WURTS MAGNA CHARTA provided a brief accounting of the feudal headquarters of some
of the Magna Charta Barons. Some of the castles have been badly damaged. Some have
disappeared entirely. Often we can learn of them through Medieval and Renaissance
accounts, and some of them require the discerning eye of the archeologist. Others await
the evidence brought out with a shovel and pick, by the trained archeological historian.
A portion of the information concerning Surety Baron RICHARD de CLARE is as follows:
As for the Hertford Castle of the de Clares, it is one of two Castles: A 10th Century
ruin or a 17th Century structure. The older Castle retains a wall and part of a Norman
tower. The remainder of the building is a Jacobean accretion made of brick and completely
modernized.
Gilbert de Clare built a Castle at Caerdigan, Pembrokeshire, Wales. A marriage brought
it into the hands of William Marshall, who soon controlled the strongest castles on the
peninsula. The keep has been transformed into a modern house. Of all the castles that
finally came into William Marshall's possession, this was the most important to the area.
Scholars believe there is evidence that it was originally built of wood.
RICHARD de CLARE, the Surety, was the fourth Earl of Hertford but, like his father and
uncle, was more generally known as Earl of Clare. He was present at the Coronation of King
Richard I at Westminster, 3 September 1189, and of King John, 27 May 1199. He sided with
the Barons against King John, and his Castle at Tonbridge was taken. On 9 November 1215 he
was one of the commissioners who, on the part of the Barons, was to treat of peace with
the King. On 4 March 1215/6 his lands in counties Cambridge, Norfolk, Suffolk; and Essex
were granted to Robert de Betun; he and his son were among the Barons excommunicated by
the Pope in 1215. He died between 3 October and 28 November 1217. He married Amicia,
Countess of Gloucester, second daughter of William FitzRobert, Earl of Gloucester, and his
wife, Hawise, daughter of Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester. She died 1 January
1224/5.
Appreciation is expressed to Reed M. W. Wurts, one of the Heralds of the Society for
furnishing the Barons Shield on this page.