of the army atLewes; of which army, his lordship, with John Fitz-John and William deMontchensi, commanded the second brigade, and having mainly contributedto the victory in which the king and prince became prisoners, while thewhole power of the realm fell into the hands of the victors, the earlprocured a grant under the great seal of all the lands and possessionslying in England of John de Warren, Earl of Surrey, one of the mostfaithful adherents of the king, excepting the castles of Riegate andLewes, to hold during the pleasure of the crown, and he soon after, withsome of the principal barons, extorted from the captive monarch acommission authorizing Stephen, then bishop of Chichester, SimonMontford, Earl of Leicester, and himself, to nominate nine persons of"the most faithful, prudent, and most studious of the public weal," aswell prelates as others, to manage all things according to the laws andcustoms of the realm until the consultations at Lewes should terminate.Being jealous, however, of the power of Leicester, the earl soon afterabandoned the baronial cause and, having assisted in procuring theliberty of the king and prince, commanded the second brigade of the royalarm at the battle of Evesham, which restored the kingly power to itsformer lustre. In reward of these eminent services he received a fullpardon for himself and his brother Thomas of all prior treasons, and thecustody of the castle of Bergavenny during the minority of Maud, wife ofHumphrey de Bohun. His lordship veered again though in his allegiance andhe does not appear to have been sincerely reconciled to the royal causeuntil 1270, in which year, demanding from Prince Edward repayment of theexpenses he had incurred at the battle of Evesham, with livery of all thecastles and lands which his ancestors had possessed and, those demandshaving been complied with, he thenceforward became a good and loyalsubject of the crown. Upon the death of King Henry, the Earl of Hertfordand Gloucester was one of the lords who met at the New Temple in Londonto proclaim Prince Edward, then in the Holy Land, successor to the crown,and so soon as the new monarch returned to England, his lordship was thefirst to entertain him and his whole retinue with great magnificence forseveral days at his castle of Tonebruge. In the 13th Edward I [1285], hislordship divorced his wife Alice, the French princess, and inconsideration of her illustrious birth, granted for her support duringher life, six extensive manors and parks, and he m. in 1289, Joan ofAcre, dau. of King Edward I, upon which occasion he gave up theinheritance of his castles and manors, as well in England as i Wales, tohis royal father-in-law, to dispose of as he might think proper; whichmanors, &c., were entailed by the king upon the earl's issue by the saidJoane, and in default, upon her heirs and assigns, should she survive thelordship. By this lady he had issue, Gilbert, his successor, Alianore,Margaret, and Elizabeth. His lordship d. in 1295, and the Countess Joansurviving, m. a "plain esquire," called Ralph de Monthermer,clandestinely, without the king, her father's, knowledge, but to whichalliance he was reconciled through the intercession of Anthony Beke, thecelebrated bishop of Durham, and became eventually much attached to hisnow son-in-law. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke'sPeerage, London, 1883, pp. 119-120, Clare, Lords of Clare, Earls ofHertford, Earls of Gloucester]

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Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester (1243-1295), 8th earl of Gloucesterand 9th earl of Clare, was born at Christchurch, Hampshire, on Sept. 2,1243. He married Alice of Angoulême, niece of king Henry III, succeededhis father in July 1262, and joined the baronial party led by Simon deMontfort. With Simon, Gloucester was at the battle of Lewes in May 1264,when the king himself surrendered to him, and after this victory he wasone of the three persons selected to nominate a council. Soon, however,he quarreled with Simon. Leaving London for his lands on the Welsh borderhe met Prince Edward, afterward king Edward I, at Ludlow, just after hisescape from captivity; and contributed largely to the prince's victory atEvesham in August 1265. But this alliance was as transitory as the onewith Leicester, Gloucester championed the barons who had surrendered atKenilworth in November and December 1266, and after putting his demandsbefore the king, secured possession of London (April 1267). The earlquickly made his peace with Henry III and with Prince Edward. UnderEdward I he spent several years in fighting in Wales, or on the Welshborder; in 1289 when the barons were asked for a subsidy he replied ontheir behalf that they would grant nothing until they saw the king inperson (nihi prius personaliter viderent in Anglia faciem regis), and in1291 he was fined and imprisoned on account of levying private war onHumphrey de Bohun, earl of Hereford. Having divorced his wife Alice, hemarried in 1290 Edward's daughter Joan, or Johanna (d. 1307). The "RedEarl," as he is sometimes called, died at Monmouth on Dec. 7, 1295,leaving, in addition to three daughters, a son, Gilbert, earl ofGloucester, killed at Bannockburn. [Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1961 ed.,Vol. 10, p. 434, GLOUCESTER, GILBERT DE CLARE, EARL OF.]
                  

                   Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond in Connaught, 2nd son of 5th Earl ofHertford and 2nd Earl of Gloucester.  [Burke's Peerage]

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Thomas, governor of the city of London, 1st Edward I [1272-3], and waskilled in battle in Ireland fourteen years after, leaving by Amy, hiswife, dau. of Sir Maurice FitzMaurice, Gilbert, who d. s. p.; Richard, d.v. p., leaving a son, Thomas, who d. s. p.; Thomas, whose daus. andeventual co-heiresses were Margaret, wife of Bartholomew, 1st LordBadlesmere, and Maud, wife of Robert, Lord Clifford, of Appleby. [SirBernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, Burke'sPeerage, London, 1883, p. 119, Clare, Lords of Clare, Earls of Hertford,Earls of Gloucester]