II. 1148, to 1176. 2. Richard (de Clare), Earl of Pembroke, or Strigul,(a)[1] generally known as "Strongbow,"(b)[2] whose name, ne "Comes de Pembroke," appears, 7 Nov. 1153, among those who recognised Henry (afterwards Henry II.) us the successor to King Stephen. He is said(d)[3] to have acted as "Marshal of England " at the coronation of Henry II.,(c)[4] 19 Dec. 1154; was on an embassy to Germany early in 1168 to escort the Princess Matilda to Minden, on her marriage to the Duke of Saxony. In Aug. 1170(e)[5] he crossed over to Ireland to assist Dermot Mac-Murrough, King of Leinster, who had been driven from his kingdom. He captured, on 25 Aug. 1170, the city of Waterford, where (or so some say at Dublin) a few days later he m. Eva, only child
of the said Dermot, which Eva, on the death (1 May 1171) of her said father, inherited his rights of dominion, tho' these rights were promptly disputed by O'Connor, King of Connaught, whom, however, he defeated. To pacify Henry II., who was jealous of his power, he resigned to him all his castles and maritime cities. For six months from 18 Oct. 1171 that king was in Ireland, receiving on his march from Waterford, thro' Ossory, to Dublin, the homage of the Irish Princes, while the Earl kept his own court at Kildare.(f)[6] He assisted the King in Normandy during the
- ↑ (a) Both Hoveden and Giraldus Cambronsis speak of him as "Comes Striguliæ."
- ↑ (b) It is, however, doubtful if that name was ever applied to him till after his death. It is given to his father by Brooke (uncontradicted by Vincent), who speaks of "Gilbert, surnamed Strongbowe (of drawing of a strong bowe), second son of Gilbert, Earl of Clare," and who calls his more famous son (to whom now that sobriquet is generally applied) merely "Richard of Clare, son of Gilbert surnamed Strongbow." As to the difficulty about the application of this name of Strongbow, the following remarks are made by G. W. Watson :—Gilbert is not styled Strongbow by Orderic; nor apparently at all in the Script. Norm. of DuChesne. As to Richard, Giraldus Cambrensis calls him Richard Strongbow, Earl of Strigul, son of Earl Gilbert. The sobriquet of a Norman baron given in the vulgar tongue seems so unique that I was at one time inclined to suppose it was a mere sophistication of Strigul, in which I was in a manner supported by Anseline, who says that Gilbert was surnamed Strongbow, and afterwards that he had among others the seigneurie of Strigul or Strongbow. The epitaph of Richard in Dublin Cath. (of date 1570) styles him Strangbowe, called Comes Strangulensis. But the conclusion is negatived by the charter quoted below (p. 198, note "a"), though it is exasperatingly ambiguous, whether it should read Ricardi (filii Gilberti) Strongbow avi mei or Ricardi (filii Gilberti Strongbow) avi mei, the ‘avi' certainly referring to Richard, the 'Strongbow' to whom ?"
- ↑ (d) Doyle's "Oficial Baronage," where, however, no reference is given to support each statement. It seems more than doubtful whether he ever enjoyed that office. G. W. Watson writes as follows on the subject:—"The only evidence I find as to Strongbow being Marshal (I give it for what it is worth) is that Margaret, da. and h. of Thomas (Plantagenet styled of Brotherton), Earl of Norfolk, and Marshal of England, petitioned 'destre accept al office de Marshalsey ore coronment nostre seignior le Roy [Richard II.] come a son droit d'heritage apres le mort le dit Thom. son peere, fesant l'office per son deputie, come Gilbert [sic, sed l. Richard] Marshall, Countie de Strygel fist al coronment Henry le Second.' (Crompton, Jurisdict. 87, b.)."
- ↑ (c) Milles states that he was styled "Earl of Buckingham" in a charter of Henry II., probably from having large possessions in that county, by descent from the family of Giffard; but see p. 199, note "d."
- ↑ (e) Hoveden assigns the year 1168 to the invasion of Ireland, and, according to the Irish historians, Dermot had been expelled from Leinster as early as 1166, and had been promised assistance by Earl Richard in the ensuing Spring, but the earliest help be actually bad from England seems to have been from Robert Fitz Stephen and Maurice de Prendergast, who landed at the Baune (Banough Bay) near Wexford, in May 1169.
- ↑ (f) The character of Earl Richard is thus given by Giraldus Cambrensis. "This earl was descended from a very noble stock, being of the famous race of the Clares; but his name was greater than his means, his descent than his talents, his rights of inheritance than his property in possession. He addressed himself therefore to Henry II, King of England, and earnestly prayed and entreated him that he would either put him in possession of the land which justly belonged to him by right of inheritance, or grant him licence to seek his fortune, trusting to fate, in foreign
