Gilbert fitz Gilbert de Clare Earl of Pembroke

     Gilbert fitz Gilbert de was born in 1100 in County Kent, England, at Tonbridge Caslte. He was the son of Gilbert fitz Richard de Clare and Adelize de Creil de Clermont. Gilbert married Isabel de Beaumont in 1130 in England. Gilbert became a baron, obtaining the estates of his paternal uncles, which included the baronies and castles of Bienfaite and Orbec in Normandy, the lordship of Nether Gwent and the castle of Striguil (later Chepstow). King Stephen created him Earl of Pembroke, and gave him the rape and castle of Pevensey.
At Stephen's defeat at Lincoln, Gilbert was among those who rallied to Empress Matilda, but he was at Canterbury when Stephen was recrowned late in 1141. He then joined the plot against Stephen, but when that conspiracy collapsed, he was again adhered to Stephen, being with him at the siege of Oxford late in 1142. In 1147, he rebelled when Stephen refused to give him the castles surrendered by his nephew Gilbert, 2nd Earl of Hertford, whereupon the King marched to his nearest castle and nearly captured him. However, the Earl appears to have made his peace with Stephen before his death the following year. Gilbert departed this life on Monday, 6 January 1147 in England.