{{Short description|Norman lord in England}} {{distinguish|Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox noble | name = Richard fitz Gilbert<br/>1st Lord of Clare | title = | succession = Hereditary | image = | image_size = | caption = | more = no | reign = 1066-1090 | reign-type = Lord of the Honor of Clare | predecessor = | successor = Gilbert fitz Richard | suc-type = Successor | spouse = Rohese Giffard | spouse-type = Spouse | issue = Walter de Clare, Lord of Nether Gwent<br/>Richard fitz Richard de Clare<br/>Roger fitz Richard de Clare<br/>Gilbert fitz Richard<br/>Robert fitz Richard<br />Isabel de Clare<br/> Rohese de Clare <br/>Adelize de Clare | styles = | titles = | noble family = de Clare | house-type = Nobility | father = Gilbert, Count of Brionne | mother = | birth_date = | birth_place = Duchy of Normandy, France | christening_date = | christening_place = | death_date = {{circa|1090|lk=yes}} | death_place = | burial_date = | burial_place = St. Neot's Priory, Huntingdonshire, England | occupation = }} thumb|Tonbridge Castle '''Richard fitz Gilbert''' (before 1035–{{circa|1090|lk=yes}}), 1st feudal baron of Clare<ref>Sanders, I.J. English Baronies: A Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford, 1960, p.35</ref> in Suffolk, was a Norman lord who participated in the Norman conquest of England in 1066, and was styled "de Bienfaite", "de Clare", and of "Tonbridge"{{#tag:ref|Seen in the Domesday book variously as ""de Tonebridge/Tonebrige/Tonbridge"|group= n}}<ref>[http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TQ2149/betchworth/ Domesday Map website - image of Betchworth's entry and transcription in summary] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140924041120/http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/TQ2149/betchworth/ |date=2014-09-24 }} retrieved 2012-10-30 Normally de Tonebridge in Surrey</ref> from his holdings.<ref name="CPIII242">G. E. Cokayne, ''The Complete Peerage'', Vol. III (The St. Catherine Press, London, 1913), p. 242</ref> {{TOC limit|2}}
==Biography== Richard was the son of Gilbert, Count of Brionne in Normandy<ref name="CPIII242"/> (''Fitz'' was a variant spelling of the Norman ''filz'', French ''fils'', signifying "son of") and Gunnor d'Aunou. Gilbert was a guardian of the young duke William and when Gilbert was killed by Ralph de Wacy in 1040, his two older sons Richard and Gilbert fled to Flanders.<ref name="FOC224">J.H. Round, 'The Family of Clare', ''The Archaeological Journal'', Vol. 56 2nd series Vol 6 (1899), p. 224</ref> On his later return to Normandy Richard was rewarded with the lordship of Bienfaite and Orbec in Normandy.<ref name="FOC224"/> In 1066, Richard came into England with his kinsman William the Conqueror, and received from him great advancement in honour and possessions.<ref name="CPIII242"/>
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' and other sources are vague and sometimes contradictory about when the name de Clare came into common usage, but what we do know is that Richard fitz Gilbert (of Tonbridge), the earliest identifiable progenitor of the family, is once referred to as Richard of Clare in the Suffolk return of the Domesday Book.<ref>The Suffolk return of the Domesday Survey (c. 1086) (ed. A. Rumble, Suffolk, 2 vols (Chichester, 1986), 67 ~ 1)</ref>
==Rewards== Richard was rewarded with 176 manors in England, including the right to build castles at Clare in Suffolk, caput of his feudal barony, and at Tonbridge in Kent.<ref>''The Royal Ancestry Bible Royal ancestors of 300 American Families'' By Michel L. Call {{ISBN|1-933194-22-7}} (chart 1696)</ref>{{better source needed|date=November 2025}} Some contemporaneous and later sources called him Earl of Clare, though many modern sources view the title as a "styled title".
Richard served as joint Chief Justiciar in William's absence, and played a major part in suppressing the revolt of 1075.
==Rebel baron== On King William's death, Richard and other great Norman barons, including Odo of Bayeux, Robert, Count of Mortain, and Geoffrey of Coutances, led a rebellion against the rule of William Rufus in order to place Robert Curthose on the throne. However, most Normans in England remained loyal.
==Death and succession== Richard retired to a monastery in 1088, passing his possessions in England to his son Gilbert fitz Richard and his land in Normandy to his son Roger Fitz Richard.<ref>Frank Barlow, ''William Rufus'' (Berkeley & Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1983), p. 73</ref> He was buried in St. Neot's Priory in 1091. His widow was still living in 1113.
==Marriage== Richard married Rohese Giffard, daughter of Walter Giffard, Lord of Longueville and Agnes Flaitel,{{sfn|Vaughn|2022|loc=Appendix B}} and they had at least the following children: *Roger fitz Richard de Clare, received Norman lands and d. 1131.{{sfn|Vaughn|2022|loc=Appendix B}} Wife unknown, daughter Joanna married Gilbert de Neville.<ref>https://digital.nls.uk/histories-of-scottish-families/archive/95661535#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=270&xywh=-6%2C870%2C2511%2C1741, p. 255</ref> *Gilbert fitz Richard, d. 1115, succeeded his father as Earl of Clare.{{sfn|Vaughn|2022|loc=Appendix B}} *Walter de Clare, Lord of Nether Gwent, d. 1138.{{sfn|Vaughn|2022|loc=Appendix B}} *Richard fitz Richard de Clare, Abbot of Ely.{{sfn|Vaughn|2022|loc=Appendix B}} *Robert fitz Richard,{{sfn|Vaughn|2022|loc=Appendix B}} Lord of Little Dunmow, Baron of Baynard, d. 1136.<ref>I.J. Sanders, ''English Baronies; A Study of their Origin and descent 1086-1327'' (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1963), p. 129</ref> *Godfrey *Alice (or Adeliza) de Clare, d. 1138. m. Walter Tirel.<ref>C. Warren Hollister, 'The Strange Death of William Rufus', ''Speculum'', Vol. 48, No. 4 (Oct., 1973), pp. 645-46</ref> *Rohese de Clare, d. 1121, m. (ca. 1088), Eudo Dapifer.{{sfn|Vaughn|2022|loc=Appendix B}} *Isabel de Clare, d. 1088, m. Humphrey d'Isle. *Avice de Clare, m. Robert de Stafford / Tosny.<ref>Sir William Dugdale - ''Monasticon Anglicanum'', Volume VI, Part I, ''Priory of Stone'', page 231 - Link: [https://archive.org/details/b30455832_0006/page/230/mode/2up Monasticon Anglicanum - Avice de Clare]</ref><ref>Falconer Madan M.A. - ''The Gresleys of Drakelow'', Toeni pedigree page 223 and Chapter 2, page 16 (Oxford, 1899)</ref>
==Notes== {{Reflist|group=n}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== *{{cite book |title=Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan: The Innocence of the Dove and the Wisdom of the Serpent |first=Sally N. |last=Vaughn |publisher=University of California Press |year=2022 }}
{{Portal|Biography}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:FitzGilbert, Richard}} Category:11th-century births Category:1090s deaths Category:Year of birth unknown Category:Year of death uncertain Category:Normans in England Richard Category:Devon Domesday Book tenants-in-chief