Spanish ballad lore gives a daughter, Clara, to Charlemagne, and a son, Don Claros de Montablan, to Rinaldo, and of course marries them; but it is to Italy that the feminine name, so much more universal, is owing (see Chiara).  From the poor Clares, or sisters of St. Clara, the name spread into the adjoining countries, little varied except that the French used to call it Claire, until recently, when they have added the terminal a, just as the English on the other hand are dropping it, and making the word Clare. (C.M. Yonge)

One day, as St. Clara went from Assisi to the church "de la Portioncule" about a mile off, her companions noticed that her feet never once touched the ground; in fact, "angels carried her to the church of their queen"—Les Petits Bollandistes, vol. ii. p. 439. (E.C. Brewer)