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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. ==Family and origins== Ranulf le Meschin's father and mother represented two different families of viscounts in Normandy, and both of them were strongly tied to Henry, son of William the Conqueror.〔Hollister, ''Henry I'', pp. 53–54〕 His father was Ranulf de Briquessart, and likely for this reason the former Ranulf was styled ''le Meschin'', "the younger".〔King, "Ranulf (I)"〕 Ranulf's father was viscount of the Bessin, the area around Bayeux.〔King, "Ranulf (I)"; Newman, ''Anglo-Norman Nobility'', pp. 97–99〕 Besides Odo, bishop of Bayeux, Ranulf the elder was the most powerful magnate in the Bessin region of Normandy.〔Hollister, ''Henry I'', p. 60〕 Ranulf le Meschin's great-grandmother may even have been from the ducal family of Normandy, as le Meschin's paternal great-grandfather viscount Anschitil is known to have married a daughter of Duke Richard III.〔Douglas, ''William the Conqueror'', p. 93〕 Ranulf le Meschin's mother, Margaret, was the daughter of Richard Goz.〔 Richard's father Thurstan Goz had become viscount of the Hiémois between 1017 and 1025,〔Hollister, ''Henry I'', p. 53〕 while Richard himself became viscount of the Avranchin in either 1055 or 1056.〔Barlow, ''William Rufus'', p. 298, and Hollister, ''Henry I'', p. 54, give the name "Margaret" for Ranulf's mother; King, "Ranulf (I)", gives the name "Matilda", as does Douglas, ''William the Conqueror'', p. 93, who gives ''Maud''〕 Her brother (Richard Goz's son) was Hugh d'Avranches "Lupus" ("the Wolf"), viscount of the Avranchin and Earl of Chester (from c. 1070).〔Hollister, ''Henry I'', p. 54; Lewis, "Avranches, Hugh d'"〕 Ranulf was thus, in addition to being heir to the Bessin, the nephew of one of Norman England's most powerful and prestigious families.〔Newman, ''Anglo-Norman Nobility'', pp. 57–58, 78, 81, 119, 120, 125, 133, 167–68, 191〕 We know from an entry in the Durham ''Liber Vitae'', c. 1098 x 1120, that Ranulf le Meschin had an older brother named Richard (who died in youth), and a younger brother named William.〔King, "Ranulf (I)"; Rollason & Rollason (eds.), ''The Durham Liber Vitae'', vol. i, p. 159〕 He had a sister called Agnes, who later married Robert de Grandmesnil (died 1136).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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