Chris & Julie Petersen's Genealogy

Ranulph de Gernons

Male - 1153


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  • Name Ranulph de Gernons 
    Gender Male 
    Died 17 Dec 1153  Gresley, Derbyshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Buried Saint Werburg's, Chester, Derbyshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I6920  Petersen-de Lanskoy
    Last Modified 27 May 2021 

    Father Ranulph "le Meschin" 
    Mother Lucy Thoroldsdottir 
    Family ID F2944  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Maud of Gloucester,   d. 29 Jul 1189 
    Married Bef 1135 
    Children 
     1. Hugh of Chester,   b. Abt 1141, of Cyfeiliog, Wales Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 30 Jun 1181, Leek, Staffordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 40 years)
     2. Richard of Chester
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F3092  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Children 
     1. Robert Fitz Count
    Last Modified 28 May 2021 
    Family ID F3096  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • RESEARCH_NOTES:
      1. “Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
      “MAUD OF GLOUCESTER, married before 1135 RANULPH DE GERNONS, Knt., 5th Earl of Chester, lord of Eastham and Macclesfield, Cheshire, Coventry, Warwickshire, Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire, and Greetham, Lincolnshire, etc., hereditary Vicomte of Avranches in Normandy, son and heir of Ranulph (nicknamed le Meschin), 4th Earl of Chester, hereditary Vicomte of Bayeux, by Lucy, widow of Ives de Taillebois and Roger Fitz Gerold, and heiress (and possibly daughter) of Thorold, Sheriff of Lincoln. He was probably born about 1105. She had the manor of Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire by the gift of her father. They had two sons, Hugh [6th Earl of Chester] and Richard. By an unknown mistress, he apparently had an illegitimate son, Robert Fitz Count. He was present at royal councils in Northampton, 1131, Westminster, 1132, and Windsor, 1132. He accepted King Stephen's accession in 1135, and attended the royal council at Westminster in 1136. In 1136 he witnessed the Oxford charter of liberties. In 1136 or 1137 he led a disastrous expedition into Wales from which he was one of the few to escape alive. In 1140 he attempted to capture Henry of Scotland and his wife on their return from King Stephen's court. The same year he surprised the city of Lincoln and manned it for the empress. The king's response was to visit Lincolnshire, where he peaceably renewed a pact with Ranulph. King Stephen left for London before Christmas, but made a surprise return during the festival to lay siege to Lincoln Castle. Ranulph managed to escape, obtained the armed assistance of his father-in-law, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and other Angevin adherents, raised soldiers from Cheshire and Wales, and marched back to Lincoln, where his wife and half-brother were continuing to resist the siege. At the subsequent Battle of Lincoln 2 February 1141 the king was captured, and Ranulph followed up his victory with sack and slaughter in the city itself. At the Siege of Winchester in September 1141 he initially joined the queen's army, only to encounter such suspicion and hostility that he switched to the empress's camp. In 1144 he was besieged in Lincoln by the king. He met King Stephen at Stamford probably early in 1146, where he apparently renewed his fealty to the king. The king granted him royal manors in Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Lincolnshire, the towns of Newcastle under Lyme, and Derby, land in Grimsby, and the soke of Grantham, plus the honors of William d'Aubeny Brito (Belvoir), Roger de Bully (Tickhill), and Roger de Poitou (Lancaster, although that which lay north of the Ribble was under Scottish control). He was also confirmed in his tenure of Lincoln Castle. He duly helped Stephen to capture Bedford town and besiege Wallingford Castle in 1146, but the king and the royalist magnates remained deeply suspicious of his failure to restore revenues from royal lands and castles he had seized. He was again with the king at Northampton 29 August 1146, but his refusal to give hostages or restore royal property led to his sudden arrest and imprisonment He was released after agreeing to Stephen's terms and taking an oath not to resist the king in future, whereupon he set about trying to recover by force what he had been obliged to surrender. Subsequent campaigns led to armed confrontations with Stephen's son Eustache, and on at least two occasions, near Coventry (probably early in 1147) and Lincoln (1149), with the king himself. He did homage to David I, King of Scots at Carlisle in 1149, who granted him the honour of Lancaster (including lands north of the Ribble) in exchange for a renunciation of claims to Carlisle. In 1150, in alliance with Madog ap Maredudd, king of Powys, he prepared an attack on Owain Gwynedd, but the enterprise collapsed after defeat at Coleshill. Some time between 1149 and 1153, he made a formal agreement with Robert, Earl of Leicester, whereby each pledged to bring only twenty knights if obliged by his liege lord to fight against the other. Both earls joined the Angevin campaign in 1153. At Devizes in 1153, Henry, Duke of Normandy gave him lavish grants in the north midlands, including the estates of several royalist barons which the earl was effectively being invited to seize; Ranulph was also restored in his 'Norman inheritance,' which has been interpreted to include Breuil, the castle of Vire, and other holdings once associated with his family, together with comital status and extensive lordship in the Avranchin. During his lifetime, Ranulph founded four religious houses, including an abbey for Savignac monks at Basingwerk, Flintshire, in 1131, priories for Benedictine monks and nuns at Minting, Lincolnshire, and Chester respectively (both at uncertain dates), and, on his deathbed, a priory for Augustinian canons at Trentham, Staffordshire. RANULPH DE GERNONS, Earl of Chester, died at Gresley, Derbyshire 17 Dec. 1153, and was buried at St. Werburg's, Chester. Sometime in the period, 1153-59, his widow, Maud, with consent of her son, Hugh, gave the canons of Calke, then part of Ticknall, the church of St. Wiestan-in-Repton, Derbyshire. Probably in 1158 Queen Eleanor, wife of Henry II, gave confirmation to his widow, Maud, of her wapentake and hundred of Repton, Derbyshire. In 1172 she founded Repton Priory, Derbyshire. Maud, Countess of Chester, died 29 July 1189.
