NameRichard fitz Gilbert de Bienfaite
Birthbef 1036, Normandie, Royaume de France
Death1090, St. Neot's Priory, Huntingdonshire, England
Birthabt 1024, Saint-Martin-de-Bienfaite-la-Cressonnière, Basse-Normandie, Royaume de France
DeathApr 1090, St Neots, Huntingdonshire, England
OccupationEarl of Clare, Bienfaite, Orbec and Tonbridge
Spouses
Birth13 Apr 1034, Longueville, Basse-Normandie, Royaume de France
Deathabt 1113, Clare, Suffolk, England
Birth1034
Death1133
Notes for Richard fitz Gilbert de Bienfaite
32
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Fitz_Gilbert'Richard Fitz Gilbert, Lord of Clare, Bienfaite, Orbec and TonbridgeVictor at Hastings:
Known as "de Bienfaite", "de Clare", and "de Tonbridge", he accompanied his reputed kinsman
William, Duke of Normandy into
England. He served at the
Battle of Hastings, and assisted William in subduing the
Anglo-Saxons.
Rewards:
He was rewarded with 176
lordships and large grants of land in England, including the right to build the
castles of
Clare and of
Tonbridge. Richard Fitz Gilbert took the name
Earl of Clare from one of his lordships in
Suffolk, where parts of the wall of
Clare Castle still stand.
He served as Joint
Chief Justiciar in William's absence, and played a major part in suppressing the revolt of 1075.
Rebel Baron:
On
William's death, Richard and other great
Norman barons, including
Odo of Bayeux,
Robert, Count of Mortain , William fitzOsbern and Geoffrey of Coutances, led a rebellion against the rule of
William Rufus in order to place
Robert Curthose on the throne. However, most
Normans in
England remained loyal. William Rufus and his army successfully attacked the rebel strongholds at
Tonbridge,
Pevensey and
Rochester.
Death and succession:
He died in
St. Neot's Priory in 1090. His land was inherited by his son,
Gilbert Fitz Richard.
Family:
He was the son of
Gilbert "Crispin", Count of Brionne.
The reference listed below states that Richard's great grandfather was
Richard I of Normandy. Richard's father is also sometimes listed as
Robert I "the Devil", father of
William the Conqueror. Sources as far back as the
Annals of the Four Masters claim that Richard's great-grandson, Richard "Strongbow", was the direct descendant of Robert "the Devil". Gilbert "Crispin" was a descendant of Robert's cousin, but not Robert himself.
Notes for Richard fitz Gilbert de Bienfaite
ROHESE Giffard .
Guillaume de Jumièges records that "Gautier-Giffard 1er" & his wife had several daughters, of whom Rohais married "Richard fils du comte Gilbert"[534].
According to the Genealogia Fundatoris of Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire, ”Rohesia” married secondly “Eudoni dapifero Regis Normanniæ” after the death of “Ricardo filio comitis Gisleberti” and that they were both buried “tempore Henrici primi” in “castrum Clecestriæ…cœnobio in honore sancti Johannis” which Eudo constructed[535].
According to the Complete Peerage, this genealogy is “probably erroneous” but it does not explain the basis for the doubts[536].
From a chronological point of view, the connection would be tight, assuming that the death date of Richard FitzGilbert is correctly estimated to [1090] and the birth of Rohese´s granddaughter by her alleged second marriage, Beatrix, is correctly assessed at [1105].
An alternative perspective is provided by the History of the foundation of St John´s abbey, Colchester which names “Eudoni…major domus regiæ” and “Roasya uxor eius…Gilbertum comes, Rohaisæ frater”[537], who would have been the daughter of this Rohese Giffard.
m [firstly] RICHARD FitzGilbert de Brionne, son of GILBERT de Brionne "Crespin" Comte d'Eu & his wife --- .
[m secondly EUDES de Rie dapifer, son of HUBERT de Rie & his wife ---.]
[534] WJ VIII.37, p. 302.
[535] Dugdale Monasticon V, Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire III, p. 269.
[536] CP V 113-4.
[537] Dugdale Monasticon IV, Colchester St John Abbey, Essex, I, Historia Fundationis, p. 607.