The title of Earl of Gloucester was created several times in the
Peerage
A peerage is a legal system historically comprising various hereditary titles (and sometimes non-hereditary titles) in a number of countries, and composed of assorted noble ranks.
Peerages include:
Australia
* Australian peers
Belgium
* Be ...
of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
. A fictional earl is also a character in
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's play ''
King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane a ...
.''
Earls of Gloucester, 1st Creation (1121)
*
Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester (c. 1090 – 31 October 1147David Crouch, 'Robert, first earl of Gloucester (b. c. 1090, d. 1147)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200Retrieved ...
(1100–1147)
*
William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester (1121–1183)
*
Isabel, 3rd Countess of Gloucester (d. 1217) held by husband after 1189, again by her in her own right from 1216 onward.
**
John of England
John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin ...
(1166–1216), on becoming king in 1199 he granted the Earldom to Isabel's nephew
**
Amaury VI of Montfort-Évreux, (d. 1213), Earl of Gloucester
**
Geoffrey FitzGeoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex
Geoffrey de Mandeville, 2nd Earl of Essex and 4th Earl of Gloucester (c. 1191 – 23 February 1216) was an English peer. He was an opponent of King John and one of the ''Magna Carta'' sureties.
Geoffrey and his brother took the surname Mande ...
, Earl of Gloucester, (d. 1216), married Isabel in 1214
*
Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford, 5th Earl of Gloucester (1180–1230), Isabel's nephew
*
Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester (1222–1262)
*
Gilbert de Clare, 6th Earl of Hertford, 7th Earl of Gloucester (1243–1295)
*
Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford, 8th Earl of Gloucester (1291–1314)
Earls of Gloucester, 2nd Creation (1299)
*
Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer
Ralph de Monthermer, 1st Baron Monthermer, Earl of Gloucester, Hertford, and Atholl (c. 1270 – 5 April 1325) was an English nobleman, who was the son-in-law of King Edward I. His clandestine marriage to the King's widowed daughter Joan great ...
(d. 1325). He acquired Earldoms through marriage to
Joan of Acre
Joan of Acre (April 1272 – 23 April 1307) was an English princess, a daughter of Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile. The name " Acre" derives from her birthplace in the Holy Land while her parents were on a crusade.
She was married t ...
, the widow of the 7th Earl, and lost them on her death in 1307 by reversion to the 8th Earl.
Earls of Gloucester, 3rd Creation (1337)
*
Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Hugh de Audley, 1st Earl of Gloucester, 1st Baron Audley (c. 1291 – 10 November 1347) of Stratton Audley in Oxfordshire, and of Gratton in Staffordshire, served as Sheriff of Rutland and was the English Ambassador to France in 1341.J. R. Mad ...
(d. 1347)
Earls of Gloucester, 4th Creation (1397)
*
Thomas le Despencer, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Thomas le Despenser, 2nd Baron Despenser, 1st Earl of Gloucester KG (22 September 137313 January 1400) was the son of Edward le Despenser, 1st Baron le Despencer, whom he succeeded in 1375.
Royal intrigues
A supporter of Richard II against Tho ...
(1373–1400), degraded 1399
See also
*
Duke of Gloucester
Duke of Gloucester () is a British royal title (after Gloucester), often conferred on one of the sons of the reigning monarch. The first four creations were in the Peerage of England and the last in the Peerage of the United Kingdom; the curre ...
*
Feudal barony of Gloucester
The feudal barony of Gloucester or Honour of Gloucester was one of the largest of the mediaeval English feudal baronies in 1166, comprising 279 knight's fees, or manors. The constituent landholdings were spread over many counties. The location o ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gloucester
Forfeited earldoms in the Peerage of England
Noble titles created in 1093
Noble titles created in 1121
Noble titles created in 1299
Noble titles created in 1337
Noble titles created in 1397