      Banks Dormant & Extinct Baronage of England 1 (1807): 215-216. Hanshall Hist. of the County Palatine of Chester (1823): 19-21, 28 (ped.), 284. Coll Top. et Gen. 2 (1835): 247-249. Dugdale Monasticon Anglicanum 3 (1846): 217-218 (sub Spalding Monastery - Hugonis, primi Comitis Cestriæ et Lincolniæ.... prosapia: "... post quem successit Gernons filius ejus, qui moriens decimo sexto kalendas Januarii [17 December], jacet juxta patrem suum. successit Hugo filius ejus, qui moriens secundo kalendas Julii [30 June], jacet juxta pattern suum."); 4 (1823): (charter of Ranulph, Earl of Chester); 6(1) (1830): 410-411 (Ranulph, Earl of Chester, styled "uncle" [avunculi] by Richard Bacun), 430 ("Ranulphus dictus Gernons, comes Cestriæ, obiit xvii. kal. Januarii [16 Dec.], anno regis Stephani x-viii. Qui Ranulphus cepit Mathildem filiam Roberti comitis Gloverniæ; quæ quidem Mathildis prioratum de Repindon S. Trinitatis anno MCLXXII. decimo octavo Henrici secundi, qux Matildis obiit Augusti [29 July] anno MCLXXXIX."). Hibbert-Ware Ancient Parish Church of Manchester (1848): 16-18 (charter of Ranulph, Earl of Chester). Arch. Jour. 15 (1855): 242-246 (charter of Ranulph, Earl of Chester). Bigsby Hist. & Topog. Desc. of Repton (1854): 56-57 (charter of Maud, Countess of Chester), 57-58 (charter of Maud, Countess of Chester naming her parents, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and Countess Mabel, and her grandfather, King Henry I), 58. Arch. Jour. 15 (1858): 242 (charter of Ranulph, Earl of Chester). Luard Annales Monastici 2 (Rolls Ser. 36) (1865): 235 Annals of Waverley sub A.D. 1153: "Rannulfus comes Cestrensis hoc anno obiit, cui successit Hugo filius ejus.'). Annual Rpt. of the Deputy Keeper 35 (1874): 7 (charter and letter of Ranulph, Earl of Chester). Ormerod Hist. of the County Palatine & City of Chester 1 (1882): 20-26 (Robert Malet styled "uncle" [avunculus] of Earl Ranulph's mother [Lucy] in charter of Henry, Duke of Normandy [afterwards King Henry II] dated c.1152). Cat. of a Selection from the Stowe MSS (1883) 10-11 (charter of Maud, Countess of Chester). Christie Annales Cestrienses, or, Chronicle of the Abbey of S. Werburg at Chester (Lancashire & Cheshire Rec. Soc. 14) (1887): 22-23 (sub A.D. 1153: "Obiit Ranulphus II. comes Cestrie."). Birch Cat. Of Seals in the British Museum 2 (1892): 380 (seal of Maud, Countess of Chester dated mid-12th Cent -Pointed oval. In tight-fitting dress and a long maunch, standing. Legend wanting.). Round Feudal England (1895). Prou & Vidier Recueil des Charles de l'Abbaye de Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire (1900-1907): 356-364 (charter of Ranulph, Earl of Chester 1147-53). C.P.R. 1399-1401 (1903): 296-297. Warner & Ellis Facsimiles of Royal & Other Charters in the British 1 (1903): #51 (charter of Hugh, Earl of Chester to his mother, Countess Maud, dated c.1162-7; charter names his father, Earl Ranulph), #52 (charter of Maud, Countess of Chester, dated c.1162-7, granted with consent of her son, Earl Hugh; charter names her aunt [amita], Empress Maud, her parents, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and Countess Mabel, and her husband, Earl Ranulph). Jeayes Desc. Cat. of Derbyshire Charters (1906): 242-243 (charter of Maud, Countess of Chester, dated 1153-60 names her grandfather, King Henry I of England, and her parents, Robert, of Gloucester, and Countess Mabel), 244 (charter of Maud, Countess of Chester, dated c.1162-1167 names her parents, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and Countess Mabel), 244 (Maud, Countess of Chester, styled "kinswoman" [cognata] by King Henry II of England in charter dated ?1175). Marx ed. Gesta Normannorum Ducum (1914): 331 (Guillaume de Jumièges: "Predictus autem Rannulfus comes accepit uxorem Mathildem, filiam Roberti comitis de Gloecestria, ex qua genuit duos filios, Hugonem et Ricardum.”). Farrer Early Yorkshire Charters 2 (1915): 195 (chart). Stenton Docs. illus. of the Social & Economic Hist. of the Danelaw (1920): 360-361. Farrer Honors & Knights' Fees 2 (1924)1., 34. Colls. Hist. Staffs. 1924 (1926): 30-31 (charter of Countess Maud and her son, Earl Hugh). Trans. Royal Hist. Soc. 4 Ser. 20 (1937): 103-134 (biog. of Ranulf de Gernons, Earl of Chester: "The man was haughty and proud; touchy upon the point of honour, but faithless and utterly untrammelled by any scruple in the pursuit of his ends; determined as a spoilt child to gratify his desires and ambitions."). Hatton Book of Seals (1950): 356-357 (charter of Robert Fitz Count, Constable of Chester). C.P. 3 (1913): 166-167; 4 (1916): 670 (chart), 5 (1926): 686, footnote b (sub Gloucester); 7 (1929): 677; 12(1) (1953): 274 (re. Robert Fitz Count). Barraclough Earldom & County Palatinate of Chester (1953): 57-513 (Benedict styled "brother of the Earl" in charter issued by Ranulph, 5th Earl of Chester). English Hist. Rev. 75 (1960), 654-660; 91 (1976): 555-565. Sanders English Baronies (1960): 32-33. Stenton First Cent. of English Feudalism, 1066-1166 (1961). Davis King Stephen (1967): 132-134. Patterson Earldom of Gloucester Charters (1973): 5, 171 (Appendix, No. 227: Donor: Earl William [of Gloucester]; Date: Before 1135; Beneficiary: Matilda the earl's daughter; Description: Chipping Campden (Glos.); Source: Misc. D.M. Stenton, 26). Schwennicke Europäische Stammtafeln 3(2) (1983): 354. Barraclough Charters of the Anglo-Norman Earls of Chester, c.1071-1237 (Lancashire & Cheshire Rec. Soc. 126) (1988) 81 (Richard Bacun styled "kinsman and retainer" [cognatus meus et familiaris] by Ranulph de Gernons, Earl of Chester, in charter dated 1143-44). Anglo-Norman Studies 14 (1991): 39-59. Brown Eye Priory Cartulary & Charters 2 (Suffolk Rec. Soc) (1994): 28 (Robert Malet called "uncle" of Earl Ranulph's mother in 1153 by King Henry II). Katherine Keats-Rohan Parentage of Countess Lucy made Plain,' in Prosopon Newsletter (1995): 1-3 (identifes Lucy, wife of Ranulph, 4th Earl of Chester, as daughter of Turold, Sheriff of Lincoln). Johns Noblewomen, Aristocracy & Power in the 12th Cent. Anglo-Norman Realm (2003): 88. Graeme White, `Ranulf (II), fourth earl of Chester (d. 1153)', in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004). National Archives, DL 25/36 (charter dated 1129-53 by Ranulph, Earl of Chester, addressed to his Bishop of Bangor, etc., notifying that Robert, Earl of Gloucester, gave to Maud his daughter, Countess of Chester, [Chipping] Campden [Campadene], and that he has confirmed it to her) (available at www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/search.asp).”

