Notes:

He was the son of Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabella of Meulan. He married Aoife MacMorrough, daughter of Dermot MacMorrough, King of Leinster, circa 26 August 1171. He died on 20 April 1176, without surviving male issue.

Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke also went by the nick-name of Richard 'Strongbow'. He was styled as Earl of Buckingham. He succeeded to the title of 2nd Earl of Pembroke [E., c. 1138] in 1149. He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Dictionary of National Biography

Clare, Richard de, or Richard Strongbow, second Earl of Pembroke and Strigul d. 1176, was son of Gilbert Strongbow, or De Clare, whom Stephen created earl of Pembroke in 1138, and grandson of Gilbert de Clare d. 1115? [qv.] (Ord. Vit. xiii. 37). His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, earl of Leicester and Mellent (Will. of Jumièges, viii. 37; Dugdale, i. 84). He appears to have succeeded to his father's estates in 1148 (Marsh, p. 55; Dugdale, i. 208); but the name of Richard, count of Pembroke, first appears among the signatures to the treaty of Westminster (7 Nov. 1153), which recognised Prince Henry as Stephen's successor (Brompton, 1039n. 60). It appears that he was allowed to retain his title even after the accession of Henry II, when so many of Stephen's earldoms were abolished; but according to Giraldus Cambrensis he had either forfeited or lost his estates by 1167-8 (Expugn. Hib. i. cxii). We learn from Ralph de Diceto (i. 330) that he was one of the nobles who accompanied Princess Matilda on her marriage journey to Minden in Germany early in 1168.

According to the Irish historians it was in 1166 that Dermot [see MacMurchada, Diarmid], driven from Leinster by the combined forces of Roderic O'Connor, king of Connaught, and Tighernan O'Ruarc, king of Breifni, appealed to Henry for aid in the recovery of his kingdom (Annals of Four Masters, i. 1161). This date, according to Giraldus, seems two years too early. Henry gave letters empowering any of his subjects to assist the dethroned monarch, who secured the services of Earl Richard, promising in return for his assistance to give him his eldest daughter in marriage, together with the succession to Leinster (Gir. Camb. v. 227-8; Anglo-Norman Poet, ll. 328, &c.). The earl engaged to cross over with an army in the ensuing spring; but stipulated that he must have express permission from Henry before starting (Gir. 228; Anglo-Norm. Poet, ll. 356-7). Earlier aid was promised by Robert FitzStephen and Maurice FitzGerald, who appear to have crossed over to Wexford about 1 May 1169 (Gir. 230; A. F. M. i. 1173). If this date be correct, the meeting of Dermot and the earl must have taken place about July 1168, to which year Hoveden assigns the invasion of Ireland (i. 269; Gir. 229, with which cf. A.-N. P. pp. 16-19). In the conquest of Wexford and the expeditions against Ossory and Dublin Earl Richard took no part; but according to Giraldus he was represented in this campaign by his nephew, Hervey de Mountmaurice.

It was apparently towards the close of this year that Dermot, despairing of the arrival of the Earl of Strigul, offered his daughter to Robert FitzStephen and Maurice FitzGerald, and on their refusal sent a pressing invitation to the earl: The swallows have come and gone, yet you are tarrying still. On receiving this letter, Earl Richard, after much deliberation, crossed over to Henry and received the requisite permission to carve out a heritage for himself in foreign lands; but, according to Giraldus, the king granted his request ironically rather than seriously (246-8). A much later writer, Trivet (c. 1300), has preserved a tradition that the earl had been an exile in Ireland previous to this (Trivet, 66-7).

Before crossing to Ireland himself, Earl Richard sent forward a small force under one of his own men, Raymond le Gros, the nephew of FitzStephen and FitzGerald. Landing near Waterford about the beginning of May 1170, he was immediately joined by Hervey de Mountmaurice (Gir. 248, &c.; A.-N. P. pp. 67, &c.). According to the Anglo-Norman Poet, Earl Richard crossed very soon after (ll. 1500-3); both accounts agree that he appeared before Waterford with from twelve to fifteen hundred men on St. Bartholomew's eve (23 Aug.) Within two days the city had fallen; but Dermot, accompanied by Maurice and Robert, came up in time to save the lives of the captives. The marriage between Eva and the earl was celebrated at once, and the whole army set out for Dublin, after setting an English guard at Waterford (A.-N. P. ll. 1508-1569; Gir. 255-6). If the Anglo-Norman Poet may be trusted, there were from four to five thousand English who took part in the march to Dublin, before which town they arrived on 21 Sept. (l. 1626). Meanwhile, Roderic of Connaught had mustered thirty thousand men for its relief. While peace negotiations were going on, Milo de Cogan and Raymond le Gros took the city by assault, without the consent of either Dermot or the earl (A.-N. P. ll. 1680-2; Gir. 256-7). Asculf MacTurkill, the Danish ruler, was driven into exile, and his town handed over to Earl Richard, who appears to have resided here till the beginning of October, when he started to attack O'Ruarc in Meath, leaving Dublin in charge of Milo de Cogan (Gir. 257; A.-N. P. ll. 1709-23; A. F. M. 1177). From Meath he seems to have withdrawn to Waterford for the winter; while Dermot took up his abode at Ferns, where he died on 1 May 1171 (Gir. 263; A.-N. P. 1724-31).

Meanwhile, Henry II, who had grown jealous of his vassal's success, had forbidden the transport of fresh forces to Ireland, and ordered all who had already crossed to return by Easter 1171 (28 March). To prevent the enforcement of this decree, the earl despatched Raymond le Gros to the king in Aquitane, with instructions to place all his conquests at the king's disposal (Gir. 259).

On the death of Dermot there was a general combination against the English. All the earl's allies, excepting some three or four, (A.-N. P. ll. 1732-43), deserted him, and a force of sixty thousand men was collected under Roderic O'Connor to besiege Dublin about Whitsuntide (16 May) 1171. Earl Richard, to whose assistance Raymond le Gros had already returned, sent for aid to FitzStephen at Wexford, from which place he received a reinforcement of thirty-six men, a step which so weakened the Wexford garrison, that it had to surrender later (? c. 1 July). On hearing of this disaster the earl, fearing starvation, offered to do fealty to Roderic for Leinster. Roderic, however, refused to concede more than the three Norse towns, Waterford, Dublin, and Wexford; if these terms were rejected, he would storm the town on the morrow (A.-N. P. pp. 85-9; Gir. 265, &c.). In this emergency the earl ordered a sudden sally in three directions, led by Milo, Raymond, and himself. A brilliant success was achieved; the siege was raised, and the earl was left free to set out to the relief of FitzStephen, whom the Irish had shut up in the island of Becherin. Dublin was once more entrusted to Milo de Cogan. On his march through Idrone he was attacked by O'Ryan, the king of this district; but hearing that the Irish had left Wexford for Becherin, he proceeded to Waterford, whence he sent a summons to his brother-in-law, the king of Limerick, to aid in an attack on MacDonchid, the king of Ossory. The Anglo-Norman Poet (pp. 97-101) says that it was only the chivalrous honour of Maurice de Prendergast that now prevented the earl from acting with the utmost treachery to the latter king. The earl then departed for Ferns, where he stayed eight days before going in pursuit of Murrough O'Brien, who was put to death at Ferns, together with his son. About the same time, acting as the over-king of Leinster, he confirmed Muirchertad (Murtherdath) in his kingdom of Hy-Kinsellagh (near Wexford), and gave the pleis of Leinster to Donald Kevenath, the faithful son of Dermot (A.-N. P. pp. 103-5).

Probably about the middle of August Hervey de Mountmaurice returned from a second mission to the king, and urged the earl to lose no time in making peace with Henry personally (Gir. 273; A.-N. P. pp. 105). After entrusting Waterford to Gilbert de Borard, Strongbow crossed over to England with Hervey, found the king at Newnham in Gloucestershire, and, after much trouble, succeeded in pacifying him, by the resignation of all his castles and maritime cities. On 18 Oct. the king reached Waterford, which was at once handed over to Robert FitzBernard (Gir. 273; Bened. i. 24, &c.; A.-N. P. 125). From Waterford the king marched through Ossory to Dublin, receiving the homage of the Irish princes as he went. He spent Christmas at Dublin, which on his departure he gave in charge to Hugh de Lacy (A.-N. P. ll. 2713-16). It would seem that during the greater part of the six months Henry spent in Ireland Earl Richard kept his own court at Kildare.

A Dyvelin esteit li reis HenrizEt à Kildare li quens gentils(ll. 2695-6).

That the king to some extent distrusted the intentions of his great vassal is evident by the steps he took to weaken the earl's party and power (Gir. 284).

Towards the beginning of Lent (c. 1 March 1172) Henry reached Wexford. Three or four weeks later came the news of the threatened rebellion of his sons; but his passage to England was delayed till Easter Monday (17 April). Before leaving Ireland he had made Hugh de Lacy lord of Meath, and entrusted Wexford to William FitzAldhelm. Meanwhile, Earl Richard withdrew to Ferns, where he married his sister Basilia to Robert de Quenci, who was given the constableship of Leinster (Bened. i. 25; Gir. 287; A.-N. P. ll. 2741-50).

For the next two years Kildare seems to have been Earl Richard's headquarters (ll. 2769-72), whence he appears to have made forays on the district of Offaly. On one of these expeditions Robert de Quenci was slain, upon which Raymond le Gros demanded the widow in marriage. This request, which implied a claim to the constableship of Leinster and the guardianship of Basilia's infant daughter, was refused, although the refusal seems to have cost the earl the services of Raymond and his followers, who at once returned to Wales (A.-N. P. pp. 133-6; but cf. Gir. 310).

