General Notes

"When the Red Earl [Gilbert (3)] married King Edward  [I]'s daughter [Joan
of Acre], the inheritance was entailed on their issue; Gilbert's daughters
by Alice de Lusignan were excluded as potential heiresses in the event of
the failure of the male line.  Ironically, the king's provise became operative, with serious political consequences for Edward II.  The earl's only son Gilbert [the present Gilbert (4)], born in 1291, was styled earl of Gloucester in 1307, shortly after the death of his mother and the consequent reversion of his stepfather, Ralph de Monthermer, to ordinary baronial status.  The young Earl Gilbert was also the last. His tenure of the inheritance was brief.  On June 24, 1314, he was killed at the battle of Bannockburn, and with his death the male line of the senior branch of the family became extinct.  In 1308 Gilbert had married Maud, daughter of Richard de Burgh, earl of Ulster, but they had no children, or at least no surviving issue. According to the compiler of the *Flores Historiarum*, there was a son John who was born in April 1312 and who died before the end of the year.  The accuracy of the chronicle on matters of this sort is often suspect, but the authenticity of the statement has been accepted by modern peerage writers.  In December, 1314, Maud de Burgh was granted dower, but this was intended only as a temporary and precautionary measure, since she claimed to be pregnant. For nearly three years thereafter [!!!], the
countess continued to insist on her pregnancy, but in 1317 Edward II, who
had hoped that the birth of a child would preserve the inheritance intact,
reluctantly concluded that her claims were spurious.  n November of that
year, the great Clare inheritance was partitioned among the husbands of the
last Earl Gilbert's full sisters, and after the countess' death in 1320, her
dower portion was likewise divided."
--- Michael Altschul, *A Baronial Family in Medieval  England: The
Clares, 1217-1314*, Baltimore MD (Johns Hopkins Press) 1965. p 39-40.

Earl Gilbert served the king better than most of the other great magnates of the realm.  He quickly distinguished himself in the Scottish campaigns. But individual efforts displayed by such men as Gilbert or Aymer de Valence, the new earl of Pembroke, were not an adequate substitute for a concerted series of campaigns against the Scots utilizing the full resources of the realm.
Between 1307 and 1313, Robert Bruce was able to subdue Inverness, Dundee,
and Perth, thus securing the entire region north of the Tay River, and to begin attacking the center of English power in lothian; and Edward [II], faced with financial crisis and growing political dissension at home, was unable to contain him.  (P) Earl Gilbert maintained a middle ground in the struggle between king and baronage.  Gilbert's mediating influence, however, had little effect on the program of reform.  The greatest problem facing the king [Edward II] after his reconciliation with [Thomas] Lancaster was the steady advance of Robert Bruce who by March, 1314, had secured the strategic castle of Roxburgh and Edinburgh and even attacked Berwick itself.  His main objective was Stirling, the last remaining English stronghold north of the Tweed, but Edward was determined to retain it at all costs.  Accordingly, the king raised a large army of foot and cavalry and set north, coming within three miles of the castle on June 23.  The front line of the army was commanded by the earls of Gloucester and Hereford.  Gilbert engaged in a brief skirmish with the Scots on the 23rd, but although unhorsed, escaped without injurt.  The next day he advised Edward to order a day's rest for the army.  The king foolishly spurned his advice as deceitful and treacherous.  Gilbert retorted sharply and impetuously plunged into battle.  He led a gallant charge against the Scots line commanded by Robert's brother Edward, but failed to receive adequate support from his own troops or the English bowmen.  His horse was cut down, and Gilbert, deserted by his followers, was slain.  His body was later recovered from Robert Bruce and brought back to Tewkesbury Abbey for burial at the right hand of his father.  Earl Gilbert's death marked the beginning of a complete rout of the English forces.  Scottish independence was assured. (P) Gilbert de Clare, the last member of the senior branch of the family in the male line, was also one of its most attractive.  In spite of his youth he displayed qualities of
leadership and military ability which held great promise.  Had he not been
killed, he might have continued to exercise a salutary effect on the relations between the king and the barons led by Thomas of Lancaster, which would have mitigated the worst excesses of the period immediately following
Bannockburn.  As it was, his consistent efforts to effect a moderate solution in the struggle between the two factions did much to prevent the outbreak of civil war before his death.  He had served the king valiantly to the last."
--- Michael Altschul, *A Baronial Family in Medieval  England: The
Clares, 1217-1314*, Baltimore MD (The Johns Hopkins Press) 1965, p 159-164
passim