      2. “Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
      “ROBERT FITZ ROY, in right of his wife, of Gloucester, Bristol, Tewkesbury, and Cardiff, seigneur of Creully in Calvados, and Torigny in Manche, Normandy, illegitimate son, probably born about 1090. He witnessed charters of his father the king from about April 1113. He fought at the Battle of Brémulé in 1119, where his father, King Henry I, defeated King Louis VI of France. He married before 1122 MABEL FITZ ROBERT, daughter and heiress of Robert Fitz Hamon, of Gloucester, Bristol, Tewkesbury, and Cardiff, seigneur of Creully in Calvados, and Torigny in Manche, Normandy, hereditary Governor of Caen, by Sybil, daughter of Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury. They had six sons, William [Earl of Gloucester], Philip, Hamon, Roger [Bishop of Worcester], Richard [seigneur of Creully], and Robert, and two daughters, Maud and Mabel. By an unknown mistress, he also had an illegitimate son, Richard [Bishop of Bayeux]. He was created Earl of Gloucester between June and September 1122. In 1123 he brought a force to assist in the capture of Brionne Castle, which was held by rebellious Norman barons. In 1126 he had the custody of his uncle, Robert, Duke of Normandy, as a prisoner at Bristol, and later at Cardiff. The same year he secured a working relationship with the Welsh-dominated church of south Wales, under its aggressive bishop, Urban. In 1127 he did homage to the Empress Maud, recognizing her as his father's successor in the kingdom. In 1130 he sanctioned the foundation of Neath Abbey. In 1133, following the death of Richard, Bishop of Bayeux, he was sent by his father to Bayeux to enquire as to the fees and services due to the see by its barons, knights, and vavasours. He was present at his father's death at Lions-le-Forêt in Dec. 1135, and had 60,000 livres from him, apparently as executor. On Stephen's subsequent accession to the English throne and his recognition as Duke by the Normans, Robert gave up Falaise to his agents, but removed his father's treasure. In March 1136 he returned to England, and after Easter did homage for his English lands. About this time or in the following year he founded St. James's Priory at Bristol. In 1137 he accompanied Stephen to Normandy, but they quarrelled, and next year his English and Welsh estates were forfeited. Thereupon he prepared for war with Stephen and took up the cause of his half-sister, Maud, in Normandy. In Sept. 1139 he landed in England with Maud and took her to Arundel Castle, and became her commander-in-chief in the civil war that ensued. His first significant campaign, once the empress was established in England, was directed at the city of Worcester, which he sacked 7 November 1139. In May 1140 he was delegated by his sister to negotiate at Bath with the king' envoys, but nothing came of the meeting. Later in 1140 he and the Earl of Warwick led a successful raid on Nottingham. In 1141 he and his son-in-law, Ranulph, Earl of Chester, recruited a large army, including a force of Welsh under the kings of Glamorgan and Gwynedd. Their army encountered the king's army near Lincoln and dispersed it, capturing the king himself. The king was removed to Gloucester and then to Bristol, Earl Robert's principal English castle. He subsequently accompanied Maud in her progress to Winchester and London, and when the citizens drove her out, he fled with her to Oxford. He was captured at Stockbridge 14 Sept. 1141, and taken prisoner to Rochester. Shortly afterwards, he was exchanged for King Stephen. In June 1142 Maud sent him over to her husband, Geoffrey of Anjou, to urge him to invade England; Geoffrey declined to help until he had conquered Normandy, whereupon Robert joined him in the campaign. Sometime between 1141-3, probably in June 1142, he signed a treaty friendship with Miles, Earl of Hereford, by which the two men agreed to support each other, especially in the war between King Stephen and Empress Maud. In 1143 he defeated King Stephen at Wilton. In 1144 he blockaded Malmesbury, Stephen refusing to battle; but Maud's party was so much reduced that Stephen was able to take Faringdon, which Robert had fortified. He witnessed a charter of Henry d'Oilly in the period, 1144-47. In the spring of 1147 he took Henry, Maud's son, back to Wareham and sent him over to Anjou. In his last year, probably on his deathbed, he made moves to assist the Cistercians, who were attempting to set up a house in upland Glamorgan; the resultant abbey of Margam counted him as its founder. ROBERT FITZ ROY, 1st Earl of Gloucester, died at Bristol 31 October 1147, and was buried in the Priory church of St. James, BristoL His widow, Mabel, Countess of Gloucester, died 29 Sept. 1157.
