Honour of Clare
The Honour of Clare was a medieval English feudal barony centred on the town of Clare in Suffolk. It was established following the Norman Conquest and became one of the most important honours in East Anglia. The caput, or administrative centre, of the honour was Clare Castle, a motte-and-bailey structure later rebuilt in stone.
The honour was originally granted after the Revolt of the Earls in 1075 to Richard Fitz Gilbert, a companion of William the Conqueror, who as Chief Justiciar had played a major part in suppressing the rebellion.[1] He took the name "de Clare" from the estate. Originally, it consisted of lands in Essex and Suffolk that had previously belonged to Wisgarson, son of Ælfric, an Essex thegn, and to Phin the Dane.[2] During the twelfth century, the Honour acquired valuable manors in Norfolk.
His descendants, the powerful de Clare family, became Earls of Hertford and later Earls of Gloucester through marriage. At its height, the Honour of Clare comprised lands in Suffolk, Essex, and other counties, making its holders among the wealthiest and most influential barons in England.
Following the death of Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 without a son, the honour went to his sister[3] with the lands dispersed and passing through the marriage of his daughters into the hands of other noble families, including the Mortimer and later the Plantagenet line.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]Sources
[edit]- Sanders, I. J. (1960). English Baronies: A Study of Their Origin and Descent, 1086–1327. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198217158.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help) - Ward, Jennifer C. (1964). "The Honour of Clare in Suffolk in the Early Middle Ages" (PDF). Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology & History.
- Ward, Jennifer C. (1983). "The place of the honour in Twelfth-Century Society: The Honour of Clare 1066-1217" (PDF). Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology & History.
- Ward, Jennifer C. (2016). "4 - The Court of the Honour of Clare, 1308–60: Feudal Incidents and Inquisitions". In Hicks, Michael (ed.). The Later Medieval Inquisitions Post Mortem: Mapping the Medieval Countryside and Rural Society. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 49–58. doi:10.1017/9781782048145.005. ISBN 978-1-78204-814-5.