Randle (Meschines) de Blundeville (1170 - 1232)

Born 1170 in Oswetry, Powis, Wales

Ancestors

Husband of Constance (Penthièvre) de Thouars — married 1189 in Brittany, France

Husband of Clemence (Fougères) of Chester — married 7 Oct 1200 in Normandy, France

Died 28 Oct 1232 at about age 62 in Wallingford, Berkshire, England

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Biography

Randle^[1] aka Ranulf (III) de Blundeville, sixth earl of Chester and first earl of Lincoln^[2]

Randall was earl of Chester for fifty-one years, and was "the most distinguished of the palatinate earls. not only for prowess, then considered the first in rank of all the cardinal virtues, but for wisdom and prudence: he was the principal adviser and counsellor of four English monarchs."^[3]

Birth

Randle was born in 1170, a momentous year in the history of the British Isles: Henry, the eldest son of Henry II, was crowned at London; Strongbow (earl of Striguil and Prembroke) went to Ireland; Owen king of Wales died in October; Thomas, archbishop of Canterbury, was martyred on 29 December, and Randle's father, earl Hugh, slaughtered a multitude of Welshmen, whose heads were in a mound at the hospital outside Chester.^[1]

Randulph de Blundevill was born in Blundevill which Dugdale identified as Oswetry in Powis, Wales, and as was common in those times he took his surname from his birthplace.^[4]

Family

Randle was the son of Hugh, earl of Chester.^[1] His parents, Hugh II, Kyveliock, earl of Chester, and, Bertrada, daughter of Simon, count of Evreux, married in 1169; Bertrada was given to Hugh by Henry II, king of England, her cousin.^[1]

Randulph had siblings:

1. Matilda, born in 1171,^[1] aka Maud who was married in 1190 to David earl of Huntingdon, the brother of William, king of the Scots,^[4] Matilda, mother of earl John, died about the Epiphany of our Lord [6 January], in 1233;^[5]
2. Mabel who was married to William de Albini, earl of Arundel;^[4]
3. Agnes who was married to William Ferrers, earl of Derby;^[4] and
4. Hawys who was married to Robert de Quency, son of Laher, earl of Winchester^[4]

In 1181, both Randle's father, Hugh II, earl of Chester, and his maternal grandfather, Simon, count of Evreux, died; earl Hugh died at Leek.^[1]

On 3 February, 1188, Randle married Constance, countess of Brittany, daughter of Conan, count of Brittany, widow of Henry II's son Geoffry; King Henry gave Constance as a wife to Randle with the county of Richmond.^[6] Constance, the heir of Conan duke of Brittany, was in her own right, the "duke" of Brittany as her father had died on 19 August 1186.^[4] Earl Randulph became the stepfather of Arthur, Constance's son, and sometimes styled himself as Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond.^[4]

In 1199, his wife Constance deserted him and fled to Angers with her son Arthur, and married Guy the brother of Vicomte of Thours.^[4]

In 1200, Randle, earl of Chester, having left Constance, countess of Brittany, married Clementia, daughter of Ralph de Feugeres.^[7] By 7 October, 1200, earl Randulph was married to Clemence, died 1252, the widow of Alan de Dinan, the daughter of William and sister of Geoffrey, the great-niece of Ralph de Fougeres and niece of William de Humez, constable of Normandy.^[4]

In 1221, John de Lacy, constable of Chester, married the daughter of Robert de Quency, Randle's niece.^[8]

In 1222, John, son of earl David of Huntingdon, married the daughter of Llewelin, to effect a lasting peace between himself and the earl of Chester,^[8] John was Randle's nephew.

Randulph left no children by either of his wives.^[4]

Career

On 1 January, 1188, Randle Blundeville, earl of Chester, was knighted by Henry, king of England.^[6]

On 20 May, 1217, Randle captured Lincoln, William Marshal (earl of Pembroke), and others who then held with Henry III, king of England.^[8]

In the following year, 1218, Randle made peace with Llewelin, prince of Wales, and in Whit Week (3-9 June), set out for Jerusalem.^[8] Damietta was captured by the Christians on 5 November, 1219.^[8]

In 1220, Randle returned from Damietta, reaching Chester on 16 August, where he met with Llewelin, prince of Wales.^[8]

Earl Randulph fought with his brother-in-law David for King Richard I in the siege of Nottingham in 1194 which surrendered on 28 March.^[4] He then accompanied his king to Normandy.^[4]

Earl Randulph quarrelled with his wife Constance and intercepted her on her way to Richard, imprisoning her in the castle of St Jean Beveron in 1196.^[4]

In 1199 Earl Randulph was present at the coronation of King John and then accompanied him abroad.^[4]

In 1203 Randulph was entrusted with the keep of Avranches on which he had an hereditary claim.^[4]

On 6 March 1205, he was granted the honour of Richmond which in 1211 was worth forty and a half knights' fees.^[4]