On the breaking out of the rebellion of 1173 (c. 15 April 1173) Henry summoned the earl to his assistance in Normandy, where, according to the Anglo-Norman Poet, he was given the castle of Gisors to guard. From Ralph de Diceto we know that he was present at the relief of Verneuil (9 Aug.) (cf. Eyton, 172, 176). He was apparently dismissed before the close of the first year of war, and as a reward of his fidelity received the restoration of Wexford, Waterford, and Dublin. On reaching Ireland he at once despatched Robert FitzBernard, FitzStephen, and others to aid against the rebels in England, where, if we may trust the Anglo-Norman Poet, the Irish forces were present at the overthrow of the Earl of Leicester (17 Oct.) at Bury St. Edmunds (A.-N. P. pp. 136-41; Diceto, i. 375, 377; Gir. 298, but cf. remarks in list of authorities at end of article).

On Raymond's departure Earl Richard gave the constableship to Hervey de Mountmaurice (Gir. 308). Dissatisfied with his generalship, the troops clamoured for the reappointment of Raymond, whom Henry had sent back to Ireland with the earl, and their request was granted (ib. 298). About the latter part of 1174 the earl led his army into Munster, against Donald of Limerick, and met with the great disaster that forced him back to Waterford, where he was closely besieged by the Irish, while Roderic O'Connor advanced to the very walls of Dublin. In this emergency the earl sent over a messenger begging that Raymond would come to his aid, and promising him his sister's hand. The two nobles met in an island near Waterford. Earl Richard was brought back to Wexford, where the marriage was celebrated. On the next day Raymond started to drive the king of Connaught out of Meath (A. F. M. ii. 15-19, with which cf. Gir. 310-12; A.-N. P. pp. 142-4). It was now that, at Raymond's suggestion, the earl gave his elder daughter Alina to William FitzMaurice. To Maurice himself he assigned Wicklow Castle; Carbury to Meiler FitzHenry, and other estates to various other knights. Dublin was handed over to the brothers from Hereford. With his sister Earl Richard granted Raymond Fothord, Idrone, and Glaskarrig (Gir. 314; for full list, see A.-N. P. pp. 144-8). It appears that the earl was now supreme in Leinster, having hostages of all the great Irish princes (ll. 3208, &c.).

It was probably in 1175 that Earl Richard was called upon to relieve Hugh de Lacy's newly built castle of Trim. After this success he withdrew to Dublin, having determined to send his army under Raymond against Donald O'Brien of Limerick. He does not seem to have taken any personal share in the latter expedition (c. 1 Oct. 1175), and indeed may possibly have been in England in this very month (Eyton, 196). After the fall of Limerick Hervey persuaded the king to recall his rival Raymond, whom, however, the peril of the English garrison detained in Ireland long after the receipt of the summons, since the earl's men refused to advance under any other leader. On Tuesday, 6 April 1176, Raymond once more entered Limerick, from which town he soon started for Cork, to relieve Dermot Macarthy, prince of Desmond. While thus engaged he received a letter from his wife, Basilia, informing him that that huge grinder which had caused him so much pain had fallen out. By this phrase he understood that Earl Richard was dead (c. 1 June according to Giraldus; but 5 April according to Diceto). After Raymond's arrival the earl was buried in the church of the Holy Trinity, where his tomb is still shown. Other accounts make him buried at Gloucester (A.-N. P. ll. 3208, &c.; Giraldus; Diceto, i. 407).

Earl Richard seems to have left an only daughter, Isabella by name. At the age of three she became the heiress to her father's vast estates, and was married by King Richard to William Marshall in 1189 (Hoveden, iii. 7; Diceto, i. 407). The question as to whether he had other issue has been fiercely contested by genealogists; but there seems to be no reason for doubting that he was married before espousing Dermot's daughter. The earl's daughter, Alina, mentioned above, cannot well have been his child by Eva. In the Irish Annals we read (a.d. 1171) of a predatory expedition led into Kildare by the earl's son (A. F. M. 1185). A Tintern charter granted by the younger William Marshall, and dated Strigul 22 March 1206, makes mention of Walter, filius Ricardi, filii Gilberti Strongbowe, avi mei (Dugdale, v. 267). But even this evidence can hardly be considered to confirm the current story as to how the earl met his son fleeing before the enemy and, enraged at such cowardice, clave him asunder with his sword. A tomb is still shown in Christ Church, Dublin, which passes for that of Richard Strongbow. This monument, which is described as displaying the cross-legged effigy of a knight, is said to have been restored by Sir Henry Sidney in 1570. On the left lies a half-figure of uncertain sex, which is popularly supposed to represent the earl's son. On it are inscribed the lines:Nate ingrate mihi pugnanti terga dedisti:Non mihi sed genti, regno quoque terga dedisti.

But there is no evidence as to the original state of this monument or the extent of Sir Henry's restorations. The whole legend was well known to Stanihurst in 1584; but it may date much further back than the sixteenth century (Marsh, 62).

According to Giraldus's rhetorical phrase, Richard de Clare was vir plus nominis hactenus habens quam ominis, plus genii quam ingenii, plus successionis quam possessionis. More trustworthy, perhaps, is Giraldus's personal description of the earl: A man of a somewhat florid complexion and freckled; with grey eyes, feminine features, a thin voice and short neck, but otherwise of a good stature. He was rather suited, continues the same historian, for the council chamber than the field, and better fitted to obey than to command. He required to be urged on to enterprise by his followers; but when once in the press of the fight his resolution was as the standard or the rallying-point of his side. No disaster could shake his courage, and he showed no undue exhilaration when things went well. In the pages of Giraldus the earl appears as a mere foil to the brilliant characters of the Fitzgeralds, and is never credited with any very remarkable military achievement. On the other hand, in the pages of the Anglo-Norman Poet he fills a much more prominent position; he leads great expeditions, and is specially distinguished at the siege of Dublin. But even in the verse of this writer his special epithets are, li gentils quens, le bon contur. It is more rarely that we find him styled li quens vailland.

Sources:

The two principal authorities for the career of Richard Strongbow are Giraldus Cambrensis and a poet who, towards the close of the twelfth century, wrote an account of the conquest of Ireland in Norman-French verse. The narrative of the latter, according to its author's statement, is largely based on the information derived from Dermot's interpreter or clerk, Maurice Regan. In many points these two writers are not in absolute accord, and the chronology is rendered still more obscure by the fact that the Anglo-Norman Poet gives no yearly dates at all, while Giraldus is not entirely consistent with himself. Each author supplies much that is peculiar to himself at other times, when they seem to differ it may be that they refer to different occasions. The latter view has been taken in the article in the case of Raymond's return to England. Giraldus Cambrensis, Expugnatio Hibernica, ed. Dimock (Rolls Series), v.

Anglo-Norman Poet, ed. Wright and Michel (London, 1837)
Eyton's Itinerary of Henry II
Green's English Princesses, i.
Benedict of Peterborough and Ralph de Diceto, ed. Stubbs (Rolls Series)
Trivet, ed. Hog (Engl. Hist. Soc.)
Dugdale's Baronage, i., and Monasticon (ed. 1817-1846)
William of Jumièges ap. Migne, cxxxix. col. 906
Brompton's Chronicon, ap. Twysden's Decem Scriptores
Annals of the Four Masters, ed. Donovan
Marsh's Chepstow Castle
Orderic Vitalis (Bohn), iv. 203
Journal of Archæological Association, x. 265.

Contributor: T. A. A. [Thomas Andrew Archer]

Published: 1887

He was the son of Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabella of Meulan. He married Aoife MacMorrough, daughter of Dermot MacMorrough, King of Leinster, circa 26 August 1171. He died on 20 April 1176, without surviving male issue.

Richard FitzGilbert de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke also went by the nick-name of Richard 'Strongbow'. He was styled as Earl of Buckingham. He succeeded to the title of 2nd Earl of Pembroke [E., c. 1138] in 1149. He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Dictionary of National Biography

Clare, Richard de, or Richard Strongbow, second Earl of Pembroke and Strigul d. 1176, was son of Gilbert Strongbow, or De Clare, whom Stephen created earl of Pembroke in 1138, and grandson of Gilbert de Clare d. 1115? [qv.] (Ord. Vit. xiii. 37). His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, earl of Leicester and Mellent (Will. of Jumièges, viii. 37; Dugdale, i. 84). He appears to have succeeded to his father's estates in 1148 (Marsh, p. 55; Dugdale, i. 208); but the name of Richard, count of Pembroke, first appears among the signatures to the treaty of Westminster (7 Nov. 1153), which recognised Prince Henry as Stephen's successor (Brompton, 1039n. 60). It appears that he was allowed to retain his title even after the accession of Henry II, when so many of Stephen's earldoms were abolished; but according to Giraldus Cambrensis he had either forfeited or lost his estates by 1167-8 (Expugn. Hib. i. cxii). We learn from Ralph de Diceto (i. 330) that he was one of the nobles who accompanied Princess Matilda on her marriage journey to Minden in Germany early in 1168.

According to the Irish historians it was in 1166 that Dermot [see MacMurchada, Diarmid], driven from Leinster by the combined forces of Roderic O'Connor, king of Connaught, and Tighernan O'Ruarc, king of Breifni, appealed to Henry for aid in the recovery of his kingdom (Annals of Four Masters, i. 1161). This date, according to Giraldus, seems two years too early. Henry gave letters empowering any of his subjects to assist the dethroned monarch, who secured the services of Earl Richard, promising in return for his assistance to give him his eldest daughter in marriage, together with the succession to Leinster (Gir. Camb. v. 227-8; Anglo-Norman Poet, ll. 328, &c.). The earl engaged to cross over with an army in the ensuing spring; but stipulated that he must have express permission from Henry before starting (Gir. 228; Anglo-Norm. Poet, ll. 356-7). Earlier aid was promised by Robert FitzStephen and Maurice FitzGerald, who appear to have crossed over to Wexford about 1 May 1169 (Gir. 230; A. F. M. i. 1173). If this date be correct, the meeting of Dermot and the earl must have taken place about July 1168, to which year Hoveden assigns the invasion of Ireland (i. 269; Gir. 229, with which cf. A.-N. P. pp. 16-19). In the conquest of Wexford and the expeditions against Ossory and Dublin Earl Richard took no part; but according to Giraldus he was represented in this campaign by his nephew, Hervey de Mountmaurice.

