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Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester

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Richard d'Avranches
The coat of arms of Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester[citation needed]
Born1094
Died25 November 1120
TitleEarl of Chester
Term1101–1120
PredecessorHugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester
SuccessorRanulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester
SpouseLucia-Mahaut of Blois

Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester (1094 – 25 November 1120) was the son of Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, and his wife, Ermentrude of Clermont.[1]

Early life

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He was seven years old when his father, known as Hugh the Wolf, died. Due to his age, a stewardship would have ruled until he was old enough. He probably became Earl of Chester in 1107. He married Lucia-Mahaut, daughter of Stephen, Count of Blois and Adela of Normandy,[2] daughter of William the Conqueror.

Military career

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At the age of twenty, in 1114, Richard was on a military campaign and was styled the Earl of Chester. Together with King Alexander of Scotland, he led an Anglo-Norman army into Gwynedd as part of a three-pronged campaign organised by Henry I of England against Gwynedd, and Gruffudd ap Cynan. Gruffudd, rather than risk battle, satisfied the King with an oath of homage and a suitable fine. The campaign soon fizzled out, and Richard returned to Chester.

White Ship

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The line of the d'Avranches as Earls of Chester failed when Richard, his wife, and his illegitimate half-brother Ottuel, joined the young William Adelin, heir to the English King Henry aboard the doomed White Ship. The captain, unwisely, chose to race out of the harbour.[3] The ship struck a submerged rocky embankment, capsized and sank.[4] Richard, aged twenty-six,[5] his wife Lucia-Mahaut, and half-brother Ottuel all drowned.[6]

The earldom then passed through his father Hugh's sister Maud to Richard's first cousin Ranulph I, in 1121, because Hugh had no other suitable male heirs.

References

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  1. ^ Christelow 1996, p. 3.
  2. ^ LoPrete 2007, p. 389.
  3. ^ Hanley 2019, p. 43.
  4. ^ Hanley 2019, pp. 43–44.
  5. ^ LoPrete 2007, p. 339.
  6. ^ Aurell 2017, p. 49.

Sources

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  • Aurell, Martin (2017). The Lettered Knight: Knowledge and Aristocratic Behaviour in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Centuries. Translated by Khalifa, Jean-Charles; Price, Jeremy. Central European University Press.
  • Christelow, Stephanie Mooers (1996). "The Division of Inheritance and the Provision of Non-Inheriting Offspring among the Anglo-Norman Elite". Medieval Prosopography. 17 (2 (Autumn)). Board of Trustees of Western Michigan University through its Medieval Institute Publications: 3–44.
  • Hanley, Catherine (2019). Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior. Yale University Press.
  • LoPrete, Kimberly A. (2007). Adela of Blois: Countess and Lord (c.1067-1137). Four Courts Press.
Peerage of England
Preceded by Earl of Chester
1107–1120
Succeeded by