Family of Richard * of CLARE and Maud * + of LACY

Husband:	Richard * of CLARE (1222-1262)
Wife:	Maud * + of LACY (1223-1288)
Children:	Isabel of CLARE (1240- )
	Gilbert of CLARE (1243-1295)
	Thomas * of CLARE (1245-1287)
	Bogo of CLARE (1248- )
	Margaret of CLARE (1250- )
	Rohese + of CLARE (1252-1316)
	Eglentina of CLARE (1257- )
Status:	Unknown
Marriage	25 Jan 1238	Lincolnshire, England

Husband: Richard * of CLARE

Name:	Richard * of CLARE
Sex:	Male
Father:	Gilbert * + of CLARE (1180-1230)
Mother:	Isabel * + MARSHALL (1200-1240)
Birth	4 Aug 1222	Mellent, Gloucestershire, England
Occupation		Earl of Hertford, Gloucester, Clare
Title		Earl of Hertford (5th)
Title		Earl of Gloucester (6th)
Title		Earl of Clare (8th)
Death	15 Jul 1262 (age 39)	Ashenfield Manor, Waltham, Kent, England
Burial	28 Jul 1262	Canon's Church in Tonbridge

Wife: Maud * + of LACY

Name:	Maud * + of LACY
Sex:	Female
Father:	John + of LACY (1192-1240)
Mother:	Margaret + of QUINCY (1206- )
Birth	25 Jan 1223	Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England
Occupation		Countess of Gloucester
Title		Countess of Gloucester
Title		Countess of Hertford
Death	10 Mar 1288 (age 65)

Child 1: Isabel of CLARE

Name:	Isabel of CLARE
Sex:	Female
Birth	1240

Child 2: Gilbert of CLARE

Name:	Gilbert of CLARE
Sex:	Male
Nickname:	The Red
Spouse 1:	Joan of ACRE (1272-1307)
Spouse 2:	Alice + of LUSIGNAN (1224-1291)
Birth	2 Sep 1243	Christchurch, Hampshire, England
Occupation		Earl of Gloucester
Death	7 Dec 1295 (age 52)	Monmouth Castle, Monmouthshire, England
Burial		Tewkesbury Abbey, Tewkesbury, England

Child 3: Thomas * of CLARE

Child 4: Bogo of CLARE

Name:	Bogo of CLARE
Sex:	Male
Birth	21 Jul 1248
Death	"10/1294"

Child 5: Margaret of CLARE

Name:	Margaret of CLARE
Sex:	Female
Birth	1250

Child 6: Rohese + of CLARE

Name:	Rohese + of CLARE
Sex:	Female
Spouse:	Roger + (1254-1297)
Birth	17 Oct 1252	Tonbridge, Kent, England
Death	1316 (age 63-64)

Child 7: Eglentina of CLARE

Name:	Eglentina of CLARE
Sex:	Female
Birth	1257

Note on Husband: Richard * of CLARE

Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester (4 August 1222 – 14 July 1262) was son of Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford and Isabel Marshal.[1] 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.[2]

 

Richard's first marriage to Margaret or Megotta, as she was also called, ended with an annulment or with her death in November 1237. They were both approximately fourteen or fifteen. The marriage of Hubert de Burgh's daughter Margaret to Richard of 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 king's wardship, and the marriage had been celebrated without the royal license. 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.[3]. 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 was married secondly, on 2 Feb. 1238 to Maud de Lacy, daughter of John de Lacy, 1st Earl of Lincoln [4]

 

[edit] Military careerA year after he came of age, he was in an expedition against the Welsh. Through his mother, he inherited a fifth part of the Marshal estates, including Kilkenny and other lordships in Ireland.[citation needed]

 

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.[5]

 

On April 1248, he had letters of protection for going overseas on a pilgrimage. At Christmas 1248, he kept his Court with great splendour on the Welsh border. In the next year he went on a pilgrimage to St. Edmund at Pontigny, returning in June. In 1252 he observed Easter at Tewkesbury, and then went across the seas to restore the honor of his brother William, who had been badly worsted in a tournament and had lost all his arms and horses. The Earl is said to have succeeded in recovering all, and to have returned home with great credit, and in September he was present at the Round Table tournament at Walden.[citation needed]