It was apparently towards the close of this year that Dermot, despairing of the arrival of the Earl of Strigul, offered his daughter to Robert FitzStephen and Maurice FitzGerald, and on their refusal sent a pressing invitation to the earl: The swallows have come and gone, yet you are tarrying still. On receiving this letter, Earl Richard, after much deliberation, crossed over to Henry and received the requisite permission to carve out a heritage for himself in foreign lands; but, according to Giraldus, the king granted his request ironically rather than seriously (246-8). A much later writer, Trivet (c. 1300), has preserved a tradition that the earl had been an exile in Ireland previous to this (Trivet, 66-7).

Before crossing to Ireland himself, Earl Richard sent forward a small force under one of his own men, Raymond le Gros, the nephew of FitzStephen and FitzGerald. Landing near Waterford about the beginning of May 1170, he was immediately joined by Hervey de Mountmaurice (Gir. 248, &c.; A.-N. P. pp. 67, &c.). According to the Anglo-Norman Poet, Earl Richard crossed very soon after (ll. 1500-3); both accounts agree that he appeared before Waterford with from twelve to fifteen hundred men on St. Bartholomew's eve (23 Aug.) Within two days the city had fallen; but Dermot, accompanied by Maurice and Robert, came up in time to save the lives of the captives. The marriage between Eva and the earl was celebrated at once, and the whole army set out for Dublin, after setting an English guard at Waterford (A.-N. P. ll. 1508-1569; Gir. 255-6). If the Anglo-Norman Poet may be trusted, there were from four to five thousand English who took part in the march to Dublin, before which town they arrived on 21 Sept. (l. 1626). Meanwhile, Roderic of Connaught had mustered thirty thousand men for its relief. While peace negotiations were going on, Milo de Cogan and Raymond le Gros took the city by assault, without the consent of either Dermot or the earl (A.-N. P. ll. 1680-2; Gir. 256-7). Asculf MacTurkill, the Danish ruler, was driven into exile, and his town handed over to Earl Richard, who appears to have resided here till the beginning of October, when he started to attack O'Ruarc in Meath, leaving Dublin in charge of Milo de Cogan (Gir. 257; A.-N. P. ll. 1709-23; A. F. M. 1177). From Meath he seems to have withdrawn to Waterford for the winter; while Dermot took up his abode at Ferns, where he died on 1 May 1171 (Gir. 263; A.-N. P. 1724-31).

Meanwhile, Henry II, who had grown jealous of his vassal's success, had forbidden the transport of fresh forces to Ireland, and ordered all who had already crossed to return by Easter 1171 (28 March). To prevent the enforcement of this decree, the earl despatched Raymond le Gros to the king in Aquitane, with instructions to place all his conquests at the king's disposal (Gir. 259).

On the death of Dermot there was a general combination against the English. All the earl's allies, excepting some three or four, (A.-N. P. ll. 1732-43), deserted him, and a force of sixty thousand men was collected under Roderic O'Connor to besiege Dublin about Whitsuntide (16 May) 1171. Earl Richard, to whose assistance Raymond le Gros had already returned, sent for aid to FitzStephen at Wexford, from which place he received a reinforcement of thirty-six men, a step which so weakened the Wexford garrison, that it had to surrender later (? c. 1 July). On hearing of this disaster the earl, fearing starvation, offered to do fealty to Roderic for Leinster. Roderic, however, refused to concede more than the three Norse towns, Waterford, Dublin, and Wexford; if these terms were rejected, he would storm the town on the morrow (A.-N. P. pp. 85-9; Gir. 265, &c.). In this emergency the earl ordered a sudden sally in three directions, led by Milo, Raymond, and himself. A brilliant success was achieved; the siege was raised, and the earl was left free to set out to the relief of FitzStephen, whom the Irish had shut up in the island of Becherin. Dublin was once more entrusted to Milo de Cogan. On his march through Idrone he was attacked by O'Ryan, the king of this district; but hearing that the Irish had left Wexford for Becherin, he proceeded to Waterford, whence he sent a summons to his brother-in-law, the king of Limerick, to aid in an attack on MacDonchid, the king of Ossory. The Anglo-Norman Poet (pp. 97-101) says that it was only the chivalrous honour of Maurice de Prendergast that now prevented the earl from acting with the utmost treachery to the latter king. The earl then departed for Ferns, where he stayed eight days before going in pursuit of Murrough O'Brien, who was put to death at Ferns, together with his son. About the same time, acting as the over-king of Leinster, he confirmed Muirchertad (Murtherdath) in his kingdom of Hy-Kinsellagh (near Wexford), and gave the pleis of Leinster to Donald Kevenath, the faithful son of Dermot (A.-N. P. pp. 103-5).

Probably about the middle of August Hervey de Mountmaurice returned from a second mission to the king, and urged the earl to lose no time in making peace with Henry personally (Gir. 273; A.-N. P. pp. 105). After entrusting Waterford to Gilbert de Borard, Strongbow crossed over to England with Hervey, found the king at Newnham in Gloucestershire, and, after much trouble, succeeded in pacifying him, by the resignation of all his castles and maritime cities. On 18 Oct. the king reached Waterford, which was at once handed over to Robert FitzBernard (Gir. 273; Bened. i. 24, &c.; A.-N. P. 125). From Waterford the king marched through Ossory to Dublin, receiving the homage of the Irish princes as he went. He spent Christmas at Dublin, which on his departure he gave in charge to Hugh de Lacy (A.-N. P. ll. 2713-16). It would seem that during the greater part of the six months Henry spent in Ireland Earl Richard kept his own court at Kildare.

A Dyvelin esteit li reis HenrizEt à Kildare li quens gentils(ll. 2695-6).

That the king to some extent distrusted the intentions of his great vassal is evident by the steps he took to weaken the earl's party and power (Gir. 284).

Towards the beginning of Lent (c. 1 March 1172) Henry reached Wexford. Three or four weeks later came the news of the threatened rebellion of his sons; but his passage to England was delayed till Easter Monday (17 April). Before leaving Ireland he had made Hugh de Lacy lord of Meath, and entrusted Wexford to William FitzAldhelm. Meanwhile, Earl Richard withdrew to Ferns, where he married his sister Basilia to Robert de Quenci, who was given the constableship of Leinster (Bened. i. 25; Gir. 287; A.-N. P. ll. 2741-50).

For the next two years Kildare seems to have been Earl Richard's headquarters (ll. 2769-72), whence he appears to have made forays on the district of Offaly. On one of these expeditions Robert de Quenci was slain, upon which Raymond le Gros demanded the widow in marriage. This request, which implied a claim to the constableship of Leinster and the guardianship of Basilia's infant daughter, was refused, although the refusal seems to have cost the earl the services of Raymond and his followers, who at once returned to Wales (A.-N. P. pp. 133-6; but cf. Gir. 310).

On the breaking out of the rebellion of 1173 (c. 15 April 1173) Henry summoned the earl to his assistance in Normandy, where, according to the Anglo-Norman Poet, he was given the castle of Gisors to guard. From Ralph de Diceto we know that he was present at the relief of Verneuil (9 Aug.) (cf. Eyton, 172, 176). He was apparently dismissed before the close of the first year of war, and as a reward of his fidelity received the restoration of Wexford, Waterford, and Dublin. On reaching Ireland he at once despatched Robert FitzBernard, FitzStephen, and others to aid against the rebels in England, where, if we may trust the Anglo-Norman Poet, the Irish forces were present at the overthrow of the Earl of Leicester (17 Oct.) at Bury St. Edmunds (A.-N. P. pp. 136-41; Diceto, i. 375, 377; Gir. 298, but cf. remarks in list of authorities at end of article).

On Raymond's departure Earl Richard gave the constableship to Hervey de Mountmaurice (Gir. 308). Dissatisfied with his generalship, the troops clamoured for the reappointment of Raymond, whom Henry had sent back to Ireland with the earl, and their request was granted (ib. 298). About the latter part of 1174 the earl led his army into Munster, against Donald of Limerick, and met with the great disaster that forced him back to Waterford, where he was closely besieged by the Irish, while Roderic O'Connor advanced to the very walls of Dublin. In this emergency the earl sent over a messenger begging that Raymond would come to his aid, and promising him his sister's hand. The two nobles met in an island near Waterford. Earl Richard was brought back to Wexford, where the marriage was celebrated. On the next day Raymond started to drive the king of Connaught out of Meath (A. F. M. ii. 15-19, with which cf. Gir. 310-12; A.-N. P. pp. 142-4). It was now that, at Raymond's suggestion, the earl gave his elder daughter Alina to William FitzMaurice. To Maurice himself he assigned Wicklow Castle; Carbury to Meiler FitzHenry, and other estates to various other knights. Dublin was handed over to the brothers from Hereford. With his sister Earl Richard granted Raymond Fothord, Idrone, and Glaskarrig (Gir. 314; for full list, see A.-N. P. pp. 144-8). It appears that the earl was now supreme in Leinster, having hostages of all the great Irish princes (ll. 3208, &c.).

