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 292 BEDFORD. BECKETT. Sec " SnuTE of Beckett," co. Berks, Baron ; cr. 1880. BEDFORD (County). Earldom. 1. Kuc;n v>e Bello MosiSj oi Beaumont, eallefl * Bimo I. 1138 Pauper," 3rd s. of Robert, Count of Meulan (generally known M liarl of Mellent) in Normandy. F.ahl of Leicester in England, by Elizabeth, da. of Hugh, Count de Vehmandois, was knighted before 1138 ami cr. EARL OF BEDFORD by King Stephen in 1138, who put him in posses- sion of the Castle and Barony of Bedford, ejecting therefrom the sons of Robert Beauchnmp, whose cousin, the da. and h. of Sir Simon BkaUCHami*, had been granted in marriage to the said Hugh. He appears, however, to have lapsed into poverty and even to have been degraded from his peerage three or four years afterwards,;*; and at his death the title, in all probability, became extinct. II. 13G6, 1. Txgelham, or Exguerkaxd de Couci, .Sire de Couci, to La Fere and Oisi in the district of Marle,( b ) &c, only s. and b. of 1377. Knguen-aud de Couci of tile same, by Catharine OF HaI'SBI'Iioh, 1st da. and coheir of Leopold, Duke (II AUSTRIA (the s. of Allvrt, King of the Romans and grandson of the Emperor Rudolph) sue his father in 1344, being then in his 5th year. He was one of the hostages for John, King uf France, to England, where he arrived in 1360. The English King showed great favour to him, restoring him t»i lands in Lancashire, Sec, fa) which he hail claim through descent from the family of Balliol. He m. at Windsor, 27 July 1305, the Lady Isabella (PLANTAiiEXKT), 1st da. of King Edward III, by Philippa, da. of William, Count or Holland and Hainai.'lt. In consequence of this royal alliance ho was made K.G. the smic year, and by charter, 11 May 1366, was cr. EARL OF BF.DFORD, with rem. to the heirs male of his body by the said Lady Isabella. In 1307 he obtained the territory of Soissons, which Guy de Blois, Count of Soissons, another of the French hostages, was induced to surrender, so as to purchase his freedom. On the accession of Richard II he. resiyuedto that King, "26 Aug. 1377, all his EngliA Ihnmirs,[ c ) and devoted himself to the service of France, wdiere he greatly distinguished himself, being Marshal and Grand Butler of that Kingdom. His wife (who was 4. 16 June 1332 at Woodstock) remained in England, and was one of the Ladies for whom (notwithstanding her husband's resignation) robes of the Order of the GartcrC 1 ) were provided, not only in 1376, but (under the style of "Countess of Bedford") in April 137!'. This is the last mention of her, as she d. before 4 May 1379, and was bur. at the Greyfriars (Christ Church), Aldgate. The Sire de Couci m. secondly, in 1380, Isabella, da. of John, 1st Duke ok Lorraine, by Sophia of Wiirtemburg. In 1380 he refused the staff of Constable of France, but was made Governor of Britanuy and, subsequently, one of the Regency during the minority of Charles VI of France. He was taken prisoner at the defeat of the Christian army at Nicopolis, by the Turks, on 28 Sep. 1396 and d. of the plague, s.p.in., 18 Feb. 1396-7, at Bursa in Natolia.(°) His widow came to England hi 1397 as attendant of the young Queen Consort. She hi. (as his third wife) Stephen, DUKE OF Bavarli and Inooldstadt, who d. 1413. ( a ) Negligenter et remisse, ut vir laxus et effemiuatus se contineus, justo Del judicio, at Comite miles, de Milite in brevi pauperrimus fuit." — See " Ocsta Stc.plw.tu as quoted in Vincent's " Discoverie of Errours," p. 46, and see also p. 300 of that work. (") The illustrious descent and aristocratic independence of this house is " proudly exemplified in their very characteristic motto," ' Je ne suis Roi ne Due, Prince ne C'omte aussie ; Je suis le Sire de Coucy.' See "the Princesses of England " by M. A. Everett Green, vol. iii, p. 198, to which work the editor is greatly indebted. ( c ) Seepos(, p. 293, note "b." ( d ) See ante p. 1 47, note " e " as to these ladies. ( e ) His English estates went to Phillippa, Countess of Oxford, the 2nd and yst. ot