De Clare

1. Aveline De Clare: Born about 1160, of Herefordshire, England; Died about 1223, England; Married about 1205; Geoffrey I, Fitz Piers, Baron De Mandeville, Earl of Essex, Justiciar of England: Born about 1162, of Walden, Essex, England; Died 14 October 1213; Buried in Shouldam Priory; (See Fortescue)

2. Roger De Clare, third Earl of Hertford and fifth Earl of Clare: Born before 1140; Died 1173; Married Maud De St. Hilary. Roger succeeded to his brother Gilbert's titles and estates in 1152. In 1153 he appears with his cousin, Richard Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, as one of the signatories to the treaty at Westminster, in which Stephen recognizes Prince Henry as his successor. He is found signing charters at Canterbury and Dover in 1156. Next year, according Powell, in this History of Wales, He received from Henry II a grant of whatever lands he could conquer in South Wales. This is probably only an expansion of the statement of the Welsh chronicles that in this year(about 1 June) he entered Cardigan and "stored" the castles of Humfrey, Aberdovey, Dineir, and Rhystud. Rhys Ap Gruffudd, the Prince of South Wales, appears to have complained to Henry II of these encroachments; but being unable to obtain redress from the King of England sent his nephew Einion to attack Humfrey and other Norman fortresses. The Annales Cambriæ seem to assign these events to the year 1159; and the Brut Y Tywysogion adds that Prince Rhys burnt all the French castles in Cardigan. In 1158 or 1160 Clare advanced with an army to the relief of Carmathen Castle, then besieged Rhys, and pitched his camp at Dinewilir. Not daring to attack the Welsh Prince, the English army offered peace and retired home. In 1163 Rhys again invaded the conquests of Clare, who, we learn incidentally, had at some earlier period caused Einion, the capturer of Humfrey Castle, to be murdered by domestic treachery. A second time all cardigan was wrested from the Norman hands; and things now were so threatening, that Henry II led an army into Wales in 1165, although according to one Welsh account, Rhys had made his peace with the King in 1164, and had even visited him in England. The causes assigned by the Welsh chronicle for this fresh outbreak of hostility are that Henry failed to keep his promises--presumably of Restitution--and secondly that "Roger Earl of Clare, was honorably receiving Walter, the murderer of Rhys' nephew Einion." For the third time now Cardigan was overrun and the Norman Castles burnt; but it is possible that the events assigned by the Annales Cambriæ to the year 1165 are the same as those assigned by the Brut Y Tywysogion to 1163.

In the intervening years Roger has been aborad, and is found signing charters at Le Mans, probably at Christmas 1160, and again at Rouen in 1161. In July 1163 he was summoned by Becket to do homage in his capacity of steward to the archbishops of Canterbury for the castle of Tonbridge. In his refusal, which he based on the grounds that he held the castle of the King not of the archbishop, he was supported by Henry II. The next year he was one of the "recognisers" of the Constitutions of Clarendon. Early in 1170 he was appointed one of a band of commissioners for Kent, Surrey, and other parts of southern England. His last known signature seems to belong to June or July 1171 and is dated abroad from Chevailee. He appears to have died in 1173, and certainly before July or August 1174, when we find Richard, Earl of Clare, his son coming to the King at Northampton. For his numerous acts of piety, Roger was called "the good Earl of Hertford."

Maud's Parents--

Roger's Parents--

3. Richard Fitz Gilbert, De Clare, Earl of Hertford and Clare: Born 1084-1090, Hertford, Herefordshire, England; Died 15 April 1136, near Abergavenny, Wales; Married before 1116; Adeliz (Adeliza) Le Meschin: Born about 1094, of Hertford, Hertfordshire, England; Died 1128. Richard was probably the first of his family to adopt the Surname De Clare. He is also generally believed to have been the first of the earls of Hertford, and to have been created so by King Stephen, If not by Henry I. Richard invaded Wales and took hold of a great quantity of Welsh holdings by the power of his sword. It is as Richard Fitz Gilbert that he figures in 1130, when the Pipe Roll reveals him in debt to the Jews. The same source tells us of his death in a skirmish with the Welsh near Abergavenny. He was on his way to Cardigan. His death was a signal for a general rising, and his castles were besieged by the rebels. His widow was rescued by Miles of Gloucester, but his brother Baldwin, whom Stephen despatched to suppress the rising and avenge his death failed discreditably. Richard, who was buried at Gloucester, was the founder of Tonbridge Priory, and about 1124 removed the religious house which his father had founded at Clare to the adjacent hill of Stoke.

Richard's Parents--

Adeliz Le Meschin's Parents--

4. Ranulf III Le Meschin, De Briquessart, Lord of Cumberland, Vicomte de Bayeux, third Earl of Chester: Born about 1070, of Briqessart, Livry, France; Died January 1128/29, Chester, Chester, England; Buried at St. Werbergs; Married 1097, of England; Lucy of Mercia, Countess of Chester: Born about 1070; of Spalding, Lincolnshire, England; Died about 1136.

Lucy's Parents and Maternal Grandmother--

Ranulf's Parents--

5. Ranulf II, Viscount of Bayeux: Born before 1050, of Normandy, France; Died 1129; Married about 1066, Normandy, France; Margaret (Maud) Le Goz D'Avranches: Born about 1054, of Avranches, Normandy, France; Died after 1084.

Margaret's Parents through Great-Great-Great-Grandparents--

Ranulf's Father--

6. Ranulf I, Count of Bayeux, Vicsount of the Bessin: Born before 1030; Died after 1047; Married Alice of Normandy: Ranulf fought at the battle of Val-es-Dunes in 1047.

Alice's Parents--

Ranulf's Father--

7. Anschitl, Count of Bayeux, Vicount of the Bessin: Born about 992, Bayeux, Calvados, Normandy, England; Died after 1031.