Ranulph le Meschin, 1st Earl of Chester

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Ranulph "le Briquessart" le Meschin, Vicomte of Bayeux
Vicomte d'Avranches
Norman Crest
Born 1074
Briquessart, Livry, France
Died January 1129
Cheshire, England
Office Earl of Chester
1121-1129
Preceded by New Creation
Succeeded by Ranulph de Gernon

Ranulph le Meschin also known as Ranulph de Meschines III "le Briquessart" (1074-1129) was the 1st Anglo-Norman Earl of Chester in Cheshire. He was the son of Ranulph de Meschines, the Viscount of Bayeux[1] and Margaret Le Goz d'Avranches.

[edit] Military Gains & Inheritance

After the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent subjection of the North (the Harrying of the North), Ranulph le Meschin received large grants, including the honour of Appleby and the city of Carlisle. Some have maintained that he was earl of Carlisle or of Cumberland, but this is probably an error. He succeeded his first cousin, Richard d'Avranches, in the earldom of Chester in 1121.

[edit] Marriage Gains

Ranulph also became the largest landholder in Lindsey through his marriage (c.1093) to a woman referred to as "Countess Lucy", (c.1079-1138), possibly the daughter of Turold, Sheriff of Lincoln, but more probably the granddaughter maternally of William Malet, lord of Graville. Her parentage, and marriages, have been much disputed.


Name Birth Death Notes
By Lucy
Sir Ranulph de Gernon 1100 1153 2nd Earl of Chester.
Adelize/Alice de Gernon 1102 1128) m. Sir Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare, Lord of Clare, 1st Earl of Hertford in 1116.

[edit] References