Ranulf LE MESCHIN 3d Earl of Chester
- Born: 1070
- Marriage (1): Lucy THOROLDSDOTTIR of Bolingbroke before 1101
- Died: Jan 1129 aged 59
- Buried: Chester Abbey
General Notes:
Wikipedia Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester (1070-1129) was a late 11th- and early 12th-century Norman magnate based in northern and central England. Originating in Bessin in Normandy, Ranulf made his career in England thanks to his kinship with Hugh d'Avranches - the earl of Chester, the patronage of kings William II Rufus and Henry I Beauclerc, and his marriage to Lucy, heiress of the Bolingbroke-Spalding estates in Lincolnshire.
Ranulf fought in Normandy on behalf of Henry I, and served the English king as a kind of semi-independent governor in the far north-west, in Cumberland and Westmorland, founding Wetheral Priory. After the death of his cousin Richard d'Avranches in the White Ship Disaster of November 1120, Ranulf became earl of the county of Chester on the Anglo-Welsh marches. He held this position for the remainder of his life, and passed the title on to his son.
Ranulf married Lucy THOROLDSDOTTIR of Bolingbroke, daughter of Thorold/Turold OF LINCOLN Earl of Mercia and Alvarissa (?) MALET, before 1101. (Lucy THOROLDSDOTTIR of Bolingbroke was born on 23 May 1074 in Spalding, Lincolnshire, England and died about 1136 in Chester, England.)
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