Baldwin of Clare (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1141) was the youngest son of Gilbert Fitz Richard ( de Clare), of the elder branch of the line of Gilbert, count of Eu, grandson of

Richard the Fearless Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: ''Richard Sans-Peur''; Old Norse: ''Jarl Rikard''), was the count of Rouen from 942 to 996.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln, Europäische S ...

. His mother was Adeliza, daughter of the

count of Claremont The counts of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis first appeared in the early 11th century. Their principal town was Clermont, now in the Oise department but then within the ancient county of Beauvaisis in the province of Île-de-France. Following the death ...

, though William of Jumièges does not mention him among her sons. The

manor of Clare Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

, from which Baldwin and others of his family took their name, was one of the estates held by his grandfather Richard in Suffolk. Baldwin's father, Gilbert, received the grant of Ceredigion (Cardiganshire) from Henry I in 1107. On the death of Henry, Richard, the eldest brother of Baldwin, was slain, and his lands were harried by

Morgan ap Owen Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer ...

. King Stephen gave Baldwin a large sum of money to enable him to hire troops for the relief of the lands of his house. Baldwin, however, retreated without, as it seems, striking a single blow. When, in 1141, Stephen's army was drawn up before the battle of Lincoln, the king, because his own voice was weak, deputed Baldwin to make a speech to the host. The Arundel MS. of the '' History of Henry of Huntingdon'' (twelfth or thirteenth century) contains an outline drawing of Baldwin addressing the royal army in the presence of the king. In this speech he set forth the goodness of the cause of Stephen and the evil character of his enemies, reviling Robert, Earl of Gloucester, as having the heart of a hare. In this battle, however, Baldwin fought bravely and received many wounds. He stood by the king to the last, and was taken prisoner with him. He was a benefactor of the abbey of Bec.

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

( Earl of Striguil), the invader of Ireland, was the son of his brother,

Gilbert Gilbert may refer to: People and fictional characters * Gilbert (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Gilbert (surname), including a list of people Places Australia * Gilbert River (Queensland) * Gilbert River (South ...

Family

Baldwin married Adeline de Rollos and had a daughter,Burke, J. (1831) ''A general and heraldic dictionary of the peerages ...'' Oxford University (vi
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Emma, who married Hugh Wake, and by him had sons Baldwin, Geoffrey and Hugh.

References

;Attribution {{DNB, wstitle=Baldwin of Clare 12th-century English people De Clare family Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown People of The Anarchy People from Clare, Suffolk