Page:The Complete Peerage Ed 1 Vol 2.djvu/225

 224 CHESTER. Henry II, set on foot by Henry, the son of that King, and was taken prisoner at Alnwick, 13 July 1 174. Hu was deprived of his Earldom and was again in rebellion both in England and Normandy, but, in Jan. 1177, Was restored. He m. in llb'D.C 1 ) Bertrada, then aged l-l,( b ) da. of Simon, Coi'NT D'Evkeux, the King giving her away in marriage " because she was his own cousin,"^') her mother being, probably, a da, of Robert fos Beaumont), 2nd Earl op Leicester. He d. at Leeke, co. Stafford, 1181. His widow d. 1227( h ) aged about 71. (°) VII. 1181, 4.. Raxdolph,(^) styled " de IjLondeville,'^ 11 ) Earl op to Chester, also Vicomte D'Avranches, &c. in Normandy, only s. and 1232. h. He was 6. at Oswestry (Album Monastcrium or Blonde Villc) in Powys, about 1172. On 1 Jan. 1188/9 he was knighted at Caen by the King, where, on 3 Feb. following, he hi. Constance, widow of the King's nephew, Geoffrey, Eaul op Richmond, da. and h. of Conan, Earl op Richmond and also Duke of Britanny, by Margaret of Scotland, da. of Henry, s. of David I rSkj. From 1189 till his divorce from thi3 Lady(") in 1199 he, in her right, styled himself EARL OF RICHMOND and also Dike op Britanny. In 1194 he was Commander of the Forces for King Richard I, at whose second coronation, 17 April 1194, he bore the " Curtana," one of the throe swords of State. From 1209 to 1214 he engaged in warfare with the Welsh. He was faithful to King John against the rebellious Barons, being one of the few witnesses, ex parte Regis, to the Charter of 15 June 1215, in which year he was Gov. of Newcastle-uuder-Lyme ; Gov. of the Teak Castle and Forest and Custos of the fief of the great Earldom of Leicester ; Sheriff of the counties of Lancaster, Stafford and Salop ; Steward of the Honour of Lancaster &c. He was one of the executors of King John, who d. 19 Oct. 1216; and one of the most zealous supporters of the young King, Henry III, and, being in April 1217, Joint Commander of the Royal army, he contributed maiulv to the defeat of the rebels under the Comte de Perche. On 23 May 1217 he was a: EARL OF LINCOLN, an Earl- dom (sometime held, jure uxoris, by his great grandfather abovenamed) to which pro- bably he considered he had some claim. Having " taken the cross " as early as 4 March 1215 he left for the Holy Land, May 121S, distinguished himself at the siege of Damietta, returning in Aug. 1220 when he began the building of Heeston Castle, co. Chester, Chartley Castle and the Abbey of Dieulaeres,( r ) both co. Stafford. His rival, Hubert de Burgh, being then Regent of England, the Earl appears to have taken the part of the disaffected and was required to sun-ender his Castles &c. which after some resistance, in 1223, he did. In April 1229 he opposed in Pari, the grant of a tenth to the Pope, and absolutely forbad its collection in his own dominion. From Oct. 1230 to July 1231 he was Chief Commander of the Royal troops at Bretagne &c, and in June 1231 was a Joint Commissioner to treat with France. He resigned Die Earldom, of Lincoln, between April 1231 and his death, to his sister Hawise, to whose son in law (John de Lacy) it was, 22 Nov. 1232, confirmed. His first marriage in 11S9 has already been mentioned. Ho m. secondly before 7 Oct. 1200, Clcmence, widow of Alan De Din an, da. of William de Fouuehes,(k) by Agatha, Bister of William de Humez, Constable of Normandy. He d. s.p. 20 Oct. 1232 at Wallingford and was bur. 3 Nov. with great pomp at St. Werburg, Chester, his heart being interred at Dieulacres Abbey. His great estates passed to his four sisters and (») Vide note " e," p. 223. m Vide note "f," p. 223. (<=) She was aged 29 (1135) 31 Hen. II. See " Rot. de dominabus &e." quoted in " Coll. Top. et Gen." Vol. ii, p 249. ( d ) Of this Earl an exhaustive account is given by J. Horace Round in Stephen's " Nat. Biography " under the heading of " Blundevill." (o) She m. for her 3rd husband Guy de Thouars, 2nd s. of William, Vicomte de Thouars. audrf. 4 Sep. 1201 leaving issue by him, whoa!. 1213. ( f ) " Dicu Vaccroise,'' is said to have been the exclamation of the Countess Clemenco on her husband narrating his dream enjoining him to found an Abbey near Leek. (8) See an account of this family by Leopold de Lisle, Vol. vii, Journal of Brit. Arch. Association.