On this day, 7 December 1295
Gilbert de Clare, the Red Earl, died at Monmouth.
On this day, 7 December 1295, Gilbert de Clare died. He was 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester, 3rd Lord of Glamorgan, 9th Lord of Clare. He was known as “Red” Gilbert de Clare or “the Red Earl”, probably because of his hair color but also for his terrible temper and bloodthirsty demeanor.
Gilbert de Clare, 3rd Earl of Gloucester in a stained glass window of c.1340 in Tewkesbury Abbey Church
De Clare married Alice de Lusignan, niece of King Henry III, when they were both minors. He succeeded his father (Richard de Clare) in July 1262 when he was about twenty years old, and he joined the baronial party led by Simon de Montfort in the Second Barons’ War.
In April 1264, Gilbert followed de Montfort’s lead by massacring the Jews at Canterbury. On the 12th of May 1264, de Clare and de Montfort were declared traitors.
Lewes Castle and Lewes Priory looking over the marsh and estuary of the River Ouse
At the Battle of Lewes (14 May 1264), Gilbert de Clare commanded the central division of the Baronial army while Lord Edward (later Edward I) led the right wing of the Royalists. When Lord Edward left the field in pursuit of Montfort's routed troops, the King and Earl of Cornwall were on their own. Henry III took refuge in the Priory of St Pancras, and the Earl of Cornwall hid in a windmill. When the king himself surrendered to Montfort, and Gilbert de Clare accepted the surrender of the Earl of Cornwall, de Clare was one of the three persons selected to nominate a council. With the king and the prince both captured, Simon de Montfort was now the de facto King of England.
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, rebel to Henry III's reign, dies in the Battle of Evesham. From A Chronicle of England, B.C. 55-A.D. 1485.
Soon, however, de Clare quarreled with de Montfort. Leaving London for his lands on the Welsh border, he met Prince Edward at Ludlow, just after his escape from captivity. He contributed largely to Edward’s victory at Evesham on August 4th 1265; de Clare led the left wing of Lord Edward’s army, and de Montfort was slain.
By 1266, Gilbert de Clare was in his lands in the Welsh Marches and fighting with the Welsh. He had already seized upland Senghennydd from the local ruler, Gruffydd ap Rhys. His neighbor, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd, was Prince of Wales according to the Treaty of Montgomery (1267) with Henry III in which he was recognized as the feudal lord of the other Welsh princes. However, King Henry III had given de Clare authority to take over the lands of those Welshmen in Glamorgan who had supported Llywelyn, and he had done so. Consequently, on 11 April 1268, Gilbert's workmen began building at Caerphilly, only a few months after the Treaty of Montgomery had been sealed.
Coat of arms for the de Clare family
In April 1267, the barons refused the dictum of Kenilworth, led by Sir John de Deyville. De Clare had changed sides yet again by this point, and he took his troops to London in defiance of King Henry and Lord Edward. Londoners had no love for King Henry III and therefore welcomed de Clare with open arms. He also quickly controlled the Tower of London, apparently planning on using his possession of the city and the tower as a bargaining chip. However, de Deyville and his men wreaked havoc on London and occupied the Palace at Westminster, stealing and destroying throughout the city. The Londoners were quickly disaffected.
The royal army under King Henry III and Lord Edward soon arrived at Stratford; former supporters of Gilbert continued to drift towards the royals. It was then that Henry’s brother, Richard of Cornwall came up with a plan he hoped would end this rebellion without bloodshed:
“Let it be known that those disinherited subjects can once again return to their lands. That they must pay any monies and fines to you until full reparation has been achieved. Thus, at a stroke of the pen, the reason for this dispute will evaporate like the morning mist.”
Gilbert accepted his offer of a Royal Pardon. On June 18th 1267 a victorious Henry and Lord Edward rode into London. And de Clare went back to his lands in the Welsh Marches. He eventually completed his massive building project at Caerphilly, which was to become the biggest castle in Wales and second only to Windsor in all of Britain.
Caerphilly Castle
Gilbert de Clare was the first lord to accept Edward I as king when Henry III died on 16 November 1272, although Edward I was on Crusade. He also married Edward I’s daughter, Joan of Acre, on 30 April 1290. Gilbert de Clare died on this day, 7 December 1290, at Monmouth Castle.
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Sources for this article:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gilbert-de-Clare-7th-earl-of-Gloucester
https://englishhistoryauthors.blogspot.com/2017/01/earl-gilbert-de-clares-occupation-of.html
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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Caerphilly_Castle#/media/File:Caerphilly_aerial.jpg
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