Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 10.djvu/383

 Bibl, Brit. præf. p. xxxviii) and Leland (Commentarii de Scriptoribus Britannicis, p. 321), Tanner (l.c. p. 181) adds one book of 'Additiones ad D. Bonaventuram,' 'Lecturæ Scholasticæ,' 'Quaestiones Theologicæ,' and 'Quæstiones Quodlibeticæ,'

Clapwell's name appears in the forms Clapole, Clapoel, &c., besides the variants given above.

 CLARE,. [See, 1748-1802.]

CLARE,. [See .]

CLARE,. The powerful and illustrious family of De Clare, 'a house which played so great a part alike in England, Wales, and Ireland' (, Norm. Conq. v. 212), descended directly from Count Godfrey, the eldest of the illegitimate sons of Richard the Fearless, duke of Normandy (Cont. viii. 87). To him was given, says Ordericus (iii. 340), Brionne cum toto comitatu, but, according to William of Jumièges and his continuator (iv. 18, viii. 37), the Comté of Eu. His son Gilbert inherited Brionne ( iii. 340), and tested, as 'Brioncensis comes,' the foundation charter of the abbey of Bec, whose founder, Herluin, was his vassal. William of Jumièges, however, styles him Count of Eu ('comes Ocensis') at his death (vii. 2), the Comté he states, having passed at his father's death to his uncle William, but being eventually recovered by him (iv. 18). On this point Stapleton (i. lvi) may be consulted, but with caution, for his version is confused. Count Gilbert was one of the guardians ( vii. 2) to whom the young duke was committed by his father (1036), but was assassinated in 1039 or 1040 (ib.) Thereupon his two young sons fled, with their guardians, to Baldwin of Flanders ( iii. 340). The marriage of the Conqueror with Baldwin's daughter restored the exiles to Normandy, where William took them into high favour, and assigned to Richard Bienfaite and Orbec, and to Baldwin Le Sap and Meules (ib.) Ordericus (ii. 121) mentions the two brothers as among the leading men in Normandy on the eve of the conquest.

Both brothers were in attendance on their kinsman during his conquest of England. The one, as Baldwin de Meules, was left in charge of Exeter on its submission (1068), and made sheriff of Devonshire. Large estates in Devonshire and Somersetshire are entered to him in Domesday as 'Baldwin of Exeter' or 'Baldwin the Sheriff.' His brother Richard [see (d. 1090?)] was the founder of the family of De Clare. Their surname, which they derived from their chief lordship, the castle and honour of Clare, was not definitely adopted for some two or three generations, and this, with the fact that several members of the family bore the same christian names, has plunged the history of the earlier generations into almost inextricable confusion. Dugdale is perhaps the chief offender, but, as Mr. Planché rightly observed, 'the pedigree of the Clares as set down by the genealogists, both ancient and modern, bristles with errors, contradictions, and unauthorised assertions' (p. 150). His own paper (Journ. Arch. Assoc. xxvi. 150 et seq.), so far as it goes, contains probably the best version, that of Mr. Clark on 'The Lords of Morgan' (Arch. Journ. xxxv. 325) beings though later, more erroneous. Mr. Ormerod also, in his 'Strigulensia,' and Mr. Marsh, in his 'Chepstow Castle,' examined the subject, the latter treating it in great detail.

The leading facts, however, are these: On the death of Richard, the founder of the house, his English estates passed to his son Gilbert (d. 1115?) [q.v.], who acquired by conquest possessions in Wales. Of his children, Richard, the eldest son, was the ancestor of the elder line, the earls of Hertford and Gloucester [see, d. 1136 ?]; while Gilbert, a younger brother, establishing himself in Wales, acquired the earldom of Pembroke, and was father of the famous Strongbow, the conqueror of Ireland [see, d. 1176]. With him this line came to an end, his vast Irish and Welsh possessions passing to his daughter Isabel, who left by her husband, William Marshal, five daughters and coheiresses. The elder line obtained (from Stephen probably) the earldom of Hertford, and were thenceforth known as earls of Hertford or of Clare, just as the younger line were known as earls of Pembroke or of Striguil. It is implied, in the 'Lords' Reports' (iii. 124) and elsewhere, that they were styled earls of Clare before they were earls of Hertford, but investigation disproves this. By the death of the other coheirs of William, earl of Gloucester (d. 1173), the succession to that earldom, with the honour of Gloucester and lordship of Glamorgan, opened (1217-20) to Gilbert de Clare, earl of Hertford or Clare (d. 1230)