Gilbert, the son of Richard,
8th Earl of Clare, was born on 2nd September, 1243. His mother was
Maud, the daughter of John de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln. He had bright
red hair and soon became known as Gilbert the Red. When Gilbert was
nine years old he married Alice of Angouleme, a niece of Henry
III.
Gilbert's father controlled
Glamorgan in Wales. By 1245 Richard also held the lordships of Llanbleddian,
Talyfan and Rhuthin. To maintain control over the area he built a
new castle at Llantrisant. The following year, he added Usk and Caerleon
to his territory in Wales.
Gilbert inherited his father's
estates in 1262 and became the 9th Earl of Clare, the 7th Earl of
Hertford and the 8th Earl of Gloucester. Gilbert was a supporter of
Simon de Montfort against the rule of
Henry
III. The two
sides met at Lewes in Sussex on 14th May
1264. The bishops of Chichester, London and Worcester, who were all
supporters of Simon de Montfort, attempted to negotiate a truce before
the battle started. However Henry, who had a much larger army and
was confident of victory, refused to do a deal.
In the battle Gilbert
led the centre of the baronial army. Simon
de Montfort had recently broken his leg falling from a horse and
had to direct operations while sitting in a cart. However, it did
not stop him winning a famous victory. At the end of the battle the
king had been captured and those members of his army that had survived
had fled from the battlefield.
Montfort and Gilbert now
organized a new parliament. As well as barons and leaders of the church,
two representatives from each town were invited to attend parliament.
The day-to-day running of the country was carried out by three men:
Simon de Montfort, Gilbert the Red and the Bishop of Chichester.
Gilbert supported these
parliamentary reforms but was unhappy when he heard that Montfort
planned to form an alliance with the Welsh prince, Llewellyn ap Gruffudd.
Gilbert had been in conflict with Llewellyn over lands that he owned
in Glamorgan. Gilbert argued with Simon
de Montfort and left London.
In June 1265 Gilbert met
the king's son, Prince Edward, in Ludlow.
The two men raised an army and began their campaign by capturing Gloucester.
When Montfort heard about the size of his enemy's army, he is reported
to have said: "Let us commend our souls to God, because our bodies
are theirs."
A dawn attack at Kenilworth
on 2nd August 1265 took forces led by Montfort's son by surprise.
The following day Montfort's main army was attacked at Evesham.
Prince Edward's army had an easy victory and Montfort's outnumbered
army was slaughtered. After Simon de Montfort had been killed, his
body was mutilated. His head was cut off and displayed round the country
as a warning of what happened to people who rebelled against their
king.
On 8th September 1265 Gilbert
was present in Winchester when the rebel lords were disinherited of
their estates. The following year Gilbert accompanied Prince
Edward in his expedition against the Cinque Ports.
As Gilbert was busy in
England, the Welsh chieftains led by Gruffydd ap Rhys, took this opportunity
to try and win back Glamorgan from the Clare family. In 1266 Gilbert
returned to Wales and soon afterwards managed to capture Gruffydd
ap Rhys. He imprisoned him in Cardiff and later had him transported
to Ireland where he was kept at Clare Castle in Kilkenny.
In 1270 Gilbert agreed
to accompany Henry
III on a crusade
to secure Christian control over the holy places in Palestine. Just
before he was due to leave, Gilbert heard news that Llywelyn ap Gruffydd
had seized and destroyed his castle at Caerphilly. Instead of going
to the Holy Land, Gilbert the Red took his knights to Wales. After
he won back Caerphilly, Gilbert decided to build a massive stone fortress
that would be impossible to capture. When Caerphilly
Castle was completed it
was considered to be the strongest castle in Britain.
Henry
III died in 1272 and his son Edward
became king.
Gilbert immediately declared his fealty to Edward. However, Gilbert
the Red controlled over 500 manors in England, Wales and Ireland.
The king became concerned about
the power of Gilbert and he decided that he had to find a way of guaranteeing
his loyalty. In 1283, the king suggested that Gilbert should divorce
his wife Alice, disinherit his children, and marry Joan, his 11 year
old daughter.
Gilbert was unhappy with
King Edward's proposal. Gilbert was 40 years old and he knew that
if he died before Joan had a child, all his lands would become the
property of the king. Before Gilbert could get divorced and remarried
he had to obtain permission from the Pope. Gilbert hoped that the
Pope would say no but after a six year delay, permission was at last
given for the marriage to take place.
In the next six years Joan
had four children, Gilbert, Eleanor,
Margaret and Elizabeth. Gilbert the Red died on 7th December, 1295.
Stained glass portrait of
Gilbert de Clare
at Tewkesbury Abbey (1340)
The
Normans: Classroom Activities
Available
from Amazon Books (order below)
