Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Encyclopedia : G : GI : GIL : Gilbert de Clare, 1st Earl of Pembroke
Son of
Gilbert Fitz Richard Earl of Clare and Alice de Claremont. Sometimes referred to as "Strongbow" but his son is better remembered by this name. Became a great baron, 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. At Stephen's defeat at Lincoln 2 Feb
1140, he was among those who rallied to
Empress Matilda when she recovered London in June, but was at
Canterbury when Stephen was recrowned late in
1141. He then joined Geoffrey's plot against Stephen, but when that conspiracy collapsed, he was 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 (
1112-
1172), around
1130, daughter of Sir
Robert de Beaumont,
Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan, and Isabel de Vermandois. Isabel had previously been the mistress of King
Henry I of England.
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