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The De Clare/Claire/Declair Family

England Flag This line orginated from England. England Flag


To go straight to the DeClare family research logs, click here: DeClare
FAMILY INDEX:

  • Eleonor De Clare - (1292 - 1337)
  • Sir Gilbert De Clare - (Abt.1180 - 1230)
  • Gilbert "the Red" de Clare, Earl Gloucester, 3rd - (1243 - 1295)
  • Gilbert de Clare, 10th Earl of Clare - (1291 - 1314)
  • Margaret De Clare
  • **Richard Fitzgilbert De Clare - (? - 1136)
  • Richard De Clare - (? - 1217)
  • Richard De Clare - (1222 - 1262)
  • Roger De Clare - (Abt.1135 - 1173)


    **Note: Joan of Acre Plantagenet is also my ancestor. Click here to go to her!!! This is great!


    • The Descendents of Richard Fitzgilbert De Clare and Alice De Chester



    Motto: "Nils asmirari."("To be astonished at nothing.")



    I. Richard Fitzgilbert De Clare
          Richard was born Abt. 1087 in Hertford, England and died on 4/15/1136 in Monmouthshire, England. He married Alice De Chester.
    The 1 known child of Richard Fitzgilbert De Clare and Alice De Chester is as follows:

    II. Roger De Clare


    II. Roger De Clare
          Roger was born Abt. 1135 and died in 1173. He married Maud De St. Hillary. She died in 1195.
    The 1 known child of Roger De Clare and Maud De St. Hillaryis as follows:

    III. Richard Declair


    III. Richard Declair
          Richard was born Abt. 1153 and died Abt. 11/28/1217. He married Amice Countess of Gloucaster. She died 1/1/1223.
    The 1 known child of Sir Ralph de Coggeshall and Elizabeth is as follows:

    IV. Sir Gilbert De Clare


    IV. Sir Gilbert De Clare
          Gilbert was born Abt. 1180 and died on 10/25/1230. He married Isabell Marshall on 10/09/1217. She died 1/17/1238.
    The 1 known child of John de Coggeshall and Isabell Marshallis as follows:

    V. Richard De Clare


    V. Richard De Clare
          Richard was born 8/04/1222 and died in 7/15/1262. He married Maud De Lacey on 1/25/1236.
      "Richard Earl of Gloucester married the Earl of Lincoln's daughter Maud, and this marriage resulted in two sons - Thomas and Gilbert "The Red", who was entitled Earl of Gloucester upon his father's death. Born in 1243, Gilbert rose to become one of the most powerful and influential men in England at his time; he used the strife of the mid thirteenth century Baronial Wars to his advantage - siding first with Simon de Montfort at the battle of Lewis in 1264, and afterwards with Henry II and Prince Edward. Indeed, the Earl of Gloucester played a crucial role in the defeat of de Montfort's army at the battle of Evesham the following year, and used the opportunity to strengthen the family's position in the Welsh borderlands." --Daniel Mersey.
      Richard de Clare was a leading member of the reforming party of barons in England.
    The 1 known child of Richard De Clare and Maud De Laceyis as follows:

    VI. Gilbert "the Red" de Clare, Earl Gloucester, 3rd


    VI. Gilbert "the Red" de Clare, Earl Gloucester, 3rd
          Gilbert was born 9/02/1243 in Hampshire, England and died in 12/07/1295 in Monmouth Castle, Gloucester,England. He was the 3rd Earl Of Glouces. He married Joan of Acre Plantagenet on 5/02/1290 in Westminster Abbey, London, England. She was born in 1272 in Acre, Palestine, Israel and died on 4/23/1307 in Clare, Suffolk, England. She is buried in Clare Priory, Suffolk, England.
      "Gilbert "the Red" as he was known after the fiery color of his hair - was to become involved in the turbulent English politics of the 1260s. At the time of his father's death Gilbert was a minor, though he was given possession of the Gloucester estates in 1263. To begin with, Gilbert continued in good terms with his powerful neighbor, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. However, over the next few years a series of military and political events was to completely change this situation; the building of de Clare's masterpiece Caerphilly Castle, can be seen as the last and most dramatic episode in this story." --Daniel Mersey



      Caerphilly Castle, Caerphilly, South Wales. Photographer: Jeffrey L. Thomas.
      Caerphilly Castle is one of the great medieval castles of western Europe. Several factors give it this pre-eminence - its immense size (1.2h), making it the largest in Britain after Windsor, its large-scale use of water for defence and the fact that it is the first truly concentric castle in Britain. Of the time of its building in the late 13th century, it was a revolutionary masterpiece of military planning. --Daniel Mersey
      "Gilbert sealed his favour with the royal household by divorcing his first wife Alice in 1271 in order to marry Joan of Acre - Joan was the daughter of the newly crowned Edward I." --Daniel Mersey
      "Gilbert "the Red" as he was known after the fiery color of his hair - was to become involved in the turbulent English politics of the 1260s. At the time of his father's death Gilbert was a minor, though he was given possession of the Gloucester estates in 1263. To begin with, Gilbert continued in good terms with his powerful neighbor, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd. However, over the next few years a series of military and political events was to completely change this situation; the building of de Clare's masterpiece Caerphilly C astle, can be seen as the last and most dramatic episode in this story." -- --Daniel Mersey
    The 3 known children of Gilbert "the Red" de Clare and Joan of Acre Plantagenet are as follows:

       VII. Eleonor De Clare
  •   Margaret De Clare
  •   Gilbert de Clare, 10th Earl of Clare    b. 1291



    VII. Eleonor De Clare
          Eleonor was born in 1292 in Caerphilly Castle, Glamorgan, England and died on 6/30/1337. She married Hugh Le Despencer, Lord in 1306 in Westminster. He was born in England and died 11/24/1326 in Hereord, England.
      "The second daughter, Eleanor, was married to Hugh le Despenser - who replaced Gaveston as Edward's favourite, and cost Eleanor the marriage. Le Despenser was later beheaded with his father in 1326. Eleanor went on to marry William la Zouche." --Daniel Mersey
      A favorite of King Edward II. His wife was co-heir of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester. The Despencers and the Clares are both in Cokayne's "Complete Peerage."
      Hugh has been called Earl of Gloucester by some writers but The Complete Peerage vol.V,p715 makes it clear he was not. Executed. The Complete Peerage vol.IV.pp.267-271.
    The 1 known child of Eleonor De Clare and Hugh Le Despencer, Lord is as follows:

    VIII. Isabel Despencer


    **My DE CLARE line ends here with Eleonor De Clare and becomes Despencer.

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    **Note: The information gathered here is a piece by piece collection from many sources that I have combined personally to create a more complete early De Clare Family History. If you would like to know the sources used to gain this information or have information to contribute or correct, please feel free to email me.