Maud of Gloucester, Countess of Chester

Maud of Gloucester
Countess of Chester
Spouse(s)	Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester
Issue
Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester Richard of Chester Beatrice of Chester
Father	Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Mother	Mabel FitzHamon of Gloucester
Born	Unknown
Died	29 July 1190

Maud of Gloucester, Countess of Chester (died 29 July 1190), also known as Maud FitzRobert, was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman, and the daughter of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. Her husband was Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester, whom she allegedly poisoned with the assistance of William Peverel of Nottingham.^[1]

Family

Lady Maud FitzRobert was born on an unknown date, the daughter of Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester and Mabel FitzHamon of Gloucester. She had seven siblings including William Fitz Robert, 2nd Earl of Gloucester and Roger, Bishop of Worcester. She also had an illegitimate half-brother, Richard, Bishop of Bayeux, whom her father sired by Isabel de Douvres.

Her paternal grandparents were King Henry I of England and his mistress, Sybil Corbet. Her maternal grandparents were Robert FitzHamon, Lord of Gloucester and Glamorgan, and Sybil de Montgomery, daughter of Roger de Montgomery, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury and Mabel Talvas of Belleme.

Lincoln Castle where Maud was besieged by the forces of King Stephen in 1141

Marriage and issue

Sometime before 1141, Lady Maud married Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester. She assumed the title of Countess of Chester upon her marriage. Her husband had considerable autonomy in his palatine earldom.

Shortly after their marriage, in January 1141, Maud was besieged at Lincoln Castle by the forces of King Stephen of England. A relief army, loyal to Empress Matilda and led by her father, defeated the King in the fierce fighting which followed, which became known as the First Battle of Lincoln. In return for his help in repelling the King's troops, Maud's father compelled Ranulf to swear fealty to his half-sister Matilda. Ranulf was seized by King Stephen at court in Northampton on 29 August 1146. Stephen later granted him the castle and city of Lincoln sometime after 1151.^[2]

Together Ranulf and Maud had three children:

• Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester (1147- 30 June 1181), married Bertrade de Montfort of Évreux, by whom he had five children, including Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, Maud of Chester, and Hawise of Chester, 1st Countess of Lincoln.
• Richard of Chester (died 1170/1175), buried in Coventry.
• Beatrice of Chester, married Raoul de Malpas
• Ranulf of Chester, fought in the siege of Lisbon, granted with the lordship of Azambuja by Afonso I of Portugal.

Ranulf had an illegitimate son, Robert FitzCount (died before 1166), by an unknown mistress. His date of birth was not recorded. Robert married as her second husband, Agnes FitzNeel.

On 16 December 1153, Maud allegedly poisoned her husband with the assistance of William Peverel of Nottingham. In 1172, she founded Repton Priory in Derbyshire.^[3]

The Rotuli de Dominabus of 1185 records property Wadinton de feodo comitis Cestrie, held by Maud, Countess of Chester.^[2]

Maud died on 29 July 1190. The Annals of Tewkesbury records the death in 1190 of Maud, Countess of Chester.^[2]

Ancestry

References

1. ^ Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Chester 1120-1232 (Family of Ranulf "le Meschin")
2. ^ ^{a b c} Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Chester 1120-1232 (Family of Ranulf "le Meschin")
3. ^ www.thePeerage,com/p.10472.htm#104718

• Charles Cawley, Medieval Lands, Earls of Chester 1120-1232 (Family of Ranulf "le Meschin")
• www.thePeerage.com/p. 10472.htm#104718

Persondata
Name	Chester, Maud Of Gloucester, Countess Of
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Date of birth
Place of birth
Date of death	29 July 1190
Place of death