Richard de Clare 5th Earl of Hertford 6th Earl of Gloucester 2nd Lord of Glamorgan |
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Arms of the de Clare Family
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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 |
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 |
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Titles and styles
8th Lord of Clare
8th Lord of Tonbridge 7th Lord of Cardigan |
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Family | de Clare |
Father | Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford |
Mother | Isabel Marshal |
Born | 4 August 1222 Clare Castle, Clare, Suffolk, England |
Died | 14 July 1262 Waltham, Canterbury, England |
(aged 39)
Occupation | Peerage of England |
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. On his father's death, when he became Earl of Gloucester (October 1230), he 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. He was also a powerful Marcher Lord in Wales and inherited the Lordship of Glamorgan upon the death of his father.
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. 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
He 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.
In August 1252/3 the King crossed over to Gascony with his army, and to his great indignation the Earl 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.