It was probably in 1175 that Earl Richard was called upon to relieve Hugh de Lacy's newly built castle of Trim. After this success he withdrew to Dublin, having determined to send his army under Raymond against Donald O'Brien of Limerick. He does not seem to have taken any personal share in the latter expedition (c. 1 Oct. 1175), and indeed may possibly have been in England in this very month (Eyton, 196). After the fall of Limerick Hervey persuaded the king to recall his rival Raymond, whom, however, the peril of the English garrison detained in Ireland long after the receipt of the summons, since the earl's men refused to advance under any other leader. On Tuesday, 6 April 1176, Raymond once more entered Limerick, from which town he soon started for Cork, to relieve Dermot Macarthy, prince of Desmond. While thus engaged he received a letter from his wife, Basilia, informing him that that huge grinder which had caused him so much pain had fallen out. By this phrase he understood that Earl Richard was dead (c. 1 June according to Giraldus; but 5 April according to Diceto). After Raymond's arrival the earl was buried in the church of the Holy Trinity, where his tomb is still shown. Other accounts make him buried at Gloucester (A.-N. P. ll. 3208, &c.; Giraldus; Diceto, i. 407).

Earl Richard seems to have left an only daughter, Isabella by name. At the age of three she became the heiress to her father's vast estates, and was married by King Richard to William Marshall in 1189 (Hoveden, iii. 7; Diceto, i. 407). The question as to whether he had other issue has been fiercely contested by genealogists; but there seems to be no reason for doubting that he was married before espousing Dermot's daughter. The earl's daughter, Alina, mentioned above, cannot well have been his child by Eva. In the Irish Annals we read (a.d. 1171) of a predatory expedition led into Kildare by the earl's son (A. F. M. 1185). A Tintern charter granted by the younger William Marshall, and dated Strigul 22 March 1206, makes mention of Walter, filius Ricardi, filii Gilberti Strongbowe, avi mei (Dugdale, v. 267). But even this evidence can hardly be considered to confirm the current story as to how the earl met his son fleeing before the enemy and, enraged at such cowardice, clave him asunder with his sword. A tomb is still shown in Christ Church, Dublin, which passes for that of Richard Strongbow. This monument, which is described as displaying the cross-legged effigy of a knight, is said to have been restored by Sir Henry Sidney in 1570. On the left lies a half-figure of uncertain sex, which is popularly supposed to represent the earl's son. On it are inscribed the lines:Nate ingrate mihi pugnanti terga dedisti:Non mihi sed genti, regno quoque terga dedisti.

But there is no evidence as to the original state of this monument or the extent of Sir Henry's restorations. The whole legend was well known to Stanihurst in 1584; but it may date much further back than the sixteenth century (Marsh, 62).

According to Giraldus's rhetorical phrase, Richard de Clare was vir plus nominis hactenus habens quam ominis, plus genii quam ingenii, plus successionis quam possessionis. More trustworthy, perhaps, is Giraldus's personal description of the earl: A man of a somewhat florid complexion and freckled; with grey eyes, feminine features, a thin voice and short neck, but otherwise of a good stature. He was rather suited, continues the same historian, for the council chamber than the field, and better fitted to obey than to command. He required to be urged on to enterprise by his followers; but when once in the press of the fight his resolution was as the standard or the rallying-point of his side. No disaster could shake his courage, and he showed no undue exhilaration when things went well. In the pages of Giraldus the earl appears as a mere foil to the brilliant characters of the Fitzgeralds, and is never credited with any very remarkable military achievement. On the other hand, in the pages of the Anglo-Norman Poet he fills a much more prominent position; he leads great expeditions, and is specially distinguished at the siege of Dublin. But even in the verse of this writer his special epithets are, li gentils quens, le bon contur. It is more rarely that we find him styled li quens vailland.

Sources:

The two principal authorities for the career of Richard Strongbow are Giraldus Cambrensis and a poet who, towards the close of the twelfth century, wrote an account of the conquest of Ireland in Norman-French verse. The narrative of the latter, according to its author's statement, is largely based on the information derived from Dermot's interpreter or clerk, Maurice Regan. In many points these two writers are not in absolute accord, and the chronology is rendered still more obscure by the fact that the Anglo-Norman Poet gives no yearly dates at all, while Giraldus is not entirely consistent with himself. Each author supplies much that is peculiar to himself at other times, when they seem to differ it may be that they refer to different occasions. The latter view has been taken in the article in the case of Raymond's return to England. Giraldus Cambrensis, Expugnatio Hibernica, ed. Dimock (Rolls Series), v.

Anglo-Norman Poet, ed. Wright and Michel (London, 1837)
Eyton's Itinerary of Henry II
Green's English Princesses, i.
Benedict of Peterborough and Ralph de Diceto, ed. Stubbs (Rolls Series)
Trivet, ed. Hog (Engl. Hist. Soc.)
Dugdale's Baronage, i., and Monasticon (ed. 1817-1846)
William of Jumièges ap. Migne, cxxxix. col. 906
Brompton's Chronicon, ap. Twysden's Decem Scriptores
Annals of the Four Masters, ed. Donovan
Marsh's Chepstow Castle
Orderic Vitalis (Bohn), iv. 203
Journal of Archæological Association, x. 265.

Contributor: T. A. A. [Thomas Andrew Archer]

Published: 1887

Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Pembroke (of the first creation), Lord of Leinster, Justiciar of Ireland (1130 - 20 April 1176). Like his father, he was also commonly known as Strongbow (French: Arc-Fort). He was a Cambro-Norman lord notable for his leading role in the Norman invasion of Ireland.

Richard was the son of Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Beaumont. Richard's father died when he was about eighteen years old and Richard inherited the title Earl of Pembroke. It is probable that this title was not recognized at Henry II's coronation.

Career

As the son of the first Earl, he succeeded to his father's estates in 1148, but was deprived of the title by King Henry II of England in 1154 for siding with King Stephen of England against Henry’s mother, the Empress Matilda. Richard was in fact, described by his contemporaries as the Earl of Striguil, Striguil being where he had a fortress at a place now called Chepstow, in Monmouthshire on the Wye. He saw an opportunity to reverse his bad fortune in 1168 when he met Dermot MacMurrough (Irish: Diarmait Mac Murchadha), King of Leinster.

Dispossession of the King of Leinster

In 1167, the King of Leinster was deprived of his kingdom by the High King of Ireland - Rory O'Connor (Irish: Tairrdelbach mac Ruaidri Ua Conchobair). The grounds for the dispossession were that MacMurrough had, in 1152, abducted Derbforgaill, the wife of the King of Breifne, Tiernan O'Rourke (Irish: Tighearnán Ua Ruairc). To recover his kingdom, MacMurrough solicited help from Henry II of England.

Dermot MacMurrough left Ireland for Bristol from near Bannow on 1 August 1166. He met King Henry II in Aquitaine in autumn 1166. Henry could not help him at this time, but provided a letter of comfort for willing supporters of Dermot’s cause in his kingdom. However, after his return to Wales he failed to rally any forces to his standard. Eventually he met the Earl of Striguil (nicknamed "Strongbow") and other barons of the Welsh Marches. MacMurrough came to an agreement with de Clare: for the Earl’s assistance with an army the following spring, he could have Aoife, Dermot's eldest daughter in marriage and the succession to Leinster. As Henry’s approval or licence to Dermot was a general one, the Earl of Striguil thought it prudent to obtain Henry's specific consent to travel to Ireland: he waited two years to do this. The licence he got was to aid Dermot in the recovery of his kingdom of Leinster.

The invasion of Leinster

An army was assembled that included Welsh archers. It was led by Raymond Fitzgerald (also known as Raymond le Gros) and in quick succession it took the Viking or Scandinavian-established towns of Wexford, Waterford and Dublin in 1169-1170. Strongbow, however, was not with the first invading party, only arriving later, in August 1170.

In May 1171, Dermot died and his son, Donal MacMurrough-Kavanagh (Irish: Domhnall Caemanach mac Murchada) claimed the kingdom of Leinster in accordance with his rights under the Brehon Laws. The Earl of Striguil also claimed the kingship in the right of his wife. The old king's death was the signal of a general rising, and Richard barely managed to keep Rory O'Connor out of Dublin.

Royal intervention

The success of the invasion made King Henry concerned that his barons would become too powerful and independent overseas. He therefore ordered all troops to return to England by Easter 1171. Richard delayed his return until he had repulsed the High King. Immediately afterwards, he hurried to England to solicit help from Henry II, who instead stripped Strongbow of his new holdings. Henry himself invaded in October 1171, staying six months and putting his own men into nearly all the important places, claiming the title "Lord of Ireland". Strongbow returned to favour, and power in Ireland, in 1173 when he aided the king in his campaign against his rebelling sons. Richard went to Normandy to assist the king in the Revolt of 1173-1174. However, he was only permitted to retain the county of Kildare and found himself largely disinherited. The King later concluded a treaty with the High King of Ireland - the Treaty of Windsor 1175. By the terms of the treaty, Rory was left with a kingdom consisting of Ireland outside the petty kingdoms of Leinster, Mide (as they were then), Dublin and County Waterford, as long as he paid tribute to Henry II, and owed fealty to him. All of Ireland was also subject to the new religious provisions of the papal bull Laudabiliter and the Synod of Cashel (1172). In contravention of the royal treaty, de Clare invaded Connacht in 1172 but was severely defeated. Raymond le Gros, his chief general, re-established his supremacy in Leinster. After another rebellion in 1176, Raymond took Limerick for Richard, but just at this moment of triumph, Strongbow died of an infection in his foot.

Marriage and issue

The day after the capture of Waterford, Strongbow married MacMurrough's daughter, Aoife of Leinster. Their children were

Gilbert de Clare, 3rd Earl of Pembroke, a minor who died in 1185
Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke, who became Countess of Pembroke in her own right in 1185 (on the death of her brother) until her own death in 1220.

King Henry II had promised Sir William Marshal that he would be given Isabel as his bride, and his son Richard I upheld the promise one month after his ascension to the throne. The earldom was given to her husband as her consort. Marshall was the son of John the Marshal, by Sibylle, the sister of Patrick, Earl of Salisbury.

Strongbow's widow, Aoife, lived on and was last recorded in a charter of 1188.

