Sir Roger de Clare, Knight, 3rd Earl of Hertford

Male 1116 - 1173  (~ 57 years)


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  • Name Roger de Clare 
    Title Sir 
    Suffix Knight, 3rd Earl of Hertford 
    Birth 0___ 1116  Tonbridge Castle, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1, 2, 3, 4
    Gender Male 
    Death 0___ 1173  Oxfordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [2, 4
    Person ID I46818  The Hennessee Family
    Last Modified 25 Nov 2016 

    Father Sir Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare,   b. 1092, Clare, Suffolk, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 15 Apr 1136, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 44 years) 
    Mother Alice de Gernon 
    Marriage Y  [3
    Family ID F17746  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Matilda St. Hilary,   b. 1136, (Normandy, France) Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 24 Dec 1195 (Age 59 years) 
    Marriage Bef 1173  [4
    Children 
     1. Hawise Clare,   b. ~1154, Tonbridge Castle, Tonbridge, Kent, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Aft 1215 (Age ~ 61 years)
     2. Aveline de Clare,   b. ~1166, (Tonbridge Castle, Kent, England) Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 Jun 1225 (Age ~ 58 years)
    Family ID F17167  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 30 Apr 2023 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 0___ 1116 - Tonbridge Castle, Kent, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsDeath - 0___ 1173 - Oxfordshire, England Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Notes 
    • Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford, 5th Lord of Clare, 5th lord of Tonbridge, 5th Lord of Cardigan (1116–1173) was a powerful Norman noble during the 12th century England. He succeeded to the Earldom of Hertford and Honor of Clare, Tonbridge and Cardigan when his brother Gilbert died without issue.[1]

      Life

      Roger was a son of Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare and Alice de Gernon.[2] In 1153, he appears with his cousin, Richard Strongbow, Earl of Pembroke, as one of the signatories to the Treaty of Wallingford, in which Stephen recognises Prince Henry as his successor. He is found signing charters at Canterbury and Dover in 1156. Next year, according to Powell, 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 Gruffydd, 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 ab Anarawd to attack Humfirey and the other Norman fortresses. The 'Annales Cambriµ seem to assign these events to the year 1159 ; and the 'Brut' adds that Prince Rhys burnt all the French castles in Cardigan.[1]

      In 1158 or 1160, Clare advanced with an army to the relief of Carmarthen Castle, then besieged by Rhys, and pitched his camp at Dinweilir. 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, has at some earlier period caused Einion, the capturer of Humfrey Castle, to be murdered by domestic treachery.[1]In 1164 he assisted with the Constitutions of Clarendon. From his munificence to the Church and his numerous acts of piety, Roger was called the "Good Earl of Hertford".[a] He was the founder of Little Marcis Nunnery prior to 1163.[3]

      A second time all Cardigan was wrested from the Norman hands ; and things now wore so threatening an aspect 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 honourably receiving Walter, the murderer of Rhys's nephew Einion. For the third time we now read that Cardigan was overrun and the Norman castles burnt; but it is possible that the events assigned by the 'Annales Cambrµ' to the year 1165 are the same as those assigned by the 'Brut y Tywysogion' to 1163.[1]

      In the intervening years, Clare had been abroad, and is found signing charters at Le Mans, probably about Christmas 1160, and again at Rouen in 1161 (Eyton, pp. 52, 53). 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 Tunbridge. In his refusal, which he based on the grounds that he held the castle of the king and not of the archbishop, he was supported by Henry II (Ralph de Diceto, i. 311; Gervase of Canterbury, i. 174, ii. 391). Next year he was one of the ‘recognisers’ of the constitutions of Clarendon (Select Charters, p. 138). Early in 1170 he was appointed one of a band of commissioners for Kent, Surrey, and other arts of southern England (Gerv. Cant. i. 216). His last known signature seems to belong to June or July 1171, and is dated abroad from Chevaillâee.[1]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.[1]

      Family

      Roger married Maud de St. Hilary, daughter of James de St. Hilary and Aveline.[4] Together they had seven children:

      Mabel de Clare, d. 1204, m. (c. 1175), Nigel de Mowbray.
      Richard de Clare, b. c. 1153, Tonbridge Castle, Kent, England, d. 28 November 1217, 3rd Earl of Hertford
      James de Clare
      Eveline (Aveline) de Clare, d. 4 June 1225, m. [1] (c. 1204), Geoffrey IV Fitz Piers (Fitz Peter), 1st Earl of Essex.[5] m. [2] Sir William Munchensy, (b. c. 1184), son of Warin de Munchensy and Agnes Fitz John.
      Roger de Clare, d. 1241, Middleton, Norfolk, England.
      John de Clare
      Henry de Clare [2]

  • Sources 
    1. [S10039] "Geoffrey Fitz Peter, Earl of Essex" biography, accessed & downloaded Monday, November 25th, 2016 by David A. Hennessee,.

    2. [S10040] "Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford" biography, accessed & downloaded Monday, November 25th, 2016 by David A. Hennesse.

    3. [S10732] "Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare" biography, was found, retrieved, uploaded and published March 23rd, 2017 by David A. Hen.

    4. [S12321] "Maud de St. Hilary (c1136-1195)", Biography & Descendants, http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/Maud_de_St._Hilary_(c1136-.