      Banks Genealogical Hist. of Divers Fams of the Ancient Peerage of England (1826): 301-305. Guizot Hist. des Ducs de Normandie par Guillaume de Jumiège (1826): 284-286 (Guillaume de Jumièges, Histoire des Normands, Liv. VIII, Chap. XXIX). D'Anisy Extrait des Chartes, et autres Actes Normands ou Anglo-Normands 1 (1834): 3-4 (charter of Roger de Creully, son of Richard, son of the Earl of Gloucester). Thorpe Florentii Wigorniensis Monachi Chronicon ex Chronicis 1 (1848): 109 (Chronicle of Florence of Worcester: sub A.D. 1138: Philip [de] Gai styled "kinsman" of Robert, Earl of Gloucester [quendam comitis cognatum Philippum Gal nuncupatum]). Orderici Vitalis Ecclesiasticæ Historicæ Lbri Tredecim 5 (1855): 112-113 ([Christian], wife of William Fitz Alan, styled "kinswoman" of Robert, Earl of Gloucester [neptem Rodberti comitis Gloucestræ]). Arch. Cambrensis 3rd Ser. 8 (1862): 274 (13th Cent. Chronicle sub A.D. 1147: "Fundata est Abbatia de Margan a Roberto Comite Gloucestriæ qui constuxit castrum et turrim et Prioratum bead Jacobi Bristolliæ, qui comes eodem anno obiit et sepultus est in dicto prioratu."), 274 (sub A.D. 1157: "Obiit Mabilia Comitissa Gloucestriæ."). Luard Annales Monastici 1 (Rolls Ser. 36) (1864): 47 (Tewkesbury Annals sub A.D. 1147: "Illustris comes Gloecestriæ Robertus oblit."), 48 (Tewkesbury Annals sub A.D. 1157: "Mabilia comitissa Gloucestriæ obiit"). Hart Historia et Cartularium Monasterii Sancti Petri Gloucestriæ 2 (Rolls Ser.) (1865): 10-11 (charter of Robert Fitz Roy, "counsul” of Gloucester dated 1139-47), 50 (charter of M[abel] Countess of Gloucester and her son, Earl William). Delisle Rouleaux des Morts du IXe au XVe Siècle (1866): 328-329. Handbook to the Cathedrals of England: Western Division (1874): 213-214. Arch. Cambnensis 4th Ser. 14 (1883): 7-63 ("Earl Robert was one of the greatest soldiers and most prudent, or perhaps astute, statesmen of his day."). Recueil des Historiens des Gaules et de la France 23 (1894): 580 (Notæ Monasterii Montis Sancti Michaelis: "29 Sept. [Obiit] Mabilia comitissa."), 581 (Notæ Monasterii Montis Sancti Michaelis: "31 Oct. [Obiit] Robertus comes."). Revue Catholique de Normandie 5 (1895): 550-554. Two Cartularies of the Augustinian Priory of Bruton & Cluniac Priory of Montacute (Somerset Rec. Soc. 8) (1894): 183-184 (two undated charters of Robert, Earl of Gloucester, son of the king, both of which name his wife, Countess Mabel). Round Cal. of Docs. Preserved in France 1 (1899): 504 (Nigel Fitz William, owner of lands at Fécamp, styled "kinsman" [nepos] of Robert, Earl of Gloucester in charter dated c.1128) [see also VCH Middlesex 2 (1911): 400; Davis Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum 1066-1154 2 (1956): 221, 362]. Salter Eynsham Cartulary 1 (Oxford Hist. Soc. 49) (1907): 75. D.N.B. 16 (1909): 1242-1244 (biog. of Robert, Earl of Gloucester). C.P. 5 (1926): 683-686 (sub Gloucester); 11 (1949): Appendix D, 105-121. Sanders English Baronies (1960): 6. R. B. Patterson William of Maltnesbury's Robert of Gloucester: a Re-evaluation of the Historia Novella,' American Hist. Rev. 70 (1964-5): 983-997. Davis King Stephen (1967): 134 ("Robert fitz Roy or Robert de Caen, so called because he was the illegitimate son of Henry I by (probably) Sibyl daughter of Robert Corbet burgess of Caen, was created earl of Gloucester between June and September 1120 (Round, Geoffry de Mandeville 420 ff). On Henry I's death he at first hoped to raise Theobald Count of Blois to the throne, but eventually recognized Stephen as king in April 1136. After much hesitation he 'defied' Stephen after 22 May 1138, and from then until his death (31 October 1147) was the principal supporter of the empress Matilda."). Patterson Earldom of Gloucester Charters (1973). Coss Langley Cartulary (Dugdale Soc. 32) (1980): 11 (charter of Robert, Earl of Gloucester dated 1122-35). D. Crouch, 'Robert, earl of Gloucester, and the daughter of Zelophehad,' Jour. of Medieval Hist. 11(1985): 227-243. Green Government of Henry I (1986). Winter Descs. of Charlemagne (800-1400) (1987): XII.658, XIII.1001-XIII.1005, X111.1179. Caenegem English Lawsuits from William I to Richard II (Selden Soc. 106) (1990): 191, 194-195, 249-250; 2 (Selden Soc. 107) (1991): 420-421, 600-601. Chibnall Empress Matilda (1991). Clanchy From Memory to Written Rec., England 1066-1307 (1993): 54-55. Reedy Basset Charters c.1120 to 1250 (Pubs. Pipe Roll Soc. n.s. 50) (1995): 25-26 (charter dated 1146-7 of Empress Maud daughter of King Henry I and her son, Henry; charter witnessed by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and Robert Fitz Roy). Crouch 'Robert of Gloucester' Mother & Sexual Politics in Norman Oxfordshire,' Fryde & Greenway Handbook of British Chronology (1996): 35. BIHR 72 (1999): 323-333. Crouch Reign of King Stephen, 1135-1154 (2000): 215 (Philip de Gay styled "kinsman" of Robert, Earl of Gloucester [quendam comitis cognatum Philippum Gal nuncupatum]). Hollister Henry I (2003). Johns Noblewomen, Aristocracy & Power in the 12th Cent. Anglo-Norman Realm (2003): 94-95. Jour. of Medieval Hist. 29 (2003): 129-151. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004) (biog. of Robert, first earl of Gloucester: "Robert of Gloucester was one of the great aristocrats of his age. Between 1121 and his death he was rarely rivalled in England for power, wealth, and politial influence. He was a consummate creature of the royal court, a great man of business, affable, and courtly."). Green Henry I, King of England & Duke of Normandy (2006): Appendix I, Chart 2 (chart). Stacy Charters & Custumals of Shaftesbury Abbey, 1089-1216 (2006): xii. University of Toronto Deed Research Project, #00810095 (agreement between Robert, Earl of Gloucester and Miles, Earl of Hereford dated 1141-43) (available at http://res.deeds.utoronto.ca:49838/research).