 

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 he and John Maunsel were sent to Edinburgh by the King to find out the truth regarding reports which had reached the King that his son-in-law, Alexander, King of Scotland, was being coerced by Robert de Roos and John Baliol. If possible, they were 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 defense. They gained access to the Scottish Queen, who made her complaints 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.[6]

 

Meanwhile the Scottish magnates, indignant at their castle of Edinburgh's being 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 traveled South with the Earl, for on 24 September they were with King Henry III at Newminster, Northumberland. In July 1258 he fell ill, being poisoned with his brother William, as it was supposed, by his steward, Walter de Scotenay. He recovered but his brother died.[7]

 

[edit] Death and legacyRichard died at John de Griol's manor of Asbenfield in Waltham, near Canterbury, 14 July 1262, it being rumored that he had been poisoned at the table of Piers of Savoy. On the following Monday he was carried to Canterbury where a mass for the dead was sung, after which his body was taken to the canon's church at Tonbridge and interred in the choir. Thence 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. Richard's own arms were: Or, three chevronels gules.[8]

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, b. ca. 1240, d. 1270, m. William VII of Montferrat.

Gilbert de Clare, b. 2 September 1243, d. 7 December 1295, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester.

Thomas de Clare, b. ca. 1245, d. 1287, he seized control of Thomond in 1277; m. Juliana FitzGerald

Bogo de Clare, b. ca. 1248, d. 1294.

Margaret de Clare, b. ca. 1250, d. 1312, m. Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall

Rohese de Clare, b. ca. 1252, m. Roger de Mowbray

Eglentina, d. 1257 in infancy.

His 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.[citation needed]

Note on Wife: Maud * + of LACY

Maud de Lacy, (25 January 1223 – 1287/10 March 1289), was an English noblewoman, being the eldest child of John de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln, and the wife of Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester.

 

Maud de Lacy had a personality that was described as "highly-competitive and somewhat embittered".[1] She became known as one of the most litigious women in the 13th century[1] as she was involved in numerous litigations and lawsuits with her tenants, neighbours, and relatives, including her own son. Author Linda Elizabeth Mitchell, in her Portraits of Medieval Women: Family, Marriage, and Politics in England 1225-1350', states that Maud's life has received "considerable attention by historians".[2]

 

Maud was styled Countess of Hertford and Countess of Gloucester upon her marriage to Richard de Clare. Although her mother, Margaret de Quincy, was suo jure Countess of Lincoln, this title never passed to Maud as her mother's heir was Henry de Lacy, the son of Maud's deceased younger brother Edmund de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract.[3]

 

Her eldest son was Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester, a powerful noble during the reigns of kings Henry III of England and Edward I

Maud de Lacy was born on 25 January 1223 in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, the eldest child of John de Lacy, 2nd Earl of Lincoln, a Magna Carta Surety, and Margaret de Quincy, 2nd Countess of Lincoln suo jure.

 

Maud had a younger brother Edmund de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract who married in 1247 Alasia of Saluzzo, by whom he had three children.

 

Her paternal grandparents were Roger de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract and Maud de Clare, and her maternal grandparents were Robert de Quincy and Hawise of Chester, 1st Countess of Lincoln suo jure.[4]

 

Maud and her mother, Margaret, were never close; in point of fact, relations between the two women were described as strained.[5] Throughout Maud's marriage, the only interactions between Maud and her mother were quarrels regarding finances, pertaining to the substantial Marshal family property Margaret owned and controlled due to the latter's second marriage on 6 January 1242 to Walter Marshal, 5th Earl of Pembroke almost two years after the death of Maud's father, John de Lacy in 1240.[3] Despite their poor rapport with one another, Maud was, nevertheless, strongly influenced by her mother.[2]

 

The fact that her mother preferred her grandson, Henry over Maud did not help their relationship; Henry, who was also her mother's ward, was made her heir, and he later succeeded to the earldom of Lincoln.[5]

 

