De Clare

House de Clare
Noble House

Country	Duchy of Normandy Lordship of Glamorgan Kingdom of England Lordship of Ireland
Estates	Various Earldoms, Baronies and over 190 Manorial Lordships
Titles	Various
Style(s)	Earls, Barons, and Knights
Founder	Richard fitz Gilbert
Ethnicity	Norman

The de Clare family of Norman lords were associated with the Welsh Marches, Suffolk, Surrey, Kent (especially Tonbridge) and Ireland. They were descended from Richard Fitz Gilbert, 1st Lord of Clare (1035-1090), who accompanied William the Conqueror (1028-1087) into England during the Norman conquest of England. In the paternal line they were illegitimate descendants of the House of Normandy, through one of Richard I, Duke of Normandy's sons, Geoffrey de Brionne, 1st Count of Eu, 1st Count of Brionne. The early Normans followed the Viking custom of marriage called more danico, which they considered a legitimate form of marriage. The Church considered this the same as concubinage, therefore it did not command the same respect and inviolability as Christian marriage, thus making Geoffrey an illegitimate child. They became one of the most powerful and influential noble families of their time in England, Wales, and Ireland.

The de Clare family descends from Gilbert de Brionne, 2nd Count of Eu, 2nd Count of Brionne, whose father Geoffrey de Brionne was the eldest of the illegitimate sons of Richard I, Duke of Normandy. Gilbert de Brionne was one of the guardians of William II, who became Duke of Normandy as a child in 1035. When Gilbert was assassinated in 1039 or 1040, his young sons Baldwin de Meules et du Sap and Richard de Bienfaite et d'Orbec fled with their guardians to Baldwin V, Count of Flanders; they returned to Normandy when William married Baldwin's daughter in 1053, and William took them into high favour. After the conquest of England Richard received huge estates including Clare and Tonbridge, the estate whose name was normally coupled with his.