In 1209-10 he was leading the English forces engaged in Welsh wars, and when he was besieged in Rhuddlan Castle, a rabble from Chester fair, that had been sent by the constable of Chester, rescued him.^[4]

In 1214 earl Randulph founded the abbey of Dieulacres in Leek Staffordshire, as a safer place for the white monks from Pulton Abbey in Cheshire.^[4] Later that year he accompanied King John to Poitou.^[4]

Earl Randulph fought with both King John and King Henry III against the barons in 1215, against his uncle Simon de Montfort, and was a witness ex parte regis to the signing of the Magna Carte on 15 June.^[4]

In 1216 he was entrusted with the castle and county of Lancaster, took the cross with King John, and stormed and plundered Worcester with Fulk de Breaute.^[4] King John died on 19 October 1216 and earl Randulph was one of his executors and present at the coronation of John's son Henry III.^[4]

In 1217 when Mountsorrel Leicestershire was held for King Louis of France, Earl Randulph unsuccessfully laid siege to it, then shared in the royalist victory at Lincoln, he was then rewarded with the earldom of Lincoln which had belonged to his cousin, Gilbert de Grant.^[4]

On his return to England in 1220 Pembroke, he found the regent had been dead for a year and Hubert de Burgh was the new regent, and Earl Randulph eventually deserted the royal party and plotted ineffectually with Aumale and de Breaute to surprise the Tower and obtain dismissal of Hubert de Burgh, however threatened with excommunication he submitted, losing Shrewsbury, Brigenorth and Lancaster.^[4]

Earl Randulph participated in the siege of Nantes with Henry III in 1230, and was left in Brittany with Aumale and William Marshall in charge of the army, he captured the train of the French army in 1231 and after invading Brittany arranged a truce for three years.^[4]

He returned to England in 1231 and joined Henry III who was at war with Llewellyn, at Castle Maude.^[4]

Death

Randle, earl of Chester and Lincoln, died on 26 October, 1232, at Wallingford, and was buried on 3 November, at Chester.^[5] His body was borne to its burial-place at St Werburgs, Chester, with great and unusual honour, apart from his heart which was interred at Dieulacres according to his wishes.^[4]

Although small in stature, Randulph de Blundevill was fiery in spirit.^[4]

Prior to his death earl Randulph gave his earldom of Lincoln to his sister Hawys de Quency, who then granted it to her son-in-law John de Lacy, constable of Chester, which was confirmed by the king on 23 November 1232.^[4] On 21 November, John le Scot, Randle's nephew, was made earl of Chester at Northampton by king Henry III.^[5] His estates passed to his sisters: Maud, countess of Huntingdon, whose son John of Scots, succeeded to the earldom of Chester; Mabel de Albini, countess of Arundel; Agnes Ferrers, countess of Derby; and Hawys de Quency, countess of Winchester.^[4]

Research Notes

Profile's Relationship Changes

A third wife, Margaret de Bohun (Bohun-60), was detached as no supporting evidence had been found for their marriage. Margaret's profile had no parents, siblings, other spouses or children. After her profile was imported, her year of birth was changed to 1175 with no new sources added to the profile. Thompson-14289 22:00, 11 December 2014 (EST)

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5} Richard Copley Christie, ed, Annales Cestrienses; or, Chronicle of the Abbey of S. Werburg, at Chester (The Record Society for the Publication of Original Documents Relating to Lancashire and Cheshire, XIV, 1887), 24-5. e-book Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/recordsociety14recouoft/page/25/mode/2up : accessed 15 June, 2022).
2. ↑ Richard Eales, "Ranulf (III) [Ranulf de Blundeville], sixth earl of Chester and first earl of Lincoln (1170–1232), magnate." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (4 October, 2004). (https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/2716 : accessed 22 July 2022).
3. ↑ William Williams Mortimer, comp., The History of the Hundred of Wirral, (London: Whittaker & Co, 1847), accessed 7 August 2014, https://archive.org/stream/historyhundredw00mortgoog#page/n108/mode/2up pp.75.
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 4.25 4.26 4.27 4.28 4.29} Leslie Stephen, ed., Dictionary of national biography, Vol. V Bicheno-Bottisham, (London: Smith, Elder, & co., 1886), accessed 12 July 2014, https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofnati05stepuoft#page/266/mode/2up pp.267-71.
5. ↑ ^{5.0 5.1 5.2} Christie, Annales Cestrienses, 58-9.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Christie, Annales Cestrienses, 40-1.
7. ↑ Christie, Annales Cestrienses, 46-7.
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5} Christie, Annales Cestrienses, 50-1.

See Also

• Hulton, W.A. ed., The Coucher Book or Cartulary of Whalley Abbey. Vol. I, Remains Historical & Literary Connected with the Palatine Counties of Lancaster and Chester (Printed for The Chetham Society, 1846) Vol. 10, Page 9
• Douglas Richardson, Royal Ancestry, I:542-4.