He was the eldest son of Gilbert, Earl of Gloucester and his wife Isabel
Marshal (who married, secondly, the King's brother, Richard Earl of
Cornwall): _born_ 1222, the same year as that which probably saw the
birth of Margaret de Burgh. King Henry obliged him to _marry_, in or
about January, 1239, Maud de Lacy, daughter of John, Earl of Lincoln, by
whom (after the death of Margaret) he had a family of three sons and
three daughters. His eldest daughter he named after his lost love; but
she proved a far less amiable character. Earl Richard was one of
several noblemen who _died_, we are told, from poison, in consequence of
dining with Queen Eleonore's cousin, Count Pietro of Savoy, June 14,
1262. He was _buried_ in Tewkesbury Abbey. Richard stood foremost of
the English nobles in the wars of the Barons against Henry the Third,
and with his own hand forced the King to swear to the terms they
dictated, in 1259, as is stated in the story. [Character historical.]