Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford, 6th Earl of Gloucester, 2nd Lord of Glamorgan, 8th Lord of Clare (4 August 1222 – 14 July 1262) was the son of Gilbert de Clare, 4th Earl of Hertford, and Isabel Marshal. He was also a powerful Marcher Lord in Wales and inherited the Lordship of Glamorgan upon the death of his father. He played a prominent role in the constitutional crisis of 1258–1263.
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Early life
On his father's death, when he became Earl of Gloucester (October 1230), Richard was entrusted first to the guardianship of Hubert de Burgh. On Hubert's fall, his guardianship was given to Peter des Roches (c. October 1232); and in 1235 to Gilbert, Earl Marshall.
Marriage
Richard's first marriage to Margaret or Megotta, as she was also called, ended with either an annulment or her death in November 1237. They were both about 14 or 15. The marriage of Hubert de Burgh's daughter Margaret to Richard de Clare, the young Earl of Gloucester, brought de Burgh into some trouble in 1236, for the earl was as yet a minor and in the wardship of King Henry III, and the marriage had been celebrated without the royal licence. Hubert, however, protested that the match was not of his making, and promised to pay the king some money, so the matter passed by for the time. Even before Margaret died, the Earl of Lincoln offered 5,000 marks to King Henry to secure Richard for his own daughter. This offer was accepted, and Richard's second marriage, on 2 February 1238, was to Maud de Lacy, daughter of John de Lacy, 1st Earl of Lincoln.