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The Chronicle of Geoffrey le Baker of Swinbroke. Baker was a secular clerk from Swinbroke, now Swinbrook, an Oxfordshire village two miles east of Burford. His Chronicle describes the events of the period 1303-1356: Gaveston, Bannockburn, Boroughbridge, the murder of King Edward II, the Scottish Wars, Sluys, Crécy, the Black Death, Winchelsea and Poitiers. To quote Herbert Bruce 'it possesses a vigorous and characteristic style, and its value for particular events between 1303 and 1356 has been recognised by its editor and by subsequent writers'. The book provides remarkable detail about the events it describes. Baker's text has been augmented with hundreds of notes, including extracts from other contemporary chronicles, such as the Annales Londonienses, Annales Paulini, Murimuth, Lanercost, Avesbury, Guisborough and Froissart to enrich the reader's understanding. The translation takes as its source the 'Chronicon Galfridi le Baker de Swynebroke' published in 1889, edited by Edward Maunde Thompson. Available at Amazon in eBook and Paperback.

Biography of Richard de Clare -1136

Paternal Family Tree: Norman

Maternal Family Tree: Adeliza Claremont 1058-1117

Richard de Clare was born to Gilbert de Clare and Adeliza Claremont.

In or before 1115 Richard de Clare and Alice Gernon were married. She the daughter of Ranulf le Meschin Gernon 3rd Earl Chester (age 44) and Lucy Bolingbroke Countess Chester.

Around 1115 [his son] Gilbert de Clare 1st Earl Hertford was born to Richard de Clare and [his wife] Alice Gernon.

In 1116 [his son] Roger Clare 2nd Earl Hertford was born to Richard de Clare and [his wife] Alice Gernon.

In 1117 [his father] Gilbert de Clare (age 51) died.

In 1117 [his mother] Adeliza Claremont (age 59) died.

Around 1133 [his son-in-law] William Percy 3rd Baron Percy Topcliffe and [his daughter] Alice Clare Baroness Percy Topcliffe were married. She by marriage Baroness Percy of Topcliffe. She the daughter of Richard de Clare and [his wife] Alice Gernon.

The Itinerary of Archbishop Baldwin through Wales: Book 1 Chapter 4. [15th April 1136]. It happened a short time after the death of king Henry I., that Richard de Clare, a nobleman of high birth, and lord of Cardiganshire, passed this way on his journey from England into Wales, accompanied by Brian de Wallingford, lord of this province, and many men-at-arms. At the passage of Coed Grono [Map],⁶⁰ and at the entrance into the wood, he dismissed him and his attendants, though much against their will, and proceeded on his journey unarmed; from too great a presumption of security, preceded only by a minstrel and a singer, one accompanying the other on the fiddle. The Welsh awaiting his arrival, with Iorwerth, brother of Morgan of Caerleon, at their head, and others of his family, rushed upon him unawares from the thickets, and killed him and many of his followers. Thus it appears how incautious and neglectful of itself is too great presumption; for fear teaches foresight and caution in prosperity, but audacity is precipitate, and inconsiderate rashness will not await the advice of the leader.

Note 60. In the vale of the Gronwy, about a mile above Pont Escob, there is a wood called Coed Dial, or the Wood of Revenge. Here again, by the modern name of the place, we are enabled to fix the very spot on which Richard de Clare was murdered. The Welsh Chronicle informs us, that "in 1135, Morgan ap Owen, a man of considerable quality and estate in Wales, remembering the wrong and injury he had received at the hands of Richard Fitz-Gilbert, slew him, together with his son Gilbert." The first of this great family, Richard de Clare, was the eldest son of Gislebert, surnamed Crispin, earl of Brion, in Normandy. This Richard Fitz-Gilbert came into England with William the Conqueror, and received from him great advancement in honour and possessions. On the death of the Conqueror, favouring the cause of Robert Curthose (age 85), he rebelled against William Rufus, but when that king appeared in arms before his castle at Tunbridge, he submitted; after which, adhering to Rufus against Robert, in 1091, he was taken prisoner, and shortly after the death of king Henry I., was assassinated, on his journey through Wales, in the manner already related.

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