Legacy

Strongbow was the statesman, whereas Raymond was the soldier, of the conquest. He is vividly described by Giraldus Cambrensis as a tall and fair man, of pleasing appearance, modest in his bearing, delicate in features, of a low voice, but sage in council and the idol of his soldiers. He was first interred in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral where an alleged effigy can be viewed. Strongbow's actual tomb-effigy was destroyed when the roof of the Cathedral collapsed in 1562. The one on display dates from around the 15th century, bears the coat of arms of the Earls of Kildare and is the effigy of another local Knight. Strongbow is actually buried in the graveyard of the Ferns Cathedral, Ferns, where his grave can be seen in the graveyard.

Richard also held the title of Lord Marshal of England.

Richard married Aoife MacMorrough 29 Aug 1170, Waterford, Ireland. Aoife (daughter of Dermot MacMorrough, King of Leinster and Mor O'Toole) was born 1145; died Aft 1189. [Group Sheet]

1. Gilbert Clare was born 1173; died 1186.
2. Isabella de Clare, Countess of Pembroke was born 1172, Ireland; died 1220; was buried Monmouthshire, Wales.

Richard — Unknown. [Group Sheet]

1. Alina de Clare
2. Basilia de Clare was born 1156; died 1203.

Notes:

He was the son of Gilbert fitz Richard and Adeliza de Clermont. He married Isabella of Meulan, daughter of Robert de Meulan, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth de Vermandois.

Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke also went by the nick-name of Gilbert 'Strongbow'. He was also known as Gilbert FitzGilbert. He was created 1st Earl of Pembroke [England] circa 1138.

Gilbert fitz Gilbert de Clare (c. 1100 - 6 January 1147/8), son of Gilbert Fitz Richard and Alice de Claremont, was sometimes referred to as "Strongbow", although his son is better remembered by this name, was the first Earl of Pembroke from 1138.

Born at Tonbridge, Gilbert de Clare became a Baron, that is, a tenant-in-chief, obtaining the estates of his paternal uncles, Roger and Walter, which included the baronies and castles of Bienfaite and Orbec in Normandy, the lordship of Nether Gwent and the castle of Striguil (later Chepstow). King Stephen created him Earl of Pembroke, and gave him the rape and castle of Pevensey. Gilbert de Clare decided to live near the roof in the Great Hall so he could see what was going on at all times.

After Stephen's defeat at Lincoln on 2 February 1141, Gilbert was among those who rallied to Empress Matilda when she recovered London in June, but he was at Canterbury when Stephen was recrowned late in 1141. He then joined Geoffrey's plot against Stephen, but when that conspiracy collapsed, he again adhered to Stephen, being with him at the siege of Oxford late in 1142. In 1147 he rebelled when Stephen refused to give him the castles surrendered by his nephew Gilbert, 2nd Earl of Hertford, whereupon the King marched to his nearest castle and nearly captured him. However, the Earl appears to have made his peace with Stephen before his death the following year.

He married Isabel de Beaumont (ca. 1102 - ca. 1172), around 1130, daughter of Sir Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan, and Elizabeth de Vermandois. Isabel had previously been the mistress of King Henry I of England. By her he had two daughters (Agnes and Basilia) and two sons (Baldwin and Richard).

Gilbert married Isabel de Beaumont Abt 1130. Isabel (daughter of Robert de Meulan, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth of Vermandois, Countess of Leicester) was born Between 1102 and 1107; died Aft 1172. [Group Sheet]

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Notes:

Isabel (Elizabeth) de Beaumont (after 1102 - after 1172), daughter of Robert de Beaumont, sister of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester. She married Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke, in 1130. She was also known as Isabella de Meulan.

Isabella of Meulan was born between 1102 and 1107. She was the daughter of Robert de Meulan, 1st Earl of Leicester and Elizabeth de Vermandois. She married Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke, son of Gilbert fitz Richard and Adeliza de Clermont. She died after 1172. As a result of her marriage, Isabella of Meulan was styled as Countess of Pembroke.

Notes:

He was the son of Richard fitz Gilbert and Rohese Giffard. He married Adeliza de Clermont, daughter of Hugues, Comte de Clermont and Marguerite de Montdidier, circa 1083. He was also known as Gilbert de Tonbridge. He was also known as Gilbert de Clare. He succeeded to the title of 2nd Lord of Clare [feudal baron] circa 1090. In 1090 he founded the Priory at Clare.

Gilbert Fitz Richard (died 1114/7) was son and eventual heir of Richard Fitz Gilbert of Clare and heiress Rohese Giffard. He succeeded to his father's possessions in England in 1091; his brother, Roger Fitz Richard, inherited his father's lands in Normandy. Gilbert's inheritance made him one of the wealthiest magnates in early twelfth-century England. He was the earl of Hertfordshire, but references rarely indicated the county; he was consistently called Earl Gilbert or Gilbert earl of Clare.

Gilbert may have been present at the suspicious death of William II in the New Forest in 1100. He was granted lands and the Lordship of Cardigan by Henry I, including Cardigan Castle. He founded the Cluniac priory at Stoke-by-Clare, Suffolk.

He married Adeliza/Alice de Claremont, daughter of Hugh, Count of Clermont, and Margaret de Roucy. She remarried one of the sons of Hervé de Montmorency after his death. Gilbert and Adeliza had at least eight children:

Walter de Clare, d. 1149
Adelize/Alice de Clare, d. 1163, m. (ca. 1105), Aubrey II de Vere, son of Aubrey I de Vere and Beatrice. She had 9 children and in her widowhood was a corrodian at St. Osyth's, Chich, Essex.
Margaret de Clare, d. 1185, m. (ca. 1108), Sir William de Montfitchet, Lord of Stanstead Mountfitchet.
Baldwin Fitz Gilbert de Clare, Lord of Bourne, d. 1154, m. Adeline de Rollos.
Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare, d. 1136
Hervey de Clare
Gilbert Fitz Gilbert de Clare, d. 1148, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Rohese de Clare, d. 1149, m. (ca. 1130), Baderon of Monmouth

He was the son of Richard fitz Gilbert and Rohese Giffard. He married Adeliza de Clermont, daughter of Hugues, Comte de Clermont and Marguerite de Montdidier, circa 1083. He was also known as Gilbert de Tonbridge. He was also known as Gilbert de Clare. He succeeded to the title of 2nd Lord of Clare [feudal baron] circa 1090. In 1090 he founded the Priory at Clare.

Gilbert married Adeliza de Clermont Abt 1083. Adeliza (daughter of Hugh, Count of Clermont and Margaret de Roucy) was born Abt 1058, Northamptonshire, England. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

She is the daughter of Hugues, Comte de Clermont and Marguerite de Montdidier. She married, firstly, Gilbert fitz Richard, son of Richard fitz Gilbert and Rohese Giffard, circa 1083. She married, secondly, Bouchard de Montmorency after 1117.

Notes:

He is the son of Roger de Beaumont, Seigneur de Portaudemer and Adeline de Meulan. He married Elizabeth de Vermandois, daughter of Hugh de Crépi, Comte de Vermandois et de Valois and Aelis de Vermandois, Comtesse de Vermandois, in 1096.

He gained the title of Comte de Meulan, in France. He gained the title of 1st Earl of Leicester.

Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan (between 1040 and 1050 - 5 June 1118) was a powerful English and French nobleman, revered as one of the wisest men of his age. Chroniclers speak highly of his eloquence, his learning, and three kings of England valued his counsel.

He accompanied William the Conqueror to England in 1066, where his service earned him more than 91 lordships and manors. When his mother died in 1081, Robert inherited the title of Count of Meulan in Normandy, also the title of Viscount Ivry and Lord of Norton. He did homage to Philip I of France for these estates and sat as French Peer in the Parliament held at Poissy.

At the Battle of Hastings Robert was appointed leader of the infantry on the right wing of the army.

He and his brother Henry were members of the Royal hunting party in the New Forest, when William Rufus received his mysterious death wound, 2 August 1100. He then pledged alligience to William Rufus' brother, Henry I of England, who created him Earl of Leicester in 1107.

On the death of William Rufus, William, Count of Evreux and Ralph de Conches made an incursion into Robert's Norman estates, on the pretence that they had suffered injury through some advice that Robert had given to the King; their raid was very successful for they collected a vast booty.

According to Henry of Huntingdon, Robert died of shame after "a certain earl carried off the lady he had espoused, either by some intrigue or by force and stratagem." His wife Isabella remarried in 1118 to William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey.

Family and children

He was the eldest son of Roger de Beaumont and Adeline of Meulan, daughter of Waleran III, Count de Meulan, and an older brother of Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick.

In 1096 he married (Isabel) Elizabeth de Vermandois, daughter of Hugh Magnus (b. 1053, d. 18 Oct 1101) a younger son of the French king and Adelaide de Cleremont (b. 1050, d. 23 Sep 1120). Their children were:

Emma de Beaumont (born 1102)
Waleran IV de Beaumont, Count of Meulan (born 1104)
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (born 1104)
Hugh de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Bedford (born c. 1106)
Adeline de Beaumont, married twice:

Hugh IV of Montfort-sur-Risle
Richard de Granville of Bideford (d. 1147)

Aubree de Beaumont, married Hugh II of Château-neuf-Thimerais.
Maud de Beaumont, married William Lovel. (b. c. 1102)
Isabel de Beaumont, a mistress of King Henry I of England. Married twice:

Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke;
Hervé de Montmorency, Constable of Ireland

Robert married Elizabeth of Vermandois, Countess of Leicester 1096. Elizabeth (daughter of Hugh, I of Vermandois and Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois) was born Abt 1081; died 17 Feb 1130/31. [Group Sheet]

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Notes:

Elizabeth de Vermandois is the daughter of Hugh de Crépi, Comte de Vermandois et de Valois and Aelis de Vermandois, Comtesse de Vermandois. She married, firstly, Robert de Meulan, 1st Earl of Leicester, son of Roger de Beaumont, Seigneur de Portaudemer and Adeline de Meulan, in 1096. She married, secondly, William II de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, son of William I de Warenne, 1st Earl of Surrey and Gundreda, after 5 June 1118.

