The estates of the Clare Family 1066-1317. Ward, Jennifer Clare The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author For additional information about this publication click this link. http://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/jspui/handle/123456789/1579 Information about this research object was correct at the time of download; we occasionally make corrections to records, please therefore check the published record when citing. For more information contact
[email protected] T ESTATES OP TE GLARE FAMILY, 1066-1317 Jennifer Clare W&rd. Q7 17DEC1962 .2 THE ESTATP OP THE CURE FANILY, 1066 - 1317. ABSTRACT Throughout the early Middle Ages, the Clare earls of Hertford and. Gloucester were prominent figures on the political scene. Their position as baronial leaders was derived from their landed wealth, and was built up gradually over two hundred and fifty years. Richard I de Clare arrived in England in 1066 as a Norman adventurer, and was granted the honours of Tonbridge and Clare. The family more than doubled its laths during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, mainly by inheritance, the greatest acquisition being the honour of Gloucester in 1217. Only in the first half of the twelfth century was the honour an autonomous unit. In the honour of Clare, the earls relied on their own tenants as officials in the twelfth century, but in the thirteenth the administration was professional and bureaucratic. The earl's relations with his sub-tenants are unknown before the early fourteenth century; then, in contrast to other estates, the Clare honour-court was busy, strong and fairly efficient.