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Gilbert de CLARE

HUSBAND:
[F30425158]. Gilbert de CLARE. Earl of Gloucester, Earl of Hertford, Ninth Earl of Clare.
Son of Richard de CLARE or Gilbert de CLARE [F60850316] and Maude de LACIE [F60850317]. Married about 30 APR 1290 to Joan of ACRE [30425159].

WIFE:
[F30425159]. Joan (Joanna) of ACRE. [CHART A1].
Born 1272 at Acre (Akko), Israel, daughter of EDWARD I [F30425200] and Eleanor of Castile [F30425201]. She married (1) Gilbert de CLARE [30425158], 7th Earl of Hertford, 3rd of Gloucester on 2 May 1290 (His Age: 47 Her Age: 18) at Westminster Abbey, London, England. She married (2) Ralph Morthermer, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, about Jan 1297 (Her Age: 25).

Ralph de Monthermer was a member of her first husband's household. Complete Peerage, 5 (1926): 709-710 (sub Gloucester) says the following regarding this marriage and Ralph's parentage:

"She [Joan] married, 2ndly, clandestinely, to her father's great displeasure, presumably early in 1297, Ralph de Monthermer, a member of the late Earl's household. On 29 Jan. 1296/7 the escheator was ordered to take into his hand all the lands, goods and chattels of Joan, Countess of Gloucester, from which it might be inferred that the King, suspecting her intentions with regard to Monthermer, sought to coerce her to abandon the marriage by degradation and loss of estates. On 16 March the King gave his assent to her marriage with Amadeus of Savoy, and therefore must have been ignorant of her marriage, if it had already taken place, and on 12 May it was ordered that Joan should have reasonable allowance for herself and children.

It would seem that by 3 July the King had discovered Joan's marriage with Monthermer, for he took her lands into his own hand, but by 31 July, when he certainly knew of the marriage, he appears to have been partly mollified, for her lands were restored (except Tonbridge); in ordering her to provide 100 men to serve in France, however, the special proviso was made that they might be commanded by anyone except Ralph de Monthermer, her husband. She was pardoned two days later, 2 August 1297."

"Ralph de Monthermer, whose parentage is unknown, is said to have come from the bishopric of Durham. He was in the household of Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, whose widow Joan appears to have been attracted by his personal charms, and to have obtained a knighthood for him. He married the said Joan, daughter of Edward I, apparently some time early in 1297, as mentioned above. The King, on discovering the marriage, was extremely angry, and imprisoned Monthermer in Bristol, but by the intercession of prelates and magnates he was reconciled to Monthermer, who had pardon and did homage to the King and Prince Edward 2 August 1297 at Eltham ... In consequence of his marriage and as tenant of his wife's estates, he was styled Earl of Gloucester and Hertford during her life, but never acquired full comital rank .... he lost the name of Earl at his wife's death." END OF QUOTE.

As we can see, the parentage and ancestry of Sir Ralph de Monthermer are completely unknown. Moreover, no trace of Sir Ralph de Monthermer has been found in Durham records. However, an excellent clue to Sir Ralph de Monthermer's origin was recently pointed out by Andrew MacEwen, of Maine, the expert on all things Scottish. According to MacEwen, on 28 October 1303, a safe conduct was granted as Skamskynel to Ralph de Monthermer, Earl of Gloucester, and to his "bachelor and cousin," Sir John Bluet [Reference: Joseph Bain, Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland, 4 (1888): 370]. This record appears to have been completely overlooked by Complete Peerage.

The Sir John Bluet named in this record would surely be the Sir John Bluet, died 1317, of Silchester, Hampshire and Lacock, Wiltshire, which Sir John is a lineal descendant of the Ralph Bluet, of same, who married c. 1150 Isabel de Beaumont, widow of Gilbert Fitz Gilbert, Earl of Pembroke. For particulars of this Sir John Bluet, see the brief account of him in VCH Hampshire, Volume 4, which is available at the following weblink: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=56744

Inasmuch as the given name, Ralph, occurs repeatedly in the Bluet family, it seems quite possible that Sir Ralph de Monthermer obtained his given name through his connection to the Bluet family. Sir John Bluet had a grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, and brother all named Ralph. So the name Ralph definitely ran in this branch of the Bluet family.

However, an alternate suggestion is also provided: Given that Sir John Bluet is identified as the 'bachelor and cousin' of Ralph Monthermer in 1303, John Bluet was clearly junior in age to Ralph in age (and rank) at that time. There are pedigrees of the Bluet family which allege a marriage of Ralph Bluet to a "Llowis, sister of Gilbert de Monthermer, Earl of Hereford and Gloucester" [Vivian's Vis. Cornwall, "Blewett of Colan"] or to "Avis, sister of Gilbert de Monthermer" [Vis. Devon, 1564, "Blewett"]. Specific errors in these identifications are obvious, but the implication that Ralph de Monthermer had a sister married to Ralph Bluet leads one to surmise that John Bluet was most likely a nephew (presumably "consanguineus" in the original Latin text as translated in Bain), and not 'cousin' (modern definitiion), of Ralph de Monthermer.

She died on 23 April 1307 at Clare, Suffolk, England.

CHILDREN
  1. [F15212579]. Margaret de CLARE. Born 1292. She married Hugh DE AUDLEY. She died on 13 April 1342.


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