She was also known as Isabel de Vermandois. She was also known as Isabel de Crépi. From 1096, her married name became de Beaumont. Her married name became de Warenne.

Elizabeth of Vermandois, or Elisabeth or Isabel de Vermandois (ca. 1081 - 13 February 1131), was a niece of Philip I of France who was twice married to influential Anglo-Norman magnates.

Family

Elizabeth of Vermandois was the third daughter of Hugh Magnus and Adelaide of Vermandois, and as such represented both the Capetian line of her paternal grandfather Henry I of France, and the Carolingian ancestry of her maternal grandfather Herbert IV of Vermandois. Her father was a younger brother of Philip I of France.

Countess of Leicester

In 1096, at age 15, Elizabeth married Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan and 1st Earl of Leicester. The count was 46 at the time of the marriage, which was an unusual age difference even for the late 11th century. He was a nobleman of some significance in France, having inherited lands from his maternal uncle Henry, Count of Meulan, and had fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 under the command of his distant kinsman William the Conqueror. For this service, he was awarded English lands in addition to those in Meulan and Normandy he had inherited. However, at the time of the marriage, he held no earldom in England while his younger brother was already styled Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick. Meulan was a respected advisor to three reigning monarchs: William II of England, Robert Curthose of Normandy and Philip I of France.

According to Middle Ages custom, brides were often betrothed young - 8 being the legal age for betrothal and 12 for marriage (for women). The young betrothed wife would often go to her husband's castle to be raised by his parents or other relatives and to learn the customs and ways of her husband's family. The actual wedding would not take place until much later. Some genealogists speculate that the usual age at which a noble bride could expect the marriage to be consummated would be 14. This is consistent with the date of birth of Elizabeth's first child Emma in 1102 when she would be about 15 to 17.

The marriage produced several children, including most notably two twin sons (born 1104) who both become important noblemen. These men, known to historians of this period as the Beaumont twins, were Waleran de Beaumont, Count of Meulan and his younger twin Robert Bossu (the Humpback) or Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester. Another notable child of this marriage was Elisabeth or Isabel de Beaumont, one of the youngest mistresses of Henry I of England and later mother (by her first marriage) of Richard Strongbow.

William II of England died suddenly in a purported hunting accident, and was hastily succeeded not by the expected heir but by the youngest brother Henry. This seizure of the throne led to an abortive invasion by the older brother Duke Robert of Normandy, followed by an uneasy truce between the brothers. The reprieve was only temporary, and there was unrest in both England and Normandy for some time (stirred up by Duke Robert, and by an exiled nobleman Robert of Bellême, 3rd Earl of Shrewsbury). Finally, Henry invaded Normandy and in the Battle of Tinchebray (September 28, 1106) destroyed organized opposition to his takeover of Normandy and imprisoned his ineffectual older brother for his lifetime. Meulan and his brother Warwick were apparently supporters of Henry during this entire period, and Meulan was rewarded with the earldom of Leicester in 1103. By 1107, Meulan was in possession of substantial lands in three domains. In 1111, he was able to revenge himself on the attack on his seat Meulan by Louis VI of France by harrying Paris.

Countess of Surrey

Elizabeth, Countess of Meulan apparently tired of her aging husband at some point during the marriage. The historian Planche says (1874) that the Countess was seduced by or fell in love with a younger nobleman, William de Warenne (c. 1071-11 May 1138) himself the thwarted suitor of Edith of Scotland, Queen consort of Henry I of England. Warenne was said to want a royal bride, and Elizabeth fitted his requirements, even though she was also another man's wife.

In 1115, the Countess was apparently carried off or abducted by Warenne, which abduction apparently concealed a long-standing affair. There was some kind of separation or divorce between Meulan and his wife, which however did not permit her to marry her lover. The elderly Count of Meulan died, supposedly of chagrin and mortification in being thus publicly humiliated, in the Abbey of Preaux, Normandy on 5 June 1118, leaving his properties to his two elder sons whom he had carefully educated.

Elizabeth married, secondly, William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey, sometime after the death of her first husband. By him, it is alleged, she already had several children (all born during her marriage to Meulan). She also had at least one daughter born while she was living out of wedlock with Warenne (1115-1118). It is unclear whether this daughter was Ada de Warenne, wife of Henry of Scotland or Gundrede de Warenne, wife of Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick (her half-brothers' first cousin).

The later life of Elizabeth de Vermandois is not known. Her sons by her first marriage appear to have a good relationship with their half-brother William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey although on opposing sides for much of the wars between Stephen and Matilda. Her eldest son Waleran, Count of Meulan was active in supporting the disinherited heir William Clito, son of Robert Curthose until captured by King Henry. He was not released until Clito's death without issue in 1128. Her second son Robert inherited his father's English estates and the earldom of Leicester and married the heiress of the Fitzosbern counts of Breteuil. Her daughter Isabel however became a king's concubine or mistress at a young age; it is unclear whether her mother's own life or her eldest brother's political and personal travails in this period played any part in this decision. Before her mother died, Isabel had become wife of Gilbert de Clare, later (1147) Earl of Pembroke, so had adopted a more conventional life like her mother.

Children and descendants

During her first marriage (1096-1115) to Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan (d 5 June 1118), Elizabeth had 3 sons (including twin elder sons) and 6 daughters:

Emma de Beaumont (born 1102), was betrothed as an infant to Aumari, nephew of William, Count of Évreux, but the marriage never took place. She probably died young, or entered a convent.
Waleran IV de Beaumont, Count of Meulan (born 1104) married and left issue.
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (born 1104) married and left issue (his granddaughter Isabella of Gloucester was the unfortunate first wife of King John.
Hugh de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Bedford (born c. 1106) lost his earldom, left issue
Adeline de Beaumont (b ca 1107), married twice:

Hugh IV, 4th Lord of Montfort-sur-Risle to whom she was married firstly by her brother Waleran
Richard de Granville of Bideford (d. 1147)

Aubree (or Alberee) de Beaumont (b ca 1109), married by her brother Waleran to Hugh II of Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais (possibly son of Hugh I of Châteauneuf-en-Thimerais and his wife Mabille de Montgomerie, 2nd daughter of Roger de Montgomerie, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury)
Maud de Beaumont (b ca 1111), married by her brother Waleran to William Lovel, or Louvel or Lupel, son of Ascelin Goel, Lord of Ivri.
Isabel de Beaumont (b Aft. 1102), a mistress of King Henry I of England. Married twice:

Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke by whom she was mother of Richard Strongbow, who invaded Ireland 1170
Hervé de Montmorency, Constable of Ireland (this marriage is not conclusively proven)

In her second marriage, to William de Warenne, Elizabeth had three sons and two daughters (for a total of fourteen children - nine during her first marriage, and five during her second):

William de Warenne, 3rd Earl of Surrey and Warenne (b. 1119 dspm 1147) whose daughter Isabelle de Warenne, Countess of Surrey married 1stly

William, Count of Boulogne (dsp), yr son of King Stephen, and married 2ndly
Hamelin Plantagenet, an illegitimate half-brother of King Henry II of England by whom she had issue, later earls of Surrey and Warenne.

Reginald de Warenne, who inherited his father's property in upper Normandy. He married Adeline, daughter of William, lord of Wormgay in Norfolk, by whom he had a son William, whose daughter and sole heir Beatrice married first Dodo, lord Bardolf, and secondly Hubert de Burgh;
Ralph de Warenne (dsp)
Gundrada de Warenne, (Gundred) who married first

Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick and had issue; second (as his 2nd wife)
William de Lancaster and is most remembered for expelling king Stephen's garrison from Warwick Castle; and they had issue.

Ada de Warenne (d. ca. 1178), who married Henry of Scotland, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon, younger son of King David I of Scotland, Earl of Huntingdon by his marriage to the heiress Matilda or Maud, 2nd Countess of Huntingdon (herself great-niece of William I of England) and had issue. They were parents to Malcolm IV of Scotland and William I of Scotland and their youngest son, David of Scotland, 8th Earl of Huntingdon, who was ancestor of all Kings of Scotland since 1292.

Notes:

He was the son of Gilbert, Comte de Brionne and Gunnora d'Aunou. He married Rohese Giffard, daughter of Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville and Agnes Ermentrude Fleitel, circa 1054. He died circa 1090. He was buried at St. Neots, Huntingdonshire, England.

He was also known as Richard de Clare. He gained the title of Lord of Bienfaite [Normandy]. Richard fitz Gilbert also went by the nick-name of Richard de Bienfaite. He gained the title of Lord of Orbec [Normandy]. Circa 1066 he accompanied William the Conqueror to England. He received 176 Lordships, 95 in Suffolk. He was created 1st Lord of Clare [feudal baron]. In 1075 He helped to suppress the revolt. He held the office of Joint Chief Justiciar. He has an extensive biographical entry in the Dictionary of National Biography.

