| Notes |
Gilbert was nicknamed the 'Red Earl' after the colour of his hair. H
e was the eldest son of Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester & Hertfor
d and Margaret de Lacy, the Countess of Lincoln. After his father's de
ath in 1262, Gilbert, still a minor, inherited vast estates in the Wes
t Country, the Welsh Marches and Ireland. He took possession the follo
wing year. During Simon de Montfort's Rebellion of 1263-4, Gilbert wa
s, initially, a keen supporter and he and his brother were knighted b
y the Earl shortly before the Battle of Lewes. However, being the tw
o most powerful men in the country, a clash was inevitable. Gilbert wa
s greedy for the spoils of victory, including additional authority i
the government and a degree of independence for his vast estates. H
e therefore stood up as a defender of the 'Provisions of Oxford' - hi
s father's initiative to establish a proto-parliament - and inferred t
hat De Montfort's despotism was betraying its principles. In May 1265
, Gilbert split from the De Montfort party and allied himself with th
e newly escaped Prince Edward, for whom he won the Battle of Evesham
. However, while the surviving followers of De Montfort thought hi
m a traitor, Gilbert's relationship with the Royalist party was hardl
y less strained. He became a champion for disinherited rebel sympathi
zers and protested at the lack of implementation of the 'Provisions o
f Oxford', even though the Royal victory rendered these redundant. Wit
h constitutional restraint and decency as his watch words, Gilbert see
ms to have hoped to exercise a detached role in English political life
. When he found this impossible, he raised an army in 1267 and took ov
er the city of London. His grievances were then placed before the arbi
tration of Richard, Earl of Cornwall. To all the World, Gilbert thenc
e appeared reconciled with the establishment, but discontent was stil
l festering. Gilbert took up the cause of the Cross in 1268 and promi
sed to go on Crusade with Prince Edward two years later, although thi
s never came to fruition. The following year, he succeeded in securin
g the restoration of lands to those who had been disinherited. Thereaf
ter, however, his political autonomy was rendered impotent by firm Roy
al control and he remained loyal to King Edward I. Having been divorce
d from Henry II's hypochondriac half-niece, Alice De Lusignan, in 1271
, Gilbert remarried, in 1290, to Edward I's daughter, Joan of Acre. Th
e marriage contract stipulated his vast estates could only be inherite
d by their descendents, thus greatly increasing the chances of them re
verting to the Crown (which, indeed, occurred in 1314). Gilbert was th
us bound still more closely to the Royal Court; although, as late as 1
292, he was being tried over disputed rights in the Welsh Marches. H
e only gained his freedom and the restoration of his lands, after payi
g a fine of 10,000 marks (£6,666.13s.4d). Gilbert De Clare spent hi
s life attempting to establish himself in an independent political rol
e from which he might negotiate his loyalty to the Crown. Whatever hi
s actual view of the 'Provisions of Oxford', he played off one factio
against another in the Civil War, exploiting the situation as an eas
y means of pursuing his own personal agenda. In this, he ultimately fa
iled and was subsequently humiliated, largely because of his own polit
ical incompetence, but also due to the increase of Royal power after t
he Baronial Wars. In the end, although he remained at Court, he had be
come a relic of a bygone age. Earl Gilbert died in December 1295, at t
he age of fifty-two, and was buried in Tewkesbury Abbey (Gloucestershi
e); although his widow may have buried his heart in the church at the
ir favoured Berkshire manor of Long Wittenham, where the two often sta
yed when attended the King at Oxford and Woodstock. Source: http://ww
w.berkshirehistory.com/bios/gdeclare.html
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1243 - 1295 (52 years)
