After his son and heir, Gilbert, died childless before 1189, the earldom passed through Richard's daughter Isabel de Clare and to her husband, William Marshal.[1]
Nickname
During the Middle Ages, official documents, with few exceptions, were written in Latin; in the Domesday Exchequer annals, written between 1300 and 1304 (that means, over 120 years after Richard's death), he was referred to as "Ricardus cognomento Stranghose Comes Strugulliae", which translates to "Richard, known as Stranghose, earl of Striguil" (modern Chepstow).[2]
In reality, Stranghose is probably a different spelling of Striguil. In the 14th century, the nickname was finally rendered as "Strongbow".[3]
Gilbert died in about 1148, and Richard inherited his father’s possessions when he was roughly 18 years old. It is possible that the title of Earl of Pembroke was never recognized, and in 1154 Henry II deprived Richard of the title for siding against his mother, Empress Matilda, during the Anarchy. In fact, Richard’s contemporaries referred to him as "Count Striguil", for his marcher lordship of Striguil where he had a fortress.[7][8][9][10]
Dermot came to an agreement with Richard: if the latter helped the deposed king in the retaking of Leinster, he could have Aoife, Dermot's eldest daughter, in marriage, along with the succession to the crown if it was regained. Since Henry II's letter to Dermot was general in nature, Richard wanted to obtain the king's specific consent to travel to Ireland. In 1168 he raised the issue at court and he was granted permission.[8][14][15]
Detail of Strongbow from Daniel Maclise's painting below
Dermot and Richard raised a large army, commanded by Raymond FitzGerald, which included Welsh archers. The army sailed in Ireland and took the Ostman towns of Wexford, Waterford and Dublin[b] between 1169 and 1170. On 23 August 1170, Richard embarked on his ships at Milford Haven to join the force; however, a royal messenger arrived to forbid him to go. Richard sailed anyway and ignored the king's wishes.[16][17][18]
Dermot died in May 1171, and his son Donal MacMurrough claimed the kingdom of Leinster in accordance to the Brehon laws. Richard, in turn, claimed the kingship in the right of his wife. At the same time he sent his uncle, Hervey de Montmorency, on an embassy to Henry II to appease the king who was growing worried with Richard's increasing power. Henry offered to return Richard's lands in France, England and Wales (which he had confiscated) in exchange for the conquered possessions in Ireland. Richard accepted and surrendered Dublin, Waterford and other fortresses to the English king, only keeping Kildare.[19][20][21]
Henry crossed over to Ireland in October 1172 and stayed there for six months, stationing his own men where needed. His rule in Ireland was accepted by both the Gaelic and the Norman lords, and the relationship between him and Richard was restored. Richard, in fact, also agreed to help Henry with the revolt in France in 1173 and as a reward he was given his possession of Leinster back. In 1174 he tried to advance into Munster but was defeated in the battle of Thurles.[8]
Death and succession
Richard de Clare died in June 1176 of an infection in either his leg or foot. He was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Dublin, together with his uncle-in-law, Laurence O'Toole, Archbishop of Dublin. King Henry II took Richard's possessions for himself and placed a royal official in charge of them, protecting the inheritance of Richard's children. Richard's wife Aoife was given her dower rights and possibly held Striguil until the Welsh rebellion of 1184/85.
Richard was first succeeded by his son Gilbert. When Gilbert died, still a minor, the inheritance passed onto Richard's daughter Isabel. Isabel, on the wishes of Henry II and his son Richard the Lionheart, was given in spouse to William Marshal, who became the Earl of Pembroke for jure uxoris.
Marriage and issue
The Marriage of Strongbow and Aoife (1854) by Daniel Maclise, a romanticised depiction of the union in the ruins of Waterford
By an unknown mistress, Richard de Clare fathered two daughters:
Aline de Clare,[c] married William FitzMaurice FitzGerald, baron of Naas[22]
Richard de Clare was first interred in Dublin's Christ Church Cathedral where an alleged effigy is located.[26] Richard de Clare's actual tomb-effigy was destroyed when the roof of the Cathedral collapsed in 1562. The one on display dates from around the 15th century and bears the coat of arms of an unknown knight,[27] and is the effigy of another local knight. Richard de Clare was buried in Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin within sight of the cross according to an eyewitness, Giraldus Cambrensis. There is little evidence to support the tradition that he was buried either in St Edan's Cathedral, Ferns,[28]Christ Church Cathedral, Waterford or Dominican priory, Kilkenny. References to 'de Clare' being buried in Gloucester Cathedral refer to his father, while those to 'Strongbow' in Tintern abbey refer probably to Walter or Anselm Marshall, both of whom died in 1245.
In popular culture
The English cider brand Strongbow is named after him.[29]
^This may be a mistranscription or mistranslation of "Striguil", see Cognomen section below.
^These were longphorts where the Viking raiders settled, marrying Gaelic women and slightly acculturating to Gaelic customs (such as naming practices, MacGiollamhuire, MacTurkill, etc.), Dublin being the most famous. See: James F. Lydon, The Making of Ireland: From Ancient Times to Present (London; New York: Routledge, 1998), p. 21.
^Aline was born well before her father married Aoife, daughter of Dermot. That both she and her unnamed sister were illegitimate is indicated by the fact that neither inherited anything from their father's great holdings. See: Cokayne, CP, X, Appendix H, 103
References
Sources
Cokayne, George Edward; Doubleday, H. A.; White, Geoffrey H.; Scott-Ellis, Thomas, eds. (1945). The Complete Peerage; or, A History of the House of Lords and All its Members from the Earliest Times. Vol. X: Oakham – Richmond (2nd ed.). London: St. Catherine Press.
Altschul, Michael (2019), A Baronial Family in Medieval England: The Clares, 1217-1314, Johns Hopkins University Press, ISBN978-1-4214-3617-3
^Goodrich Castle and the families of Godric Mapson, Monmouth, Clare, Marshall, Montchesney, Valence, Despenser and Talbot
^Brut y Tywysogyon or The Chronicle of the Princes. Peniarth Ms. 20 version, ed. and trans. T. Jones [Cardiff, 1952], 65. Richard vabGilbert Stragbow[iarll Amhwydic], Brenhinedd y Saeson or The Kings of the Saxons, ed. and trans. T. Jones [Cardiff, 1971], p. 170.
^M.T. Flanagan, 'Clare, Richard fitz Gilbert de, second earl of Pembroke (c. 1130–1176)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press (2004)
^Alfred Webb, A compendium of Irish biography (Dublin: M.H. Gill & Son, 1878), p. 130
^James Graves, 'Armorial bearings of Strongbow', Gentleman's magazine and historical review, ccxvi, 1 (March 1864), 362–3; 'On the arms of Richard de Clare', Gentleman's magazine and historical review, ccxviii, 1 (April 1865), 403–8; ccxvix, 2 (July 1865), 3–11; (August 1865), 207–8;(November 1865), 551–63 gives the best summary.[original research?] Stuart Kinsella summarised the most recent work in a lecture to the conference on 'Monuments and Monumentality in Later Medieval and Early Modern Europe' in Stirling University in August 2011[original research?]
^John Finlayson, Inscriptions on the monuments, mural tablets &c, Christ Church Cathedral (Dublin: Hodges, Foster, & Figgis, 1878), p. 66 notes no more than a 'fearful malediction ... pronounced against him by a Bishop of Ferns' citing King's Church History, ii, 622 and Haverty's 'History of Ireland', p. 256.
