Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Clare (from Tewkesbury Abbey Church - dated about 1340) - This engraving taken from a series of figures in the painted glass of the windows of the Abbey church of Tewkesbury, representing different members of the noble family of Clare, who were patrons of that monastic establishment. All the Earls of Gloucester of this family were more or less eminent for the parts which they acted in the troubled events of the times in which they lived. The earlier members of the house were distinguished by their activity in the border wars against the Welsh. Gilbert de Clare, the first Earl of Gloucester of the name, was one of the principal barons who took up arms against King John, and was one of the twenty-five appointed to enforce the observance of the Great Charter. He was the most celebrated personage of the family. The son of this Gilbert, also named Gilbert de Clare, was the last male heir of the family, and is the person represented in this engraving. He commanded the front of the English army at the disastrous battle of Bannockburn in 1313, and was slain on the field. This Gilbert was the last of the male line of the Clares, Earls of Gloucester; but he had three sisters, the descendants of one of whom intermarried with the royal line of the Plantagenets, and through them was derived the claims of the house of York to the throne of England. This engraving may be considered as a good and authentic example of the armour of the 14th century or of the beginning of the reign of Edward III.