The de Clare Family
The phrase "Honour of Clare" was brought to my attention by Thomas Wright in his History of Essex in
relation to Belchamp Otten. He also mentions the "Honour of Clare" with
resepect to Belchamp Walter and other Hinkford villages.
Actually, the reference was to Belchamp St. Elthelbert, which turns out to be one of Beresford's "lost villages".
(see link below)
I am still not sure what the "Honour of Clare" is. The term was still being used in relation
to 17th century affairs.
The Honour of Clare in Suffolk in the early Middle Ages
By JENNIFER C. WARD, M.A.,PH.D.
The article found on the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology & History gives an interesting background to some
of the research on Belchamp Walter's history. The importance of the de Clare family and their relation to Conquest
is not immediately clear from other sources.
Links to Wikipedia are added and to my history timeline
in the list below taken from Dr Ward's paper.
The following is a list of the Clare lords; they have been numbered in order to
avoid confusion over the names:
- Richard Fitz Gilbert - https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Richard_fitz_Gilbert
- son of count Gilbert of Brionne
- d. c. 1090
- Gilbert I - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Fitz_Richard
- Gilbert Fitz Richard - d. 1117
- Richard II - Richard Fitz Gilbert - d. 1136
- Gilbert-II, created earl of Hertford by King Stephen
- Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Hertford - c. 1140, d. 1153
- Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford - d. 1173 -
Roger de Breteuil.
- Richard III, 3rd Earl of Hertford - d. 1217
- Gilbert III - the first Clare earl of Gloucester, d. 1230. -
5th Earl of Gloucester
- Richard IV - d. 1262. age 39
- 6th Earl of Gloucester - 8th Lord of Clare
- Gilbert IV
- Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester - d. 1295.
- Joan of Acre - , daughter of King Edward I, and widow of Gilbert IV, d. 1307.
- Gilbert V, d. 1314.
After his death, his lands were divided among his three sisters, and the honour of Clare was granted to the youngest,
Elizabeth de Burgh, d. 1360.
See also
I have left the formatting of the list as taken from Dr. Ward's paper. I think that there is an error with respect
to Elizabeth de Burgh.
According to Wikipedia Elizabeth de Burgh/de Clare was the youngest daughter of Gilbert IV
(using the numbering system used by Dr. Ward).
This Gilbert de Clare was 7th Earl of Gloucester and died in 1295.
There is also no mention of
the Welsh Marches
with respect to Gilbert de Clare
Top
Quoting from Dr Ward:
From the Norman Conquest, the honour of Clare was one of the most extensiveand wealthy honours in eastern England,
comprising a vast conglomeration of estates great and small, with Clare as its caput, or administrative centre. Together with the
honour of Tonbridge in Kent, it was granted by William I to Richard son of count Gilbert of Brionne, his distant kinsman, and
originally it consisted of lands in Essex and Suffolk which had formerly belonged to Wisgarson of Aelfric, an Essex thegn, and to
Phin the Dane;
in the course of the twelfth century, valuable
manors in Norfolk were added to the honour. Richard son of
count Gilbert founded the Clare family which was to be in the
forefront of politics until Richard's last direct male descendant,
Gilbert V de Clare, earl of Hertford and Gloucester, fell at Bannockburn in 1314.,
The family's prominence in politics,and its ability to oppose the king, particularly in the thirteenth century, are
largely explainedby the extent of its landed wealth; Gilbert V had an income of over £6,500 in 1314, and
was among the wealthiest barons in England.
Only a part of this income, almost £1,700, was drawn from the honour of Clare; most came from estates
acquired later, and in particular from the honour of Gloucester with extensive lands in the West Country
and South Wales.
The de Clare Family
As Clare is a neighbouring village there is no surprise that the histories are in common.
The de Clare and de Vere families are key to the understanding of the history of the region. The relative powers of the
Earls of Oxford and the de Clare Barons need to be understood.
Background to this page
Having seen some of my history pages being found by those making an Internet search I have decided to add
a bit more context on how the pages came about.
Wikipedia Links
Links are made to the Wikipedia pages for the members of the de Clare dynasty. This is because the Wikipedia
pages are updated independently and have a fundamentally different style guide to this website. The links should
correspond with Dr. Ward's paper.
For example, this is relevant for Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Hertford as his dispute with King Stephen in 1147
resulted in the demand to surrender his castles but was reconcilled at a later date, along with another Gibert.
Without futher inspection this may be clear in Dr. Ward's paper, however, the power and influence of the de Clares
is not in question here.
The second quote from Dr. Ward:
Most of the family's income was derived from its demesne
manors, the lands which it kept in its own hands, and exploited
for its own profit. In Suffolk,the mostimportant estates comprised
the borough and manor of Clare, the manors of Hundon, and
Desning in Gazeley, and the borough of Sudbury with the manor
of Wood Hall. The first three were all held in demesne at the time
of William the Conqueror; Sudbury originally belonged to the
honour of Gloucester, but was administered as part of the Clare
lands in the late thirteenth century. In examining the demesne
manors, as in investigating other aspects of the honour, emphasis
must mainly be placed on the later history, for, apart from Domesday Book and some charter and
cartulary material, there is little evidence before the Ministers' Accounts and Court Rolls of the
late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries.
In a similar manner the de Vere family are recorded as Demensne lords for the Belchamp area.
