In about 1026, Herleva
of Falaise, the
sixteen year old daughter of a tanner from Falaise in Normandy, gave
birth to a son called Richard. The boy's father was Gilbert,
Count of Brionne, one of the most powerful landowners in Normandy.
As Herleva was not married to Gilbert, the boy became known as Richard
Fitz Gilbert. The
term 'Fitz' was used to show that Richard was the illegitimate son
of Gilbert.
When Robert,
Duke of Normandy died in 1035 William
of Normandy inherited
his father's title. Several leading Normans, including Gilbert
of Brionne, Osbern the Seneschal
and Alan of Brittany, became William's guardians.
A
number of Norman barons would not accept
an illegitimate son as their leader and in 1040 an attempt was made
to kill William. The plot failed but they did manage to kill Gilbert
of Brionne. As Richard
was illegitimate,
he did not receive very much land when his father died.
Richard married Rohese,
daughter of Walter Giffard of Normandy. The couple had at least three
children, Rohaise, Gilbert de Clare
and Walter
of Clare.
When William
of Normandy, decided to invade England in 1066, he invited his
three half-brothers, Richard Fitz Gilbert, Odo
of Bayeux and Robert of Mortain to
join him. Richard, who had married Rohese, daughter of Walter Giffard
of Normandy, also brought with him members of his wife's family.
After his coronation in
1066, William
the Conqueror claimed
that all the land in England now
belonged to him. William retained about a fifth of this land for his
own use. The rest
was distributed to those men who had helped him defeat Harold
at the Battle
of Hastings.
Richard
Fitz Gilbert, was
granted land in Kent, Essex, Surrey, Suffolk and Norfolk. In exchange
for this land. Richard had to promise to provide the king with sixty
knights. In order to supply these knights, barons divided their land
up into smaller units called manors. These manors were then passed
on to men who promised to serve as knights when the king needed them.
Richard
built castles at Tonbridge (Kent), Clare (Suffolk), Bletchingley (Surrey)
and Hanley (Worcester).
His knights normally lived in the manor that they had been
granted. Once or twice a year, Richard would visit his knights to
check the manor accounts and to collect the profits that the land
had made.
The
Normans were very impressed with Richard's castle at Tonbridge. After
a while people in Kent began calling him Richard of Tonbridge. Other
people called him Richard of Clare, after the castle and large estates
he owned in Clare in Suffolk. In time, Richard adopted Clare as his
family name and he became known as Richard de Clare.
William
the Conqueror
trusted Richard de Clare and appointed him as a member of his ruling
council. Richard was also given the title Chief Justiciar. This meant
that Richard took over the running of the government when the king
was making one of his many visits to Normandy. In this post he played
an important role in the suppression of the revolt against William
in 1075.
Just before William
the Conqueror
died he decided that William
Rufus,
rather than his older brother, Robert
Curthose,
should be king of England. He was crowned by Lanfranc,
the Archbishop of Canterbury, on 26th September, 1087.
The following year some
Normans,
including Richard de Clare, Odo
of Bayeux,
Robert
of Mortain,
William
Fitz Osbern
and Geoffrey
of Coutances, led
a rebellion against the rule of Rufus in order to place
