The Early Development of the Lordship of St Clears, Carmarthenshire to 1200

The circumstances for the establishment and subsequent history of a number of Norman lordships in Carmarthenshire by fief holders from Devon and Somerset in the early twelfth century have been surveyed in detail by Bruce Coplestone-Crow. The present article adds to that body of scholarship by a closer examination of the lordship of St Clears and its relationships with the Anglo-Norman and Flemish families of north Devon, the dynasty of Deheubarth and the Geraldines of Pembrokeshire. It also pays particular attention to the parentage of William fitz Hai and attempts to clarify the relationships of Princess Nest, daughter of Rhys ap Tewdwr, client-king of south Wales for William I from 1081 to 1093.