Dictionary of National Biography

Clare, Richard de d. 1090?, founder of the house of Clare, was a son [see Clare, family of] of Count Gilbert. Though here, for convenience, inserted among the Clares, he was known at the time as Richard de Bienfaite, Richard the son of Count Gilbert, Richard FitzGilbert, or Richard of Tonbridge, the last three of these styles being those under which he appears in Domesday. He is, however, once entered (in the Suffolk invasiones) as Richard de Clare (Domesday, ii. 448 a). It was probably in 1070 that, with his brother, he witnessed a charter of William at Salisbury (Glouc. Cart. i. 387). On William's departure for Normandy he was appointed, with William of Warrenne, chief justiciar (or regent), and in that capacity took a leading part in the suppression of the revolt of 1075 (Ord. Vit. ii. 262). He is further found in attendance on the king at Berkeley, Christmas 1080 (Glouc. Cart. i. 374), and again, with his brother, at Winchester in 1081 (Mon. Angl. iii. 141). The date of his death is somewhat uncertain. Ordericus (iii. 371) alludes to him as lately (nuper) dead in 1091, yet apparently implies that at this very time he was captured at the siege of Courcy. From Domesday we learn that he received in England some hundred and seventy lordships, of which ninety-five were in Suffolk, attached to his castle of Clare. In Kent he held another stronghold, the castle of Tunbridge, with its appendant Lowy (Lega), of which the continuator of William of Jumièges asserts (viii. 37) that he received it in exchange for his claim on his father's comté of Brionne, while the Tintern Genealogia (Monasticon Anglican. v. 269) states that he obtained it by exchange from the see of Canterbury, which is confirmed by the fact that, in later days, it was claimed by Becket as having been wrongly alienated, and homage for its tenure exacted from the earls (Materials, iii. 47, 251). By Stapleton (ii. 136) and Ormerod (Strig. 79) it has been held that he received the lordship of Chepstow as an escheat in 1075, but for this there is no foundation. The abbey of Bec received from him a cell, afterwards an alien priory, at Tooting (Mon. Angl. vi. 1052-3). He married Rohaise, the daughter of Walter Giffard the elder (Ord. Vit. iii. 340), through whom his descendants became coheirs to the Giffard estates. She held lands at St. Neot's (Domesday), and there founded a religious house, where her husband is said to have been buried (Mon. Angl. v. 269). She was still living as his widow in 1113 (ib. iii. 473), and is commonly, but wrongly, said to have married her son-in-law, Eudes the sewer (Eudo Dapifer). By her Richard FitzGilbert left several children (Ord. Vit. iii. 340). Of these Roger, mentioned first by Ordericus, was probably the eldest, though he is commonly, as by Stapleton (ii. 136), styled the second. He had sided with Robert in the revolt of 1077-8 (Ord. Vit. ii. 381), and is said by the continuator of William of Jumièges (viii. 37) to have received from Robert the castle of Hommez in exchange for his claims on Brionne, but it was, according to Ordericus (iii. 343), his cousin Robert FitzBaldwin who made and pressed the claim to Brionne. Roger, who witnessed as Roger de Clare (apparently the earliest occurrence of the name) a charter to St. Evreul (Ord. Vit. v. 180) about 1080, was his father's heir in Normandy, but left no issue. The other sons were Gilbert (d. 1115?) [qv.], the heir in England, Walter [see Clare, Walter de], Robert, said to be ancestor of the Barons FitzWalter (but on this descent see Mr. Eyton's criticisms in Add. MS. 31938, f. 98), and Richard a monk of Bec (Ord. Vit. iii. 340), who was made abbot of Ely on the accession of Henry I (ib. iv. 93), deprived in 1102, and restored in 1107 (Eadmer, v. 143, 185). There was also a daughter Rohaise, married about 1088 to Eudes the sewer (Mon. Angl. iv. 609).

Sources:

Ordericus Vitalis, ed. Société de l'Histoire de France
William of Jumièges and his Continuator
Domesday
Monasticon Anglicanum (new ed.)
Eadmeri Historia (Rolls Ser.)
Cartulary of St. Peter's, Gloucester (ib.)
Materials for the History of Becket (ib.)
Add. MSS. (Brit. Mus.)
Stapleton's Rolls of the Norman Exchequer
Ormerod's Strigulensia.

Contributor: J. H. R. [John Horace Round]

Published: 1887

Richard fitz Gilbert (c. 1030 - 1091), was a Norman lord who participated in the Norman conquest of England in 1066. He was also known as "de Bienfaite", "de Clare", and "de Tonbridge".

Biography

According to the medieval chronicler Gerald of Wales, the first of this great family, Richard de Clare, was the eldest son of Gilbert, surnamed Crispin, Count of Brionne, in Normandy. This Richard fitz-Gilbert came into England with William the Conqueror, and received from him great advancement in honour and possessions.

The Dictionary of National Biography and other sources are vague and sometimes contradictory about when the name de Clare came into common usuage, but what we do know is that Richard fitz Gilbert (of Tonbridge), the earliest identifiable progenitor of the family, is once referred to as Richard of Clare in the Suffolk return of the Domesday Book.

Rewards

He was rewarded with 176 lordships and large grants of land in England, including the right to build the castles of Clare and of Tonbridge. Richard fitz Gilbert received the lordship of Clare, in Suffolk, where parts of the wall of Clare Castle still stand. He was thus Lord of Clare. Some contemporaneous and later sources called him Earl of Clare, though many modern sources view the title as a "styled title".

He served as Joint Chief Justiciar in William's absence, and played a major part in suppressing the revolt of 1075.

Rebel Baron

On William's death, Richard and other great Norman barons, including Odo of Bayeux, Robert, Count of Mortain , William fitz Osbern and Geoffrey of Coutances, led a rebellion against the rule of William Rufus in order to place Robert Curthose on the throne. However, most Normans in England remained loyal. William Rufus and his army successfully attacked the rebel strongholds at Tonbridge, Pevensey and Rochester.

Death and succession

He was buried in St. Neot's Priory in 1091. His widow was still living in 1113. His lands were inherited by his son, Gilbert fitz Richard.

Family

He was the son of Gilbert "Crispin", Count of Brionne, grandson of Richard I of Normandy. In spite of this, sources as far back as the Annals of the Four Masters claim that Richard's great-grandson, Richard "Strongbow", was the direct descendant of Robert "the Devil", father of William the Conqueror.

Richard married Rohese Giffard, daughter of Sir Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville and Agnes Flaitel, and had the following children:

Walter de Clare, Lord of Nether Gwent, d. 1138
Richard fitz Richard de Clare, Abbot of Ely, d. 1107
Roger fitz Richard de Clare, received Norman lands and d. 1131, apparently without issue
Gilbert fitz Richard, d. 1115, succeeded his father as Earl of Clare
Robert fitz Richard, Lord of Little Dunmow, Baron of Baynard, d. 1136
Rohese de Clare, d. 1121, m. (ca. 1088), Eudo de Rie.
Adelize de Clare, d. 1138. m. Walter Tirel

Surrey

Richard's Surrey lands had a value of £241: 30% of the value of his English lands. Within Surrey, Richard fitz Gilbert owned manors in the following places: Albury, Beddington, Bletchingley, Buckland, Chelsham, Chessington, Chipstead, Chivington, Effingham, Apps in Elmbridge, Farleigh, Immerworth (Kingston upon Thames), Long Ditton, Mickleham, Molesey, Ockley, Old Malden, Shalford, Streatham, Tandridge, Tolworth, Tooting, Walton-on-Thames, Warlingham, Tillingdon, and Woldingham.

Richard married Rohese Giffard Abt 1054. Rohese (daughter of Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville and Agnes Ermentrude Fleitel) was born 1034, Longueville, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

She was the daughter of Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville and Agnes Ermentrude Fleitel. She married Richard fitz Gilbert, son of Gilbert, Comte de Brionne and Gunnora d'Aunou, circa 1054. She was living in 1113.

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He married Marguerite de Montdidier, daughter of Hildiun, Comte de Montdidier et Roucy, circa 1065 at Picardie, France. He gained the title of Comte de Clermont, in Beauvais.

Hugh married Margaret de Roucy Abt 1065, Picardie, France. Margaret (son of Hildiun, Comte de Montdidier et Roucy) was born Abt 1045, Montdidier, Normandy, France; died Abt 1110. [Group Sheet]

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She was the daughter of Hildiun, Comte de Montdidier et Roucy. She married Hugues, Comte de Clermont circa 1065 at Picardie, France. She was also known as Margaret.

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He was also known as Roger de Bellomont, Earl of Mellent.

Roger de Beaumont-le-Roger, Seigneur de Beaumont-le-Roger et de Pont-Audemer (c. 1015 - 29 November 1094) was son of Humphrey de Vielles (himself a great-nephew of the Duchess Gunnora of Normandy) and his wife Albreda de la Haye Auberie. Roger de Beaumont, Lord of Beaumont-le-Roger and Pont-Audemer, Viscount of Hiesmes, was thus a second cousin once removed of the Conqueror.

Life

Roger was nicknamed Barbatus or La Barbe because he wore a moustache and beard while the Normans usually were clean shaven. This peculiarity is recognized in the thirty-second panel of the Bayeux Tapestry where he is depicted sitting at a feast with Duke William on his left hand, Odo, brother of William and Bishop of Bayeux, in the centre.

Planché tells us that "he was the noblest, the wealthiest, and the most valiant seigneur of Normandy, and the greatest and most trusted friend of the Danish family." There is an explanation for this - as an older cousin who had never rebelled against the young Duke, he was part of the kinship group of noblemen that William relied upon in governing Normandy and fighting off frequent rebellion and invasions. The historian Frank McLynn notes that William relied on relatives descended via his mother (namely his half-brothers and brothers-in-law) and on relatives descended from the Duchess Gunnora's sisters, since his own paternal kin had proved unreliable.

Wace, the 12th century historian, says that "at the time of the invasion of England, Roger was summoned to the great council at Lillebonne, on account of his wisdom; but that he did not join in the expedition as he was too far advanced in years." Although Roger could not fight, he did not hesitate in contributing his share of the cost, for he provided at his own expense sixty vessels for the conveyance of the troops across the channel. Furthermore, his eldest son and heir fought bravely at Hastings as noted in several contemporary records. As a result, Roger's elder sons were awarded rich lands in England, and both eventually were made English earls by the sons of the Conqueror.

He was buried at Les Préaux.

