Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford

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Coat of arms of the de Clare family

Roger de Clare, 2nd Earl of Hertford († 1173 ) was an Anglo-Norman nobleman.

He was a son of Richard FitzGilbert de Clare and his wife Adeliza, daughter of Ranulph le Meschin, 1st Earl of Chester . After the death of his older brother Gilbert , who died in 1152 without male heirs, he inherited the southern English estates of Clare and Tonbridge and the title of Earl of Hertford . The title created by King Stephen was confirmed by the new King Henry II , but Roger was often called Earl de Clare .

Battle for Welsh possessions

Roger tried to regain the possessions conquered by his grandfather Gilbert de Clare in the Welsh Ceredigion , which had been recaptured by Welsh after the death of his father and the Battle of Crug Mawr in 1136. In 1157 he took part in Henry II's campaign to North Wales , where he saved the royal standard lost by Henry d'Essex during a battle on Coleshill . After Henry made peace with the Welsh prince Lord Rhys , he acquired Cardigan , Aberdyfi and a number of other Welsh castles in 1158 . However, one of these castles, Castell Hywel , was conquered and sacked by Rhys nephew Einion. In 1159 Roger tried in vain with four other English earls and an alliance of Welsh princes to drive Lord Rhys out of Cantref Mawr in South Wales. When Einion was treacherously murdered in his sleep by one of his followers in 1163, Roger recorded the killer. Lord Rhys therefore suspected Roger of inciting the murder and attacked his possessions in Ceredigion. After the failed Welsh campaign of Henry II in 1165, Lord Rhys was able to conquer Cardigan Castle and all of Ceredigion in return. With that, Roger lost his father's Welsh possessions for good.

Follower of the king and quarrel with Thomas Becket

Roger accompanied the king to France at least twice, probably once in 1156 when he was present at the siege of Chinon , and in the winter of 1160 to 1161. During this trip, Roger got into an argument with Thomas Becket , who had just become Archbishop of Canterbury and therefore demanded Roger's homage to Tonbridge Castle . Roger refused this, which led to an ongoing dispute until Archbishop Hubert Walter received homage from Roger's son and heir in 1194. This dispute was one of the reasons for the falling out between the king and the archbishop, as the king supported Roger's position. Roger attended the Clarendon meeting in January 1164 when Becket was confronted with the Constitutions of Clarendon , which he refused to approve.

In 1171 he accompanied the king to Pembroke , from where he embarked for Ireland. During the rebellion of Heinrich's sons against their father, he behaved indecisively, as his wife's family joined the rebellion. The king tried to pull him to his side by giving him more land, but he died before he clearly had to take sides. He was buried in Stoke near Clare in Suffolk. His successor and heir was his son Richard .

Family and offspring

He was married to Matilda (also called Maud), a daughter of James de St Hilaire (or St Hilary), an English-Breton landowner. The couple had several children, including

  • Richard, * probably 1153, † November 28, 1217, 3rd Earl of Hertford
  • Mabel; ∞ William Helion
  • Aveline, † 1225; ∞ I William de Montchesney, † 1204; ∞ II Geoffrey fitz Peter, 1st Earl of Essex , † 1213

His widow Matilda married William d'Aubigny, 2nd Earl of Arundel, for the second time .

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Gilbert de Clare Earl of Hertford
1152-1173
Richard de Clare