      Children of Robert Fitz Roy, by Mabel Fitz Robert:
      i. WILLIAM FITZ ROBERT, Earl of Gloucester [see next].
      ii. ROBERT FITZ ROBERT, of Conarton, Cornwell, married HAWISE DE REDVERS [see CHAMPERNOUN 4].
      iii. MAUD OF GLOUCESTER, married RANULPH DE GERNONS, 2nd Earl of Chester [see CHESTER 4].
      iv. MABEL OF GLOUCESTER, married GRUFFUDD AB IVOR BACH, of Senghenydd, Glamorgan. They had one son, Rhys. At an unknown date, he granted Awenet to Brother Meiler for a hermitage or abbey. In the period, c. 1150-53, Earl William of Gloucester gave confirmation of this grant to Margam Abbey. About 1179 he granted land at Leckwith to Margam Abbey. Patterson Earldom of Gloucester Charters (1973): 115. Clark Carter et alia Munimenta qua ad Dominium de Glamorgan 3 (1891): 102 (confirmation charter of William, Earl of Gloucester), 112-113 (charter of Gruffudd ab Ivor Bach dated c.1179; which names his deceased mother, Nesta; charter witnessed by his "kinsman" [nepote] Ivor Peredeu).”

      3. “Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
      “HUGH, 6th Earl of Chester, hereditary Vicomte of Avranches in Normandy, seigneur of Saint Sever and Briquessart, son and heir, born about 1141 (of age in 1162). He is sometimes called Hugh of Cyfeiliog, because, according to a late writer, he was born in that district of Wales. According to the chronicler, John of Hexham, it was agreed at Carlisle in 1150 that a son of Ranulph, Earl of Chester, should marry one of the daughters of Henry, son of the king of Scotland. The son of Earl Ranulph was presumably his eldest son, Hugh. The projected marriage never took place. In the period, 1154-7, Earl Hugh and his mother, Countess Maud, gave Styvechale (south of Coventry) to Walter, Bishop of Chester, and his successors for the absolution of Hugh's father, Lord Earl Ranulph, and the redemption of his soul and that of his ancestors. Sometime in the period, 1155- 63, the king ordered Earl Hugh and his mother, Countess Maud, to give to the Abbot and monks of Gloucester the rents which Hugh's father, Earl Ranulph, gave them in the mills of Oldney and Tadwell. He was present in 1163 at Dover for King Henry II's renewal of the Flemish money fief, and also attended the Council of Clarendon in January 1164. Sometime in the period, 1166-87, he confirmed the former grant made to Saint-Etienne Abbey, Caen by Ranulph, Vicomte of Bayeux, his ancestor, of all the land the said Ranulph possessed at Bretteville-l'Orgueilleuse. He married in 1169 BERTRADE DE MONTFORT, daughter of Simon de Montfort, Count of Evreux, seigneur of Montfort-l'Amaury, by his wife, Maud. She was born about 1156 (aged 29 in 1185). They had one son, Ranulph, Knt. [Earl of Chester and Lincoln], and five daughters, Maud, Mabel, Agnes, Hawise, and (wife of Llywelyn ap Iorwerth, Prince of North Wales). By an unknown mistress (or mistresses), he also had two illegitimate sons, William (or Pain) (of Milton), and Roger, and one illegitimate daughter, Amice. Hugh joined the rebellion of King Henry II's sons in 1173. He was captured by King Henry II at Dol in August 1173. In 1174 he was deprived of his lands for rebellion. He was subsequently regranted his honours and lands at the Council of Northampton in 1177. In March 1178 he witnessed King Henry II's award in the dispute between Alfonso IX, King of Castile, and Sancho V, King of Navarre. During his lifetime, he granted some lands in the Wirral to the Abbey of St. Werburgh, Chester, and made other special gifts to Stanlow Priory, St Mary's, Coventry, and the nuns of Buffington and Greenfield priories. He also confirmed his mother's grants to her foundation of Augustinian canons at Calke, Derbyshire, and those of his father to his convent of the Benedictine nuns of St Mary's, Chester. In 1171 he confirmed the grants of his father to the Abbey of St. Stephen in the diocese of Bayeux. He likewise granted the church of Belchford, Lincolnshire to Trentham Priory, and the church of Combe, Gloucestershire to the Abbey of Bordesley, Warwickshire. HUGH, Earl of Chester, died at Leek, Staffordshire 30 June 1181, and was buried next to his father in the chapter house of St Werburgh's, Chester. Sometime in the period, 1188-99, his widow, Bertrade, witnessed a charter of her son, Ranulph, Earl of Chester. In the period, 1190-1200, she reached agreement with the abbot and convent of Troarn in Normandy regarding the construction of a mill and fishpond on the boundary between her wood and theirs. Sometime before 1194-1203, she exchanged lands with the canons of Repton. Sometime in the period, 1200-10, she granted to Ralph Carbonel, of Halton, Lincolnshire, for his homage and service a half a knight's fee which he held of the said countess in Halton. In 1223 Richard Duket and Simon de Sees brought a plea of novel disseisin against her touching a tenement in Harmston, Lincolnshire. In 1226 she presented to the church of Waddington, Lincolnshire. In 1227 she arraigned an assize of last presentation to the church of Waddington, Lincolnshire against the abbot of St. Sever. Bertrade, Countess of Chester, died in 1227, after 31 March.