[edit] Marriage to the Earl of GloucesterOn 25 January 1238 which was her fifteenth birthday, Maud married Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, and 6th Earl of Gloucester, son of Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford, 5th Earl of Gloucester, and Isabel Marshal. Maud was his second wife; his first marriage, which was made clandestinely, to Megotta de Burgh, ended in an annulment.[6] Even before the annulment of the Earl's marriage to Megotta, Maud's parents paid King Henry III the enormous sum of 5,000 pounds to obtain[7] his agreement to the marriage. The King supplied her dowry which consisted of the castle of Usk, the manor of Clere, as well as other lands and manors.[7]

 

Throughout her marriage, Maud's position as the wife of the most politically-significant nobleman of the 13th century was diminished by her mother's control of a third of the Marshal inheritance and her rank as Countess of Lincoln and dowager countess of Pembroke.[8]

 

Richard being the heir to one-fifth of the Pembroke earldom was also the guarantor of his mother-in-law's dowry.[9]

 

In about 1249/50, Maud ostensibly agreed to the transfer of the manor of Navesby in Northamptonshire, which had formed the greatest part of her maritagium [marriage portion], to her husband's young niece Isabella and her husband, William de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle as part of Isabella's own maritagium.[7] Years later, after the deaths of both women's husbands, Maud sued Isabella for the property, claiming that it had been transferred against her will. Isabella, however, was able to produce the chirograph that showed Maud's participation in the writing of the document; this according to the Common Law signified Maud's agreement to the transaction, and Maud herself was "amerced for litigating a false claim".[7]

 

[edit] IssueTogether Richard and Maud had seven children:[10]

 

Isabel de Clare (1240 – before 1271), married as his second wife, William VII of Montferrat, by whom she had one daughter, Margherita. She was allegedly killed by her husband.[10]

Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester (2 September 1243 – 7 December 1295), married firstly Alice de Lusignan of Angouleme by whom he had two daughters; he married secondly Joan of Acre, by whom he had issue.

Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond (1245 – 29 August 1287), married as her first husband Juliana FitzGerald, daughter of Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly and Maud de Prendergast, by whom he had issue including Richard de Clare, 1st Lord Clare and Margaret de Clare, Baroness Badlesmere.

Bogo de Clare, Chancellor of Llandaff (21 July 1248 – 1294)

Margaret de Clare (1250 – 1312/1313), married Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall. Their marriage was childless.

Rohese de Clare (17 October 1252 – after 1316), married Roger de Mowbray, 1st Baron Mowbray, by whom she had issue.

Eglantine de Clare (1257 – 1257)

 

Tewkesbury Abbey, where Maud designed and commissioned a splendid tomb for her husband Richard de Clare, 6th Earl of Gloucester[edit] WidowhoodOn 15 July 1262, her husband died near Canterbury. Maud designed and commissioned a magnificent tomb for him at Tewkesbury Abbey where he was buried. She also donated the manor of Sydinghowe to the priory of Legh, Devonshire for the soul of Richard, formerly her husband, earl of Gloucester and Hertford by charter dated to 1280.[10] Their eldest son Gilbert succeeded Richard as the 6th Earl of Hertford and 7th Earl of Gloucester. Although Maud carefully arranged the marriages of her daughters, the King owned her sons' marriage rights.[3]

 

She was involved in numerous lawsuits and litigations with her tenants, neighbours, and relatives, including her eldest son Gilbert, who sued her for admeasurement of her dowry.[7] In her 27 years of widowhood, Maud brought 33 suits into the central courts; and she herself was sued a total of 44 times.[1] As a result she was known as one of the most litigious women in the 13th century.[3] She did, however, endorse many religious houses, including the priories of Stoke-by-Clare and Canonsleigh.[11] She also vigorously promoted the clerical career of her son, Bogo, and did much to encourage his ambitions and acquisitiveness. She was largely responsible for many of the benefices that were bestowed on him, which made him the richest churchman of the period.[12] Although not an heiress, Maud herself was most likely the wealthiest widow in 13th century England.[1]

 

Maud died sometime between 1287 and 10 March 1289.¹

Sources

1	Linda Elizabeth Mitchell, "Portraits of Medieval Women: Family, Marriage and Politics in England in 1225-1350".