no image
Privacy Level: Open (White)

Ranulf (Meschines) de Gernon (abt. 1100 - 1153)

Ranulf (Ranulph II) "Earl of Chester" de Gernon formerly Meschines
Born about in Gernon Castle, Normandy, Francemap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married about 1141 [location unknown]
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 53 in Gresley, Derbyshire, Englandmap
Profile last modified | Created 1 Feb 2011
This page has been accessed 26,484 times.
Medieval Project
Ranulph II (Meschines) de Gernon is managed by the Medieval Project.
Pre-1500 certified?
Join: Medieval Project
Discuss: Medieval

Contents

Biography

Birth

Ranulph de Gernons was probably born about 1105. [1]

He was born about 1100 in Gernon Castle, Normandy. [2]

Lands and Titles

Ranulph de Germons, Knt, was the 5th Earl of Chester, lord of Eastham and Macclesfield, Chester, Coventry, Warwickshire, Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire , and Greetham, Lincolnshire, etc; hereditary Vicomte of Avranches in Normandy, son and heir of Ranulph (nicknamed le Mescin), 4th Earl of Chester, hereditary Vicomte of Bayeux, by Lucy, widow of Ives de Ta\illeois and Roger Fitz Gerold, and heiress (and possibly daughter) of Thorold, Sheriff of Lincoln. [1]

Marriage

Before 1135 he married Maud of Gloucester. She was the daughter of Robert FitzRoy, Earl of Gloucester, and his wife Mabel Fitz Robert. Robert FitzRoy was, in turn, a son of Henry I, King of England, by an unknow mistress, and grandson of William the Conqueror. [1]

He married Matilda de Caen. [2]

Lands and Battles

To the detriment of his half-brother, William de Roumare, Earl of Lincoln, he appears to have held a large portion of the profits of the Earldom of Lincoln.

He was a distinguished soldier, both on the side of the Empress Maud and on that of King Stephen.

He was one of five Earls who witnessed the Charter to Salisbury in 1131, and also a witness to Stephen's second Charter of Liberties in 1136, and by Stephen he was made Constable of Lincoln. But he took part against the King at the battle of Lincoln 2 Feb 1141, when Stephen was taken prisoner, and Stephen retaliated against Earl Ranulph in 1146 by seizing him at Court at Northampton. Probably after the peace of 1151, the King granted him the Castle and city of Lincoln, but again having taken Stephen's side, he was consequently distrusted by both sides.

1153 Death

He died in Dec 1153, supposedly of poisoning by his wife and William Peverel of Nottingham.

Ranulph de Gernons, Earl of Chester, died at Gresley, Derbyshire 17 December 1153, and was buried at St. Werburg's (Chester Cathedral), Chester. [1]

Issue

Documented by Richardson and/or Cawley

Ranulph de Germons had two sons:

  1. Hugh (6th earl of Chester) Named by Richardson. [1] Known as Hugh (Gernon) of Kevelioc or Cyfeiliog, born, say, 1141. [3]
  2. Richard. Named by Richardson. [1] Richard (Meschines) Keveliog, born, say, 1143. [3]
  3. Richard FitzCount. Richardson adds that by an unknown mistress, Ranulph apparently had an illegitimate son, Richard FitzCount. [1]

Suggested by Cotgreave and 16th century Pedigrees

  1. Beatrix (Gernon) Chester, born, say, 1140. Following various 16th centuries Pedigrees (Visitation, etc) Peter Cotgreave in his 2008 study suggests that the accounts of Ralph ab Einion marrying Beatrix, daughter of the Earl, provide an explanation for how the barony of Malpas came to be in the hands of Ralph and his sons in law, William Patric and William le Belward. [4] Relationship is marked as "uncertain."

Linked on Wikitree and Requiring Further Research

The following additional children are linked on WikiTree

  1. Unknown Meschines, b. 1102
  2. Joanna (Meschines) de Brus, b. 1141
  3. Alice (Meschines) Tempest, b. 1152

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Kimball G. Everingham, editor. Salt Lake City, Utah, By the Author: 2013. Volume II, page 148
  2. 2.0 2.1 WikiTree Data Field, Not otherwise Sourced
  3. 3.0 3.1 Charles Cawley. Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Medieval Lands Database. Ranulf Meschines Accessed June 24, 2018 jhd
  4. Peter Cotgreave. The barony of Malpas in the twelfth century. Transactions, Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, 2008, 157.2. pages 23, 27, 32.

See also:

  • D. Richardson, Royal Ancestry, (2013), II:148-150.
  • Weis, Frederick Lewis, Ancestral Roots of Sixty Colonists Who Came to New England between 1623 and 1650, 6th ed, Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc., Baltimore, MD, 1988
  • Jim Webber, Webber-Martin, MyHeritage.com family tree, Webber_Martin Family Heritage 22
  • Complete Peerage, vol 4 Cht 4, vol 7 p. 673-77, vol 3 p. 166, vol
  • Cht p. 736 (GS #942 D24c)
  • Nichols' Leics vol 1 pt 1 p. 18, 67 (GS #Q942.54 H2nic)
  • Plantagenet Ancestry p. 94-95, 135, 140 (GS #Q942 D2t)
  • Harleian Society. The Visitation of Cheshire in the Year 1580, The Publicatons of The Harleian Society (London: The Society, 1882) Vol. 18, Page 4: "The Genealogy of the Earles of Chester. [Harl. 1424, fo. 3. Harl. 1505, fo. 2.]" (GS #942 B4h)
  • Wurts, Magna Charta vol 3 p. 422, vol 6 p. 1757-58 (GS #942 D22w)
  • Ormerod, History of Cheshire pt 1 p. 12, 20, 25;
  • Cheshire Pipe Rolls p. 3, 5, 23
  • Baker's Nrthmp vol 1 p. 12
  • Ormerod, Parentalia"" p. 8-9




Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com

DNA
No known carriers of Ranulph II's DNA have taken a DNA test.

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.



Comments: 3

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
Ranulf de Gernon was the 4th Earl of Chester, succeeding his father, the 3rd Earl of Chester, in 1129.
posted by J Decker
Updated the section on Issue to clarify which children have solid documentation by Cawley and Richardson, which are named in Cotgreave's 2008 study, and which currently require further research and editing.
posted by Jack Day

M  >  Meschines  |  D  >  de Gernon  >  Ranulf (Meschines) de Gernon

Categories: Medieval Project, England and Wales, needs relationship check | Earls of Chester | Honour of Chester