      Banks Dormant & Extinct Baronage of England 1 (1807): 217-218. Hanshall Hist. of the County Palatine of Chester (1823): 21, 28 (ped.). D'Anisy Extrait des Chartes, et autres Arles Normands ou Anglo-Normands 1 (1834): 276 (charter of Hugh, Earl of Chester). Coll Top. et Gen. 2 (1835): 247-249. Dugdale Monasticon Anglicanum 3 (1846): 217-218 (sub Spalding Monastery - Hugonis, primi Comitis Cestriæ et Lincolniæ.... prosapia: "... post quem successit Ranulfus de Gernons filius ejus, qui moriens decimo sexto kalendas Januarii [17 December], jacet juxta patrem suum. Post hunc successit Hugo filius ejus, qui moriens secundo kalendas Julii [30 June], jacet juxta patrem suum."); 4 (1823): 314 (charter of Hugh, Earl of Chester). Bigsby Hist. & Topog. Desc. of Repton (1854): 58 (charter of Hugh, Earl of Chester, naming his father, Ranulf, Earl of Chester, and his grandfather, Robert, Earl of Gloucester), 59-61 (charter of Hugh, Earl of Chester). Stevenson Church Historians of England 4(1) (1856): 27 (Chronicle of John of Hexham). Luard Annales Monastici 1 (Rolls Ser. 36) (1864): 244 (Burton Annals sub A.D. 1227: "Obiit Bertrudis comitissa Cestriae."). Leycester & Mainwaring Tracts written in the Controversy respecting the Legitimacy of Amicia, daughter of Hugh Cyveliok, Earl of Chester 1-3 (Chetham Soc. 78-80) (1869). Reliquary 11 (1870-71): 196 (Harleian MS. 1486 [Derbyshire Visitation] alleges Hugh, Earl of Chester, had [illegitimate] son, William de Mylton). Ormerod Hist. of the County Palatine & City of Chester I (1882): 26-33. Cat. of a Selection from the Stowe MSS (1883): 10 (charter of Hugh, Earl of Chester). Christie Annales Cestrienses, or, Chronicle of the abbey of S. Werburg at Chester (Lancashire & Cheshire Rec. Soc. 14) (1887): 20-21 (sub A.D. 1147: "Natus comes Hugo II."), 24-25 (sub A.D. 1169: "In hoc anno factus Hugo comes Cestrie miles, eodem veto anno duxit Hugo comes Cestre uxorem filiam Simonis comitis Ebroensis nomine Bertrad quam Rex Henricus II. Angliæ ei tradidit quia ipsius cognata fuit."), 28-29 (sub A.D. 1181: "Obiit Hugo II. ij kal. Julii comes Cestre apud Lech."), 54-55 (sub A.D. 1227: "Item obiit Bertrudis comitissa Cestre."). Birch Cat. of Seals in the British Museum 2 (1892): 381 (seal of Bertrade, Countess of Chester dated at end of 12th Cent. - Pointed oval. Full face, tightly-fitting dress with long maunches at the wrists, standing. Legend: * SIGILL' BERTREE COMITISSE CESTRIE.). C.P.R. 1225-1232 (1903): 156. C.P.R. 1399-1401 (1903): 296-297. Warner & Ellis Facsimiles of Royal & Other Charters in the British Museum 1 (1903): #51 (charter of Hugh, Earl of Chester to his mother, Countess Maud, dated c.1162-7; charter names his father, Earl Ranulph), #52 (charter of Maud, Countess of Chester, dated c.1162-7, granted with consent of her son, Earl Hugh; charter names her parents, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, and Countess Mabel, and her husband, Earl Ranulph). Wrottesley Peds. from the Plea Rolls (1905): 531-532. Jeayes Descriptive Catalogue of Derbyshire Charters (1906): 69, 242-245. Delisle Recueil des Actes de Henri II, Roi d'Angleterre et Duc de Normandie (1909): 387 (biog. of Hugh, Earl of Chester). Round Rotuli de Dominabus et Pueris et Puellis de XII Comitatibus [11857 (Pipe Roll Soc. 35) (1913): 15 (Date 1185: "Bertreia comitissa filia comitis de Everews, uxor Hugonis comitis Cestrie, est de donatione Domini Regis, et est .xxix. annorum."). Davis Rotuli Hugonis de Welles Episcopi Lincolniensis 1209-12353 (Lincoln Rec. Soc. 9) (1914): 154. Farrer Early Yorkshire Charters 2 (1915): 195 (chart). Tait Chartulary or Reg. of the Abbey of St. Werburgh, Chester (Chetham Soc. 82) (1923). Farrer Honors & Knights' Fees 2 (1924): 103,200. Colls. Hist. Staffs. 1924 (1926): 30-31 (charter of Earl Hugh and his mother, Countess Maud). Rpt. on the MSS of Reginald Rawdon Hastings, Esq. 1 (Hist. MSS Comm. 78) (1928): 83. Hatton Book of Seals (1950): 238 (writ of King Henry II to Hugh, Earl of Chester, and Bertrade his wife dated 1177-81). Barraclough Earldom & County Palatinate of Chester (1953). Sanders English Baronies (1960): 18, 32. Barraclough Charters of the Anglo-Norman earls of Chester, c1071-1237 (Lancashire & Cheshire Rec. Soc. 126) (1988): 140-196. Johns Noblewomen, Aristocracy & Power in the 12th Cent. Anglo-Norman Realm (2003): 65-66. T. F. Tout, 'Hugh, fifth earl of Chester (1147-1181)', rev. Thomas K. Keefe, in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).
