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
The earldom of Gloucester finally passed in 1221 to Amice--sister of
the Lady Isabella--great granddaughter of Fitz-Hamon the founder, who
had married Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford. This Richard de Clare
was the ancestor of the Tewkesbury De Clares, a family which held the
honour of Tewkesbury for nearly a century.
His son, Gilbert de Clare, married Isabelle de Marechal. His name, as
also that of his father, is among the signatories of Magna Charta, and
he was a strenuous supporter of the barons against the King. Though he
died in Brittany, his body was brought home and buried in Tewkesbury,
at the foot of the steps leading up to the high altar. In a few
months' time his widow, Isabelle, married Richard, Earl of Cornwall,
brother of King Henry III. At her death she wished to be buried next
to Gilbert de Clare, but as her husband objected to this, she
bequeathed her heart to the Abbey, and this was duly interred in
Gilbert de Clare's grave. As the Register quaintly says in its rhyming
hexameters--
"Postrema voce legavit cor comitissa
Pars melior toto fuit huc pro corpore missa
Hæc se divisit dominum recolendo priorem
Huc cor quod misit verum testatur amorem
His simul ecclesiæ sanctæ suffragia prosint
Ut simul in requie cælesti cum Domino sint."
Gilbert de Clare bequeathed to the Abbey the manor called Mythe, on
the hill just outside the town, and Isabelle also left to it many
relics, besides vestments, and much valuable church furniture.
On the death of Gilbert de Clare, his son Richard became a ward of the
King. Marrying Margaret de Burgh, a daughter of the great Earl of
Kent, without permission, he incurred the royal displeasure, and was
eventually forced to divorce his young wife in favour of the lady
chosen for him. He supported the barons against the King, with whom he
had never been in agreement. In 1262 he died, and was buried in the
Abbey. One of his wife's sisters married Robert Bruce, competitor for
the Scottish Crown and grandfather of King Robert Bruce.
His son Gilbert the second, Rufus or Rubens, _i.e._ Red, is another
well-known figure. Like his father, he at first supported the barons,
but soon after the battle of Lewes he took the King's side, and fought
for him at Evesham. Again from pique he deserted him, returning to his
allegiance once more in 1270. He was buried in the Abbey in 1295.
Gilbert de Clare the third, who was born at Tewkesbury in 1291, was
perhaps the most famous of the De Clares. Whilst he was still in early
manhood, he was twice chosen by Edward II. to serve as Regent of
England in his absence, once even before he had attained full age. His
promising career was cut short at Bannockburn in 1314, and the last of
the De Clares was buried in the Choir in 1314, his widow being placed
later by his side.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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