High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Hertford, 8th Earl of Gloucester (c. 10 May 1291 – 24 June 1314) was an English nobleman and a military commander in the Scottish Wars. He was unusual among the earls of England at the time, in that his main interest lay in the pursuit of war, not domestic political strife. He was the son of Gilbert de Clare, 7th Earl of Gloucester, and Joan of Acre, daughter of Edward I. The older Gilbert died when his son was only four years old, and the younger Gilbert was invested with his earldoms at the young age of sixteen. Almost immediately he became involved in the defence of the northern border, but later he was drawn into the struggles between Edward II and certain of his barons. He was one of the Lords Ordainers who ordered the expulsion of the king`s favourite Piers Gaveston in 1311. When Gaveston was killed upon his return in 1312, Gloucester helped negotiate a settlement between the king and the perpetrators.