Gilbert Fitz Richard

Gilbert de Clare († 1117 ), also called Gilbert FitzRichard or Gilbert de Tonbridge, was an Anglo-Norman lord of Tonbridge and Clare.

He was the second son of the Norman nobles Richard de Bien Faite, who had become after the Norman conquest of England into one of the most powerful landowners in England. While his older brother Roger inherited the possessions of his father in Normandy, Gilbert came to his father in England in 1088 at the site and was Lord of Tonbridge and Clare. 1088 he took part in the revolt of William of Eu and Odo of Aumale against the succession of William Rufus and his brother Roger. His Castle Tonbridge Castle, but was conquered and Gilbert got wounded and captured. Thereafter, it is first mentioned in 1095, when he accompanied the king on a trip to northern England.

After William's death, he is often called in the wake of his brother and successor, Henry I.. From 1107 he was involved in the conquest of South West Wales. He conquered Ceredigion of the Welsh princes Cadwgan ap Bleddyn and built the castles cardigan and Llanbadarn.

On August 29, 1096 he put together with his sister and his brother Eudo Rohaise Dapifer the foundation stone for the abbey of St. John in Colchester. The Church of Clare he bequeathed to the Abbey Le Bec in Normandy.

From his marriage with Adelize, a daughter of Hugues de Clermont, he had several children, including