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Individual Record for: Ranulph DE MESCHINES (male)

Source:

bulkeley.txt

Notes:

Ranulf de Blundeville, 6th Earl of Chester, EARL OF RICHMOND, EARL OF LINC OLN, VICOMTE (Viscount) DE BAYEUX, VICOMTE D'AVRANCHES, also called DU KE OF BRITTANY, Ranulf also spelled RANDULF, or RALPH (b. c. 1172, Oswestr y, Powys, Wales--d. Oct. 28, 1232, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, Eng.), most c elebrated of the early earls of Chester, with whom the family fortunes rea ched their peak.

Ranulf succeeded his father Hugh de Kevelioc (1147-81), son of Ranulf, t he 4th earl, in 1181 and was created Earl of Lincoln in 1217. He married C onstance, widow of King Henry II's son, Geoffrey of Brittany, and was th us wont to style himself the Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond. He fou ght in Wales, was on the side of King John during his struggle with the ba rons over Magna Carta, and was one of this king's executors; he also foug ht for the young King Henry III against the French invaders and their alli es. In 1218-19 he went on the Fifth Crusade to the Holy Land and took pa rt in the capture of Damietta, Egypt; then returning to England he di ed in 1232.

He has been described as the last relic of the great feudal aristocra cy of the Norman Conquest. Although twice married, he left no children, a nd his immense possessions passed to his four sisters. The earl's memory r emained noted for a long time, and in the Vision of Piers Plowman his na me was linked with that of Robin Hood. In November 1232 the earldom of Che ster was granted to his nephew John the Scot, Earl of Huntingdon (c. 1207- 1237), and in 1246, nine years after John had died childless, the title w as annexed to the English crown. [Encyclopaedia Britannica CD, 1996, CHEST ER, RANULF DE BLUNDEVILLE, 6TH EARL OF]

Notes Source: bulkeley.txt

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