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 i68 CHESTER I Jan. 1 1 87/8 he was knighted at Caen by the King. From 11 89 till his divorce from her in 1199 he, in right of his wife Constance, widow of Geoffrey, Earl of Richmond, styled himself EARL OF RICHMOND and also Duke of Brittany. In 11 94 he was Commander of the Forces for Richard I, at whose second Coronation, 17 Apr. 1194, he bore the "Curtana," one of the three 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 12 15, in which year he was Gov. of Newcastle-under- Lyme; Gov. of the Peak 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, i^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, when, being in Apr. 12 17, Joint Commander of the Royal army, he contributed mainly to the defeat of the rebels under the Count of Perche. On 23 May 121 7 he was cr. EARL OF LINCOLN, an Earldom to which probably he considered he had some claim. Having taken the cross as early as 4 Mar. 12 15, he left for the Holy Land, May 12 18, and distinguished himself at the siege of Damietta, returning in Aug. 1220, when he began the building of Beeston Castle, co. Chester, Chartley Castle and the Abbey of Dieulacres,(^) 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 surrender his Castles, i^c, which after some resistance, he did in 1223. In Apr. 1229 he opposed in Pari, the grant of a tenth to the Pope, and absolutely for- bade its collection in his own domain. From Oct. 1230 to July 123 1 he was Chief Commander of the Royal troops in Brittany, frfc, and in June 1 23 1 was a Joint Commissioner to treat with France. He resigned the Earldom of Lincoln, between Apr. 1 23 1 and his death, to his sister Hawise, 4 to whose son-in-law (John de Lacy) it was, 22 Nov. 1232, confirmed. He m., istly, 3 Feb. 1 187/8, Constance, widow of the King's nephew, Geoffrey, Earl of Richmond, da. and h. of Conan, Earl of Richmond and Duke of Brittany, by Margaret of Scotland, da. of Henry, s. of David I. From her he was divorced in Ii99.('') He m., 2ndly, before 7 Oct. 1200, Clemence, widow of Alan de Dinan, da. of William de FouGERES,(') by Agatha, sister of Richard, and da. of William du Hommet, Constables of Normandy. He d. s.p., at Wallingford, 28 Oct., and was bur. 3 Nov. 1232, with great pomp, at St. Werburg's, Chester, his heart being interred at Dieulacres Abbey.('*) His great estates passed to his four sisters (") "Z)/Vk Faccroise" is said to have been the exclamation of his wife Clemence when he narrated his dream enjoining him to found an Abbey near Leek. () She m., 3rdly, Guy de Thouars, 2nd s. of Guillaume, Vicomte de Thouars, and d. Aug. or Sep. 1201, leaving issue by him, who d. 12 13. (<=) See an account of this family in Journal of Brit. Arch. Association, vol. vii. () As to the reference to him in Piers Plowman, see J. H. Round's Peerage and Pedigree, vol. ii, pp. 301, 302. V.G.