HOLDERS OF THE HONOUR OF CLARE (X) 1295
GILBERT DE CLARE, Lord of Clare, &c., son and heir by 2nd w ife, born 1291, who, in 1307, on the death of his mother [w hose 2nd husband had been summoned as Earl of Gloucester an d Hertford, 1299 to1306], became Earl of Gloucester and he rtford. He died s.p.s., being slain at Bannockburn, 24 Jun e 1314. [Complete Peerage III:244, (transcribed by Dave Utz inger)]
EARLDOM OF HERTFORD (VII) 1295
GILBERT DE CLARE, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, also Lor d of Clare, son and heir. He dsps., being slain at Bannock burn, 24 Jun 1314. [Complete Peerage VI:503]
EARLDOM OF GLOUCESTER (VII) 1295 to 1314
GILBERT DE CLARE, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, only so n and heir of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, and Joa n his wife, both abovenamed, was b. 11 or 10 May 1291 (a) , and baptised by Robert Burnell, Bishop of Bath and Wells . Queen Margaret had the custody of him, 13 May 1301, an d he was for a time an inmate of St. Gile's Hospital. He w as knighted by the King 22 May 1306. On 15 Nov following t he escheator was ordered to take possession of his lands, g oods, &c., he having, with eighteen others, withdrawn fro m the King's service in Scotland and gone beyond the seas . After the death of his mother, in Apr 1307, he was style d Earl of Gloucester and Hertford. On 18 Aug 1307 all hi s lands in Wales were granted to him, and on 26 Nov he ha d livery of his father's lands, though still under age, an d had livery also of his lands in London and others held i n socage. He had licence to marry whom he would on 12 Ma r 1307/8. In the disputes occasioned by the favours showere d by his uncle, the young King, on his foreign favourite, P iers de Gavaston--who married Gilbert's sister Margaret th e following year--he took no part. He had summonses for Mi litary Service, 21Jun 1308, for 22 Aug at Carlisle, to pro ceed to Scotland against Robert de Brus; 30 Jun and 30 Ju l 1309 (Newcastle); and 18 Jun 1310 for Berwick. He was su mmoned to Parliament from 16 Aug 1308, when still under age , to 20 Apr 1314, when attendance was excused on account o f the expedition to Scotland. From 14 Oct 1308 to 10 Mar 1 308/9 he was Chief Guardian of Scotland as the King's Deput y,and on 3 Dec 1308 was made chief Captain of the expediti on into Scotland to relieve Rutherglen. On 17 Mar 1308/9 h e joined in the letter from the barons and bishops to the K ing on the subject ofreforms. He was forbidden to tourne y in June 1309, and again on 17 Jan 1312/3 he and others we re prohibited from attending a tournament at Newmarket. O n 14 Sep 1309 he was still chief Captain inScotland and th e North. In Feb 1309/10, and again on 24 May, he and the E arls of Lincoln, Warenne, and Richmond were commissioned t o ensure the safety of Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, and other s coming to Parliament; no one to come with an armed force . He was present at the delivery, 11 May 1310, of the Grea t Seal to the King at Woodstock, and in Aug accompanied th e King to Berwick, when they stayed at Norham Castle on th e way. In Feb 1310/1, he and Earl Warenne made an officia l tour of the forest of Selkirk, and on 4 Mar he was appoin ted Keeper of the Realm during the King's absencein Scotla nd in place of Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, deceased, hi s writs being issued as from "the King's Lieutenant" unti l the following June. On 27 Mar he had licence to hunt i n the King'sforests when passing through them, and on 2 Oc t 1313 he had a grant to fish in preserved waters. In Ap r 1311 he was again with the King in Scotland, and in Jun e was with him in Berwick. On 15 Jul1311 he ahd a grant o f all wardships and marriages until he had received 5, 000 m arks due to him. Next year, after the murder of Gavaston , on 13 Jun 1312, he and the Earl of Richmond tried to make peace between the King and the Earl of Lancaster. He wa s excused the general summons 28 Jun 1313, and on 1 Jul wa s one of the commissioners for the opening of Parliament i n the absence of the King in France. On 18 Aug 1313 he wa s ordered not to besiege Bristol. He had a protection, 2 0 Feb 1313/4, on going over seas on the King's service, i n the train of Queen Isabel, on an embassy concerning Gasco ny.
He m. 29 Sep 1308, at Waltham Abbey, in the presence of hi s uncle the King, and the earls and barons, Maud, daughte r of Richard de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster, by Margaret, dau ghter of Sir John de Burgh, of Lanvalley. In May 1314, h e accompanied the King again to Scotland, and fought, 24 Ju ne, at Bannockburn, where he was slain while leading a fier ce attack on the Scots (f). His body was recovered (g) an d buried at Tewkesbury at his father's right hand. At hi s death, sps. all his honours reverted to the Crown. His w idow had livery of dower in various counties 5 Dec 1314 an d her dower was adjusted 2 Nov 1318. She is mentioned agai n in 1319, but d. in the following year, 1320, and was buri ed in Tewkesbury Abbey at her husband's left side. [Compet e Peerage V:712-5]
NOTE: Volume XIV changed Richard de Burgh's wife to be prob ably Margaret de Guines, although XIV seems to have misse d the above entry in its corrections. Margaret, daughter o f Sir John de Burgh ofLanvalley, was apparently an nun, a s shown elsewhere in my files.
(a) He is said, by some writers, to have been b. at Winchco mbe, near Tewkesbury. On 21 May the King, then at Norham , ordered that 100 pounds be paid to his yeoman, William so n of Gloy, "for the good tidings that he brought of the hap py delivery of Joan, Countess of Gloucester, the King's dau ghter.
(f) The attack is said to have been occasioned by a disput e with the Earl of Hereford as to precedence, the latter be ing Constable of England, and Gloucester therefore rushed i n first when the Scots approached in order to snatch a triu mph. "The Earl of Gloucester urged his followers to rush f iercely on the Scots, and gave them an example, in his ange r cutting down and killing all he reached. On himself at l ast the whole weight of the battle fell, so that he was pie rced by spears from all sides, thrown to the ground, his he ad battered in, and gave up his life under the hoofs of th ehorses. His men were terrified, seeing their lord slain , and left him lying in the field."
(g) By a Franciscan friar, to whom it was given up by Bruce. Gilbert de Clare had person sources.
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