      Children of Hugh, Earl of Chester, by Bertrade de Montfort:
      i. RANULPH, Knt., Earl of Chester, Vicomte of Avranches in Normandy, Judge in the King's Court, 1193, Constable of Sermilly Castle, 1201-4, Constable of the Tower of Avranches, 1203, Governor of the Peak Castle and Forest, 1215, Sheriff of Lancashire, 1216-22, Sheriff of Shropshire and Staffordshire, 1216,1217-23, Steward of the Town and Honour of Lancaster, 1216-23, Constable of Fotheringay Castle, 1221-2, Steward of the Honour of Leicester, 1222, and, in right of his 1st wife, Duke of Brittany, Earl of Richmond, son and heir, born at Oswestry in Powys c.1172. He was knighted by the king at Caen 1 Jan. 1187/8. He married (1st) 3 Feb. 1187/8 (or 1189) CONSTANCE OF BRITTANY [see BRITTANY 6], widow of Geoffrey of England, Duke of Brittany, Earl of Richmond (killed in a tournament at Paris 19 August 1186) [see ENGLAND 4.v], and daughter and heiress of Conan IV le Petit, Duke of Brittany, Earl of Richmond, by Margaret, daughter of Henry of Scotland, Earl of Northumberland [see BRITTANY 5 for her ancestry]. She was born about 1162. They had no issue. In 1194 he was commander of the forces for King Richard I. He took part in the second Coronation of King Richard I, which was solemnised in Winchester Cathedral 17 April 1194. In 1196 Ranulph captured his wife, Constance, en route to her finalizing negotiations with King Richard I and confined her at Benvron for at least a year. Soon after her release, she sought the annulment of their marriage, which was granted in 1199, presumably on grounds on consanguinity; she subsequently married (3rd) before October 1199 (as his 1st wife) GUY DE THOUARS, in right of his 1st wife, Count (or Duke) of Brittany, Earl of Richmond [see BRITTANY 6]. Constance died testate at Nantes 4 (or 5) Sept. 1201. Ranulph married (2nd) before 7 October 1200 CLEMENCE DE FOUGERES, widow of Main de Vitre (or Dinan) (died 1198), seigneur of Dinan, and daughter of Guillaume de Fougères, seigneur of Fougères, by Agatha, daughter of Guillaume du Hommet, Constable of Normandy [see FOUGERES 5 for her ancestry]. Her maritagium included land in the valley of Mortain. They had no issue. He was engaged in warfare with the Welsh from 1209 to 1214. He was faithful to King John against the rebellious Barons. He was one of the executors of King John who died 19 October 1216; and one of most zealous supporters of the young king, Henry III. In 1217, as Joint Commander of the royal army, he contributed to the defeat of the rebels under the Count of Perche. He was created Earl of Lincoln 23 May 1217. He went on crusade to the Holy Land in May 1218, and distinguished himself at the Siege of Damietta. He returned to England in August 1220. In 1223 he was required to surrender his castles. In 1229 he opposed in Parliament the grant of a tenth to the Pope, and forbade its collection in his own domain. In 1229 Earl Ranulph granted tithes in Wilsford, Wiltshire, formerly held of the Earl of Lincoln, to Roger, Succentor of Salisbury. He served as Chief Commander of the royal troops in Brittany, 1230-1, and in June 1231 was a Joint Commissioner to treat with France. Sometime between April 1231 and his death, he resigned the earldom of Lincoln to his sister, Hawise de Quincy. RANULPH, Earl of Chester, died at Wallingford 28 October 1232, and was buried at St. Werburg's, Chester, his heart being interred at Dieulacres Abbey. His widow, Clemence, died in 1252. Sandford Gen. Hist. of the Kings of England (1677): 67-68. Madox Formulare Anglicanum (1702): 187 (charter of Ranulph, Earl of Chester). Galia Christiana 2 (1720): 1333 (abstract of charter of Guy de Thouars dated 1208 naming his mother, Aumuz, and his wife, [Constance] Countess of Brittany). Anselme Hist. de la Maison Royale de France 1 (1725): 445-461 (sub Bretagne). Morice Méms. pour Servir de Preuves a l'Hist. de Bretagne 1 (1742): 37-38, 912-913, 917. Morice Histoire Ecclesiastique et Civil de Bretagne 1(1750): xvii-xviii (Counts of Penthievre ped). Banks Dormant & Extinct Baronage of England 1 (1807): 218-220. Hanshall Hist. of the County Palatine of Chester (1823): 21-23, 28 (ped.). Dugdale Monasticon Anglicanum 5 (1825): 325 (charter of Ranulph, Earl of Chester dated 1230), 574- 575 (Jerveaux Abbey - Genealogy of the Counts of Richmond). Coll Top. et Gen. 2 (1835): 247-249. Extracta e Variis Cronicis Scocie (1842): 70 ("Henricus, regis Dauid filius, comes Huntyntoune et Northumbrie vxorem duxit Adam filiam Willelmi senioris, sororis Willelmi junioris comitis de Warenna, et sororem comitis Roberti Legecesterensis, et Walranni comitis de Melent, cuius mater fuit soror Rodulphi comitis de Perona, regis Francorum Ludouici consanguinea, ex qua suscepit tres inclitos filios Genuit eciam idem princeps Henricus totidem Elias ex uxore sua predicta Ada, scilicet, Adam, que lege conjugii tradita est comiti Holandie Fiorentino: secundam, Margaretam Conano duci Britannie comiti de Richmonth nuptam, ex qua genuit filiam nomine Constanciam Gaufrido, comiti Andigauie, fratri regis Anglie Richardi Primi, disponsatam, de qua Gaufridus genuit filium nomine Arthurum, postea in mare mersum, vnam eciam filiam, Aleciam nomine, que a Petro Mauclerk concepit et peperit filium, nomina Johannem, postea ducem Britannie, et aliam filiam nomine Alienoram, que cum Arthuro fratre in mare periit."). Top. & Gen. 1(1846): 301-320. Hawley Royal Fam. of England (1851): 18-19. Jour. British Arch. Assoc. 