Bell's Cathedrals: The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury: with some Account of the Priory Church of Deerhurst GloucestershireMassé, H. J. L. J. (Henri Jean Louis Joseph)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Abbey Church of Tewkesbury: with some Account of the Priory Church of Deerhurst Gloucestershire
Another grave under the tower was that of the Duke of Warwick, who is
sometimes said to have been created and crowned King of the Isle of
Wight by Henry VI. He died at the age of twenty-one, and was buried,
at his own request, between the stalls in the choir. At the time the
choir was repaved in 1875 a grave of stone filled with rubble was
found, together with some bones of a man of herculean size. These, no
doubt, were those of the Duke who was buried here in 1446. The large
marble slab that formerly covered the grave disappeared early in this
century, but the brasses that were originally in it had been taken
away long before. Cecily the Duchess of Warwick, a daughter of the
Earl of Salisbury, was buried in the same place in 1450.
Further eastward, in a line with the Warwick Chapel, are the graves
known as those of the =De Clares=.
The first is a stone with an inscription running round the edge, in
old French, as follows: "Ci gît Maud de Burgh la veuve comitisse de
Gloucestre et Hertford, que mourust le 2 juillet l'ann grâce 1315.
Nous cherchons celle que est à venir." This slab, which is of large
size, covers a well-wrought stone grave, and must have contained a
very handsome brass, judging by the matrix. The next grave contains
the remains of the Lady Maud's husband, Gilbert de Clare, the third of
that name, the tenth Earl of Gloucester and Earl of Hertford. Though
young in years he had a wise head, for Edward II. made him his regent
when he himself was fighting in Scotland, and later again in 1313 when
fighting in France. Gilbert de Clare the third was killed at
Bannockburn in 1314, and was laid to rest next to his father. The
tablet gives his arms, and the inscription runs: "Gilbertus tertius
nomine Glocestrie et Hertfordie comes decimus ultimus, obiit 23 Junii,
1314, prœlio occisus, Scotus gavisus." Which being freely
translated is: "Gilbert, the third of the name, tenth and last Earl
of Gloucester and Hertford, died on June 23, 1314. He was slain in
battle, to the joy of the Scots."
The tomb next to this is that of his father, Gilbert the second,
usually known as the _Red Earl_. He married the Princess Joan of Acre,
a daughter of Edward I. This Earl was at first an important figure in
the revolt of the Righteous Earl, Sir Simon de Montfort; but later,
having changed his views and his side, was an important factor in his
former leader's final overthrow at Evesham in 1265. Fragmentary
remains only of a coffin assumed to be his were found in 1875. His
tablet says: "Gilbertus secundus, cognomine Rufus, comes Glocestrie
octavus, et Hertfordie septimus, obiit septimo Decembris, anno domini
1295. Vir strenuus et fortis cui deerat timor mortis. Ora et pugna."
Or in English: "Gilbert the second, surnamed the Red, eighth Earl of
Gloucester and seventh of Hertford, died the 7th of December,
A.D. 1295. A stout and brave man, who had no fear of death.
Pray and fight."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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