Family and children

He married circa 1048 or earlier Adeline of Meulan (c. 1014-1020 - 8 April 1081, buried at the Abbaye du Bec), daughter of Waleran III, Count de Meulan and Oda de Conteville, and sister and heiress of a childless Count of Meulan. Meulan eventually passed to their elder son who became Count of Meulan in 1081. Their surviving children were:

Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan (b ca 1049 - 1118) who succeeded his father in the major part of his lands, and who fought in his first battle at Hastings.
Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick, overshadowed by his elder brother, but who established a more enduring line of Beaumont earls at Warwick Castle.
William de Beaumont (not mentioned in most sources).
Alberée de Beaumont (died 1112), Abbess of Eton.

Roger de Beaumont-le-Roger, feudal lord (Seigneur) of Beaumont-le-Roger and of Pont-Audemer (c. 1015 - 29 November 1094) was a powerful Norman nobleman and close advisor to William the Conqueror.

Origins

He was a son of Humphrey de Vielles (who was a great-nephew of the Duchess Gunnora of Normandy) by his wife Albreda de la Haye Auberie. Roger de Beaumont was thus a second cousin once removed of William the Conqueror. His Norman feudal lordship had its caput and castle at Beaumont-le-Roger, a settlement situated on the upper reaches of the River Risle, in Normandy, about 46 km SW of Rouen, the capital of the Duchy. He was also feudal lord of Pont-Audemer, a settlement built around the first bridge to cross the River Risle upstream of its estuary, shared with the River Seine.

Physical appearance

Roger was nicknamed La Barbe (Latinised to Barbatus) (i.e. "The Bearded") because he wore a moustache and beard while the Normans usually were clean shaven. This peculiarity is believed to be recognized in the thirty-second panel of the Bayeux Tapestry where he is depicted sitting at a feast near Hastings, well before the battle, at the right-hand of Duke William, who in turn was seated at the right hand of his brother Bishop Odo of Bayeux, who is shown blessing the food at a feast.

Career

Planché described him as "the noblest, the wealthiest, and the most valiant seigneur of Normandy, and the greatest and most trusted friend of the Danish (i.e. Norman) family". The explanation for his exalted position appears to be that as an older cousin who had never rebelled against the young Duke, he was part of the kinship group of noblemen that William relied upon in governing Normandy and fighting-off frequent rebellion and invasions. The historian Frank McLynn observed that William relied heavily on relatives on his mother's side, namely his half-brothers Bishop Odo and Robert, and brothers-in-law, and on relatives descended from the Duchess Gunnora's sisters, since his own paternal kin had proved unreliable.

Wace, the 12th century historian, wrote that: "At the time of the invasion of England, Roger was summoned to the great council at Lillebonne, on account of his wisdom; but he did not join in the expedition as he was too far advanced in years". Although Roger could not fight, he did not hesitate in contributing a large share of the cost, and provided at his own expense sixty vessels for the conveyance of the troops across the channel. Furthermore, his eldest son and heir fought bravely at Hastings as noted in several contemporary records. As a result, Roger's elder sons were rewarded generously with lands in England, and both eventually were made English earls by the sons of the Conqueror. Wace's statement may therefore cast doubt on the possibility of Roger being depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry feasting at Hastings. However it is possible that he crossed the Channel so he could continue to act as a valued member of the Duke's council, perhaps giving advice on military tactics, yet stayed well behind the line of battle at headquarters.

Marriage & progeny

He married circa 1048 or earlier Adeline of Meulan (c. 1014-1020 - 8 April 1081), who was buried at the Abbaye du Bec), the daughter of Waleran III, Count de Meulan by Oda de Conteville, and sister and heiress of a childless Count of Meulan. Meulan eventually passed to their elder son who became Count of Meulan in 1081. Their surviving children were:

Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan (c.1049-1118), the eldest son and heir. He succeeded his father in the major part of his lands, and was one of the few proven Companions of William the Conqueror who fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick (c.1050-1119). He was overshadowed by his elder brother, but was granted by his father one of his lesser lordships in Normandy, the lordship of Le Neubourg, about 12 km NE of Beaumont-le-Roger, from which his own family adopted the surname Anglicised to "de Newburgh". He established a more enduring line of Beaumont earls than his elder brother, Earls of Warwick seated at at Warwick Castle.
William de Beaumont (not mentioned in most sources).
Alberée de Beaumont (died 1112), Abbess of Eton.

Death & burial

He was buried at Les Préaux.

Roger married Adeline de Meulan Abt 1048. Adeline (daughter of Waleran, III Count de Meulan and Aubreye) was born Between 1014 and 1020; died Abt 08 Apr 1081; was buried Abt 09 Apr 1081, France. [Group Sheet]

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He married Aelis de Vermandois, Comtesse de Vermandois, daughter of Heribert V, Comte de Vermandois et de Valois and Adele de Crépi, circa 1080. He was a member of the House of Capet. Hugh de Crépi, Comte de Vermandois et de Valois also went by the nick-name of Hugh 'le Grand'. He gained the title of Comte de Vermandois. He gained the title of Comte de Valois.

Hugh I of Vermandois (1057 - October 18, 1101), called Magnus or the Great, was a younger son of Henry I of France and Anne of Kiev and younger brother of Philip I. He was in his own right Count of Vermandois, but an ineffectual leader and soldier, great only in his boasting. Indeed, Steven Runciman is certain that his nickname Magnus (greater or elder), applied to him by William of Tyre, is a copyist's error, and should be Minus (younger), referring to Hugh as younger brother of the King of France.

In early 1096 Hugh and Philip began discussing the First Crusade after news of the Council of Clermont reached them in Paris. Although Philip could not participate, as he had been excommunicated, Hugh was said to have been influenced to join the Crusade after an eclipse of the moon on February 11, 1096.

That summer Hugh's army left France for Italy, where they would cross the Adriatic Sea into territory of the Byzantine Empire, unlike the other Crusader armies who were travelling by land. On the way, many of the soldiers led by fellow Crusader Emicho joined Hugh's army after Emicho was defeated by the Hungarians, whose land he had been pillaging. Hugh crossed the Adriatic from Bari in Southern Italy, but many of his ships were destroyed in a storm off the Byzantine port of Dyrrhachium.

Hugh and most of his army were rescued and escorted to Constantinople, where they arrived in November of 1096. Prior to his arrival, Hugh sent an arrogant, insulting letter to Eastern Roman Emperor Alexius I Comnenus. According to the Emperor's biography written by his daughter Anna Comnena (the Alexiad), he demanded that Alexius meet with him:

"Know, O King, that I am King of Kings, and superior to all, who are under the sky. You are now permitted to greet me, on my arrival, and to receive me with magnificence, as befits my nobility."

Alexius was already wary of the armies about to arrive, after the unruly mob led by Peter the Hermit had passed through earlier in the year. Alexius kept Hugh in custody in a monastery until Hugh swore an oath of vassalage to him.

After the Crusaders had successfully made their way across Seljuk territory and, in 1098, captured Antioch, Hugh was sent back to Constantinople to appeal for reinforcements from Alexius. Alexius was uninterested*(see below), however, and Hugh, instead of returning to Antioch to help plan the siege of Jerusalem, went back to France. There he was scorned for not having fulfilled his vow as a Crusader to complete a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and Pope Paschal II threatened to excommunicate him. He joined the minor Crusade of 1101, but was wounded in battle with the Turks in September, and died of his wounds in October in Tarsus.

In "Urban's Crusade--Success or Failure"(Key, 1948) it is argued, indeed to the contrary, that the emperor was disturbed by Hugh's report and the disquieting rumors emitting from Antioch (on Bohemond's intent and conduct) and promptly set out to prepare another expedition: "...Alexius immediately began preparations for another expedition, and he furthermore sent envoys to the crusaders to announce its coming."

Family and children

He married Adelaide of Vermandois, the daughter of Herbert IV, Count of Vermandois and Alice, Countess of Valois. They had nine children:

Matilda (1080-1130), married Ralph I of Beaugency
Elizabeth of Vermandois, Countess of Leicester (1081-1131)
Beatrice (1082 - after 1144), married Hugh III of Gournay
Ralph I (1085-1152)
Constance (born 1086, date of death unknown), married Godfrey de la Ferté-Gaucher
Agnes (1090-1125), married Boniface del Vasto
Henry (1091-1130), Lord of Chaumont en Vexin
Simon (1093-1148)
William (c. 1094 - c. 1096)

Hugh married Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois Abt 1080. Adelaide (daughter of Herbert, IV Count of Vermandois and Adele of Valois) was born Abt 1065; died Between 1121 and 1123. [Group Sheet]

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Adelaide of Vermandois (1062-1122) was suo jure Countess of Vermandois and Valois and the last member of the Carolingian dynasty.

Adelaide was the daughter of Herbert IV, Count of Vermandois, and Adele of Valois and of the Vexin. Her younger brother Otto became Count of Vermandois upon their father's death in 1080. However, five years later, he was disinherited by the council of Barons of France because of his mental illness. Thus, Adelaide and her husband succeeded to the Counties of Vermandois and Valois.

Adelaide married firstly Hugh Magnus, son of the Capetian King Henry I of France and younger brother of Philip I of France. By this marriage she had nine children:

Matilda(1080-1130), married Ralph I of Beaugency
Beatrice (1082 - after 1144), married Hugh III of Gournay
Elizabeth of Vermandois, Countess of Leicester (1081-1131)
Ralph I (1085-1152)
Constance (born 1086, date of death unknown), married Godfrey de la Ferté-Gaucher
Agnes (1090-1125), married Boniface of Savone
Henry (1091-1130), Lord of Chaumont en Vexin
Simon (1093-1148)
William, possibly married to Isabella, illegitimate daughter of King Louis VI of France

In 1104, she married secondly Renaud II, Count of Clermont. By this marriage she had one daughter, Margaret, who married Charles I, Count of Flanders.

In 1102, Adelaide was succeeded by her son, Ralph I. Adelaide died in 1122 and the Carolingian dynasty died out with her.