Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond

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Thomas de Clare, Lord of Thomond (* between 1243 and 1248; † August 29, 1287 ) was an Anglo-Irish nobleman. From a landless younger son of an English nobleman, he rose in the service of the king to a rich baron in Ireland.

origin

Thomas de Clare came from the Anglo-Norman family Clare , which belonged to the richest and most powerful noble families in England. He was the second son of Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford and 2nd Earl of Gloucester and his wife Maud de Lacy . His older brother was Gilbert de Clare , who inherited the family's estates after the death of their father in 1262. Together with his younger brother Bogo de Clare , Thomas had studied at Oxford from 1257 to 1259. Thomas then became a squire, while Bogo amassed clerical offices and used this influence profitably. The three brothers remained in close contact with each other and often supported each other in each other's projects.

Role in the war of the barons

Thomas was probably due to the influence of his older brother Gilbert, during the Second War of the Barons , the conflict a noble opposition under Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester with King Henry III. initially on the side of the barons. Before the Battle of Lewes in May 1264, he was knighted by Montfort. After the battle he became a major supporter of Montfort, who in April 1265 appointed him constable of the strategically important St Briavels Castle in Gloucestershire . Around this time he made friends with the heir apparent, Eduard , who was under the supervision of the victorious barons. Although there was increasing tension between Gilbert de Clare and Montfort in early 1265, Montfort allowed Thomas to continue to belong to the household of the heir to the throne. However, Thomas switched to the side of the heir to the throne and on May 28, 1265 made it possible for Eduard to escape the supervision of his guards while riding out. Thomas joined the army of the heir to the throne and fought in the Battle of Evesham , in which the army of Edward's troops decisively defeated Montfort. After the battle he was pardoned by the king. Like his brother Gilbert, he occupied and plundered numerous rebel estates after the king's victory, especially from Henry Hastings , whom he had captured near Evesham. The king also rewarded him with lands, including the possessions of Peter de Montfort , which he later gave to his son.

Confidante of Prince Edward

Thomas now became a close confidante of Prince Edward, who entrusted him with numerous offices. He was constable of Colchester Castle from October 1266 to April 1268 , of Rockingham Castle from April 1272 to September 1275, and of Portchester Castle from February 1272 to August 1273 . He also held the lucrative position of steward for several royal forests. In 1266 he took over from Richard de Montfichet, who was distantly related to him, the administration of the royal forests of Essex, which he kept until 1275, and from 1272 the supervision of the forests of Oxfordshire and Stamford . In 1267, after a sermon by Cardinal Ottobono Fieschi in London's St Paul's Cathedral , Thomas made a vow of crusade. In August 1269 he accompanied Prince Edward to Paris in order to negotiate with the French King Louis IX before they left for the crusade . and set out for the Holy Land with the prince in August 1270. In February 1272 he returned to England, but in April he set out again as lieutenant of the king in Gascony, which then belonged to England . He only returned to England in January 1273.

Rise to Lord of Thomond in Ireland

After Prince Edward returned to England from the crusade in August 1274 and succeeded his deceased father as King Edward I, he sent Thomas to Ireland in the autumn of 1274 , where Geoffrey de Geneville , the Justiciar of Ireland , made him sheriff of Limerick appointed. He held this office until June 1276. After Thomond , bordering on Limerick, was attacked by the Irish clan family Ó Briains , Thomas received the right to conquer Thomond from the Irish on January 26, 1276. In order to gain a starting point for the conquest, he exchanged his English possessions in Oxfordshire and Berkshire for the Irish Bunratty Castle in March 1276 with Robert de Muscegros . With his father-in-law Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly and with Geoffrey de Geneville, he initially undertook a campaign against the MacMurrouhgs in the Wicklow Mountains , against which they suffered a heavy defeat at Glenmalure . After another expedition under the new Justiciar Robert d'Ufford , however, the MacMurroughs surrendered in the autumn of 1277 and their area came under English rule. Thomas now received troops for his campaign against Thomond. In order to break the resistance of the Irish, he captured Briain Rua Ó Briain , the last Irish king of Thomond , in 1277 and had him executed, although he had recently concluded an alliance with him. In 1278 he suffered a heavy defeat against Briain's son Duncan. To secure his conquests, Thomas began building the Castle of Quin , around which County Clare was formed. With Edmund de Bassingbourne he exchanged Blyborough in Lincolnshire for Knockainy in Limerick, thus expanding his Irish holdings.

Thomas now traveled to England and asked the King in Westminster for further help in 1278. It was not until 1281, however, that he was able to complete his castle in Quin and secure his conquests with the support of Robert d'Ufford and Theobald Butler . In 1280 Thomas was a member of the Royal Council for Ireland, and in 1282 he raised loans in Ireland to finance Edward I's campaign to conquer Wales . In November 1283 he went to Wales and met the king in Carmarthen and then again in England. He stayed in England until a revolt broke out in Thomond in the autumn of 1284. He returned to Ireland and was quick to put down the rebellion. With Thomond, Buttany, Youghal and Corkmoyth, he now owned extensive estates in Ireland, as well as other smaller fiefs in England. From these properties he had an annual income of over £ 1000. After the death of the Scottish King Alexander III. Clare entered into an alliance with the Earl of Ulster in September 1286 with several Scottish magnates, including the high steward James Stewart , with the Earl of Dunbar , with Robert de Brus, Lord of Annandale and with his son Robert de Brus, Earl of Carrick . The purpose of the alliance is unclear, either the Scots had ambitions in Ireland or they sought allies in the question of the Scottish succession. Thomas inherited other estates in Ireland after his father-in-law died in 1286, but he died of natural causes the following year. There is no evidence to suggest that he was murdered by the Irish.

Family and offspring

Thomas de Clare married Juliana FitzMaurice in 1275, a daughter of Maurice FitzGerald, 3rd Lord of Offaly, who was temporarily justiciar of Ireland. He had several children including:

  1. ⚭ Robert de Clifford
  2. ⚭ Robert Welles, 2nd Baron Welles
  1. ⚭ Gilbert de Umfraville
  2. ⚭ Bartholomew de Badlesmere, 1st Baron Badlesmere

He also had at least one illegitimate son, who was also called Richard de Clare .

literature

  • B. Hartland: English Lords in late Thirteenth- and early Fouteenth-Century Ireland: Roger Bigod and Thomas de Clare , in: English Historical Review (EHR) 121 (2007), pp. 318-348
  • Annette Jocelyn Otway-Ruthven: A history of medieval Ireland (1980), pp. 201-203
  • Michael Altschul: A baronial family in medieval England. The Clares . The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1965, pp. 187-197

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Michael Altschul: A baronial family in medieval England. The Clares . The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1965, p. 179
  2. ^ Michael Altschul: A baronial family in medieval England. The Clares . The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1965, p. 188
  3. ↑ Clive H. Knowles: Clare, Gilbert de, seventh earl of Gloucester and sixth earl of Hertford (1243-1295). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004
  4. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 49
  5. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 69
  6. ^ Michael Prestwich: Edward I. University of California, Berkeley 1988, ISBN 0-520-06266-3 , p. 359
  7. ^ Michael Altschul: A baronial family in medieval England. The Clares . The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1965, p. 193
  8. ^ Michael Altschul: A baronial family in medieval England. The Clares . The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1965, p. 239
personal data
SURNAME De Clare, Thomas, Lord of Thomond
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lord of Thomond
DATE OF BIRTH between 1243 and 1248
DATE OF DEATH August 29, 1287