Honour of Clare

The Honour of Clare was a medieval English feudal barony centred on the town of Clare in Suffolk. It was established following the Norman Conquest and became one of the most important honours in East Anglia. The caput baroniae, or administrative centre, of the honour was Clare Castle, a motte-and-bailey structure later rebuilt in stone.

The honour was originally granted after the Revolt of the Earls in 1075 to Richard Fitz Gilbert, a companion of William the Conqueror, who as Chief Justiciar had played a major part in suppressing the rebellion.^[1] He took the name "de Clare" from the estate. Originally, it consisted of lands in Essex and Suffolk that had previously belonged to Wihtgar Ælfricsson, son of Ælfric, an Essex thegn, and to Phin the Dane.^[2] During the twelfth century, the Honour acquired valuable manors in Norfolk.

His descendants, the powerful de Clare family, became Earls of Hertford and later Earls of Gloucester through marriage. At its height, the Honour of Clare comprised lands in Suffolk, Essex, and other counties, making its holders among the wealthiest and most influential barons in England.

Following the death of Gilbert de Clare, 8th Earl of Gloucester at the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 without a son, the honour went to his sister^[3] with the lands dispersed and passing through the marriage of his daughters into the hands of other noble families, including the Mortimer and later the Plantagenet line.

See also

• History of Suffolk