7 (1852): 123-132 (letter of Clemence, Countess of Chester, names her aunt [amite], Aline, Prioress of Mortain, and Raoul de Fougères her grandfather [avus]). Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaries de l'Ouest 29 (1865): 365-369 (re. Thouars fam.). Stubbs Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi Benidicti Abbatis 1 (Rolls Ser. 49) (1867): 207. Marchegay & Mabille Chroniques des Eglises d'Anjou (1869): 45 (Chronicæ Sancti Albini Andegavensis: death of Geoffrey). Wright Feudal Manuals of English Hist. (1872). Annual Rpt. of the Deputy Keeper 35 (1874): 8-9 (charter of Ranulph, Earl of Chester). Dernay Inv. des Sceaux de la Normandie (1881): 5-6 (undated seal of Constance, Duchess of Brittany, Countess of Richmond - Dame debout, coffée en tresses, revêtue d'un sur ___ ajuste du corsage, des hanches et des bras, et reconvert d'une chape, un faucon sur le poing, en fieuron dans la main droite. [Légende] * CONSTANCIA DVCISS … [COMIITISSA RICH[EMUN]DIE). Ormerod Hist. of the County Palatine & City of Chester 1 (1882): 33-41. Robertson Materials for the Hist. of Thomas Becket 6 (Rolls Ser. 67) (1882): 170-174. Doyle Official Baronage of England 1 (1886): 365-366 (sub Chester); 3 (1886): 107-109 (sub Richmond). Annales Cestrienses (Lanc. & Cheshire Rec. Soc. 14) (1887): 40-41 (Chron. of St Werburg sub 1188: "Rannulphus comes cestrie … Cui etiam dedit Henricus rex anglie in uxorem relictam v Kl. [recte Galfridi filii sui] Cui comitissam britannie filia Alani [recte Conani] Comitis britannie nominee Constancia et toto comittatu de Richemund quam ipse comes Cestrie Rannulphus desponsavit in die Sancte Werburge virginis, id est, tertia nonas Februarii [3 Feb.] apud ..."), 46 (Chron. of St. Werburg sub 1200: "Rannulphus comes Cestrie desponsavit uxorem filiam Radulphi de Feugis, nomine Clementiam, relicta comitissa Britannie, nomine Constancia."). La Borderie Recueil d'Actes inédits des Ducs et Princes de Bretagne (Xe, XIIe, XTIIe Siecles) (1888). Birch Cat. Seals in the British Museum 2 (1892): 378 (seal of Constance, Duchess of Brittany, Countess of Richmond dated 1190-1198 - Pointed oval. To the right Standing, with tightly-fitting dress, long fur-lined cloak fastened at the throat, in the right hand a lily-flower, on the left hand a hawk with long jesses.). Inventaire Sommaire des Archives Départementales anterieures à 1790, Loire-Inferieure 2(2) Ser. C &D (1898): 147. List of Shenffs for England & Wales (PRO Lists and Indexes 9) (1898): 72, 117. Wrottesley Peds. from the Plea Rolls (1905): 531-532. C.P.R. 1232-1247 (1906): 355. Dunbar Scottish Kings (1906): 58-70. Delisle Recueil des Actes de Henri II, Roi d'Angleterre et Due de Normandie Introduction (1909): 103-106, 371-372 (biog. of Geoffrey Fitz Roy, Count of Brittany). VCH Hertford 3 (1912): 441-458. Fairer Early Yorkshire Charters 2 (1915): 195 (chart). Le Moyen Age 35 (1924-5): 63-70. Farnham Leicestershire Mecieval Peels. (1925): 11 (ped. of Earls of Chester). Brunel et al. Recueil des Actes de Philippe Auguste Roi de France 2 (1943): 542. C.P. 3 (1913): 167-169 (sub Chester); 10 (1945): 780 (chart), 794-805 (sub Richmond). Annales de Bretagne 53 (1946), 1-27. VCH Wiltshire 6 (1962): 213-221. Painter Scourge of the Clergy: Peter of Dreux, Duke of Brittany (1969). BIHR 50 (1977): 112-115. Ellis Cat. Seals in the P.R.O. 2(1981): 13 (seal of Ranulph, Earl of Chester dated c.1200 - A shield of arms: a lion passant. Legend: + SIGILLVM [R]A[NVFA COMITIS CESTRIE). Schwennicke Europäische Stammtafeln 2 (1984): 75 (sub Brittany), 83 (sub England); 3 (1989): 810 (sub Thouars). Hist. Research 63 (1990): 1-16. Everard Charters of Duchess Constance of Brittany & her Fam. (1999). Everard Brittany & the Angevins (2000). Van Kerrebrouck Les Capétians 987-1328 (2000): 347-360. Jones Between France & England (2003): 38-40. Wheeler & Parsons Eleanor of Aquitaine: Lord & Lady (2003): 101. Richard Eales, `Ranulf (III), sixth earl of Chester and first earl of Lincoln (1170-1232)', in Word Dict. of National Biog. (2004). Bull & Léglu World of Eleanor of Aquitaine (2005).
      ii. MAUD OF CHESTER, married DAVID OF SCOTLAND, Earl of Huntingdon [see BALLIOL 4].
      iii. MABEL OF CHESTER, married WILLIAM D'AUBENEY, 3rd Earl of Arundel [see CLIFTON 5].
      iv. AGNES OF CHESTER, married WILLIAM DE FERRERS, Knt., 4th Earl of Derby [see FERRERS 6].
      v. HAWISE OF CHESTER, Countess of Lincoln, married ROBERT DE QUINCY [see QUINCY 6.i].
      Child of Hugh, Earl of Chester, by an unknown mistress,
      vi. AMICE OF CHESTER, married RALPH DE MAINWARING, Seneschal of Chester [see AUDLEY 6].”