Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester
Hugh d'Avranches | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | c.1047 Normandy |
| Died | 27 July 1101 |
| Resting place | St Werburgh's Abbey,Chester |
| Other names | le Gros(the Large) Lupus(Wolf) |
| Title | Earl of Chester(2nd creation) |
| Term | 1071–1101 |
| Predecessor | Gerbod the Fleming, 1st Earl of Chester(1st creation) |
| Successor | Richard d'Avranches |
| Spouse | Ermentrude of Claremont |
| Children | Richard d'Avranches |
| Parent | Richard le Goz, Viscount of Avranches |
Hugh d'Avranches(c.1047 – 27 July 1101), nicknamedle Gros(the Large) orLupus(the Wolf), was from 1071 the second NormanEarl of Chester[1]and one of the greatmagnatesof earlyNorman England.
Early life and career[edit]
Hugh d'Avranches was born around 1047 as the son ofRichard le Goz, Viscount of Avranches.His mother was traditionally said to have been Emma de Conteville, half-sister ofWilliam the Conqueror,[1][2]but Lewis (2014) states that the identification was made "on the basis of unsatisfactory evidence" and that his mother is unknown.[3]Keats-Rohan(1999), while accepting the poor quality of the evidence for the traditional account, has nonetheless argued in favour of some relationship existing between Hugh and William.[4]
Earl of Chester[edit]
In 1071,Gerbod the Fleming, 1st Earl of Chesterwas taken prisoner at theBattle of Casselin France and held in captivity. Taking advantage of the circumstances, the king declared his title vacant.Cheshire,with its strategic location on theWelsh Marches,heldcounty palatinestatus and the king then granted these powers to Hugh along with the earldom.[1][5]In that role he would appoint a number of hereditary barons, including his cousinsRobert of RhuddlanandNigel of Cotentin.[1]
He also received many of the local manors held byEdwin,the last Saxonearl of Mercia(died 1071).[6][better source needed]
After his father's death, as late as 1082, Hugh succeeded his father as Viscount ofAvranches,[1]and inherited large estates, not just in theAvranchinbut scattered throughout westernNormandy.[citation needed]The earl regarded the Benedictine monk and theologianSt Anselmto be his friend[7]and, during his lifetime, founded theBenedictineAbbeysof Sainte-Marie-et-Saint-Sever,Saint-Sever-Calvados,Normandy[citation needed]andSt. WerburghinChesteras well as giving land endowments toWhitby Abbey,North Yorkshire.[1]Hugh remained loyal to KingWilliam IIduring therebellion of 1088.He later servedHenry Ias one of his principal councillors at the royal court.
Wales[edit]
Hugh spent much of his time fighting with his neighbours inWales.Together with Robert of Rhuddlan, he subdued a good part of northern Wales. Initially, Robert held north-east Wales as avassalof thetenant-in-chief.In 1081Gruffudd ap Cynan,King ofGwyneddwas captured through the treachery of one of his own men at ameetingnearCorwen.[8]Gruffudd was imprisoned by Earl Hugh in his castle at Chester, but it was Robert who took over his kingdom, holding it directlyen liegefrom the king. When Robert was killed by a Welsh raiding party in 1093 Hugh took over these lands, becoming ruler of most of North Wales, but he lostAngleseyand much of the rest of Gwynedd in the Welsh revolt of 1094, led by Gruffudd ap Cynan, who had escaped from captivity.
Norwegian invasion[edit]
In the summer of 1098, Hugh joined forces withHugh of Montgomery, 2nd Earl of Shrewsbury,in an attempt to recover his losses in Gwynedd. Gruffudd ap Cynan had retreated to Anglesey, but then was forced to flee toIrelandwhen a fleet he had hired from the Danish settlement in Ireland changed sides. Things were altered by the arrival of a Norwegian fleet under the command of King Magnus III of Norway, also known asMagnus Barefoot,who attacked the Norman forces near the eastern end of theMenai Straits.Earl Hugh of Shrewsbury was killed by an arrow said to have been shot by Magnus himself. The Normans were obliged to evacuate Anglesey altogether leaving Gruffudd, who had returned from Ireland, to take possession the following year. Hugh apparently made an agreement with him and did not again try to recover these lands.
Marriage, death and succession[edit]
Hugh d'Avranches married Ermentrude of Claremont, daughter ofHugh I, Count of Clermont-en-Beauvaisis,by whom he had his son and heir,Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester,though he is known to have also had illegitimate children, including Robert,abbot of Bury St Edmunds,Otuer fitz Count and, less certainly, Geva, wife ofGeoffrey Ridel.[4]
Hugh fell ill and on 13 July 1101 became a monk at his religious foundation of St. Werburgh, dying there four days later on 27 July 1101.[1][3]He was succeeded as Earl of Chester by his son Richard, who married Matilda of Blois, a granddaughter ofWilliam the Conqueror.Both Richard and Matilda died in the disastrous sinking of theWhite Shipin 1120, and the Earldom then passed to Hugh's nephewRanulph le Meschin, Earl of Chester,son of his sister Margaret by her husbandRanulf de Briquessart,Viscount of Bayeux.[3]
Hugh would be remembered for his "gluttony, prodigality and profligacy".[1]His obesity gave rise to his nickname,le Gros(the Fat). He would also posthumously be calledLupus(Wolf) for his savage ferocity in the battle against the Welsh.[citation needed]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^abcdefghCokayne, George E.(1913).The Complete Peerageof England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, extant, extinct or dormant.Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). London: The St. Catherine Press. pp. 164–165.
- ^Douglas, William the Conqueror, p. 381
- ^abcLewis, C. P. (2004). "Avranches, Hugh d', first earl of Chester (d. 1101)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/14056.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
- ^abKeats-Rohan, K.S.B. (1999).Domesday People: A prosopography of persons occurring in English documents, 1066-1166, I. Domesday Book.Woodbridge: The Boydell Press. pp. 258–260.
- ^Cunliffe, Barry W. (2001).The Penguin atlas of British & Irish history.Penguin. p. 72.ISBN978-0-14-100915-5.Retrieved30 December2010.
- ^Anderson, James (1742).A genealogical history of the house of Yvery, in its different branches of Yvery, Luvel, Perceval and Gournay.H. Woodfall. p.87.
- ^Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)..Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 107.
- ^Parry, Thomas(1959)."GRUFFUDD ap CYNAN (c. 1055 - 1137), king of Gwynedd".Dictionary of Welsh Biography.National Library of Wales.