Life
Richard was the eldest son of Gilbert Fitz Richard de Clare and Adeliza de Claremont. At his father's death he inherited his lands in England and Wales. He is commonly said to have been created Earl of Hertford by either Henry I or Stephen, but no contemporary reference to him, including the record of his death, calls him by any title, while a cartulary states that a tenant had held "de Gilleberto, filio Richardi, et de Ricardo, filio ejus, et postea, de Comite Gilleberto, filio Richardi" (of Gilbert Fitz Richard, and his son Richard, and then of Earl Gilbert Fitz Richard), again failing to call Richard 'Earl' while giving that title to his son. Thus his supposed creation as Earl is without merit.
Directly following the death of Henry I hostilities increased significantly in Wales and a rebellion broke out. Robert was a strong supporter of King Stephen and in the first two years of his reign Robert attested a total of twenty-nine of that king's charters He was with king Stephen when he formalized a treaty with king David I of Scotland and was a royal steward at Stephen's great Easter court in 1136. He was also with Stephen at the siege of Exeter that summer and was in attendance on the king on his return from Normandy. At this point Richard apparently demanded more land in Wales which Stephen was not willing to give him. In 1136 Richard had been away from his lordship in the early part of the year. He returned to the borders of Wales via Hereford in the company of Brian Fitz Count, but on their separating, Richard ignored warnings of the danger and pressed on toward Ceredigion with only a small force. He had not gone far when on 15 April he was ambushed and killed by the men of Gwent under Iorwerth ab Owain and his brother Morgan, grandsons of Caradog ap Gruffydd, in a woody tract called "the ill-way of Coed Grano", near Llanthony Abbey, north of Abergavenny. Today the spot is marked by the 'garreg dial' (the stone of revenge). He was buried in Tonbridge Priory, which he founded.
Read more about this topic: Richard Fitz Gilbert De Clare
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