Earl of Richmond
Encyclopedia
The now-extinct title of Earl of Richmond
Richmondshire
Richmondshire is a local government district of North Yorkshire, England. It covers a large northern area of the Yorkshire Dales including Swaledale and Arkengarthdale, Wensleydale and Coverdale, with the prominent Scots' Dyke and Scotch Corner along the centre. Teesdale lies to the north...

was created many times in the Peerage
Peerage
The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

 of England
Peerage of England
The Peerage of England comprises all peerages created in the Kingdom of England before the Act of Union in 1707. In that year, the Peerages of England and Scotland were replaced by one Peerage of Great Britain....

. The earldom of Richmond was held by various Bretons, Normans, the royal families of Plantagenet, Capet, Savoy, Tudor and Stuart.

History

The title appears to have been in existence in England a considerable time before it was held in accordance with any strict legal principle. Alan Le Roux (c. 1040–1089), was a Breton
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

 relative of Geoffrey of Brittany
Geoffrey I, Duke of Brittany
Geoffrey I of Rennes was duke of Brittany, from 992 to his death. He was son of Duke Conan I and Ermengarde of Anjou, whose parents were Geoffrey I of Anjou and Adele of Meaux....

. He took part in William the Conqueror's invasion of England, and Le Roux obtained grants of land in various parts of England, including manors formerly held by Earl Edwin
Edwin, Earl of Mercia
Edwin was the elder brother of Morcar, Earl of Northumbria, son of Ælfgār, Earl of Mercia and grandson of Leofric, Earl of Mercia. He succeeded to his father's title and responsibilities on Ælfgār's death in 1062...

 in Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

. He built the castle of Richmond
Richmond, North Yorkshire
Richmond is a market town and civil parish on the River Swale in North Yorkshire, England and is the administrative centre of the district of Richmondshire. It is situated on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and serves as the Park's main tourist centre...

 in one of these.

His brother Alan Le Noir, or Niger, (c. 1045–1093), succeeded to these estates on the former's death. Le Noir was in turn succeeded by Stephen (d. 1137), Count of Penthièvre, who was either his son or another brother. These counts were territorial lords of Richmond, and are often reckoned as 'earls of Richmond', though they were not so in the strict later sense.

Stephen's son Alan
Alan de Bretagne, 1st Earl of Richmond
Alan of Penthièvre of Brittany, 1st Earl of Cornwall, 1st Earl of Richmond , Breton Alan Penteur, also known as "Alan the Black", was a Breton noble who fought for Stephen of England...

 (c. 1116–1146), was the first of these lords to be styled 'Earl of Richmond'. This Alan married Bertha, daughter and heiress of Conan of Brittany
Conan III, Duke of Brittany
Conan III of Cornwall or the Fat , was duke of Brittany, from 1112 to his death. He was son of Duke Alan IV and Ermengarde of Anjou....

. Their son Conan
Conan IV, Duke of Brittany
Conan IV of Penthièvre , called "the Young", was duke of Brittany, from 1156 to his death. He was son of Alan the Black, 1st Earl of Richmond and Bertha of Brittany. He was his mother's heir as Duke Conan III...

 (c. 1138–1171) married Margaret of Huntingdon, sister of Malcolm IV of Scotland
Malcolm IV of Scotland
Malcolm IV , nicknamed Virgo, "the Maiden" , King of Scots, was the eldest son of Earl Henry and Ada de Warenne...

. He asserted his right to Brittany, and with it Richmond, and transferred it in his lifetime to his daughter Constance (c. 1162–1201). As he left no sons, Richmond and his other English possessions passed to the king in 1171, though Constance is loosely spoken of as countess of Richmond in her own right.

Constance was three times married, and each of her husbands in turn assumed the title of earl of Richmond, in conjunction with that of Duke of Brittany
Duke of Brittany
The Duchy of Brittany was a medieval tribal and feudal state covering the northwestern peninsula of Europe,bordered by the Alantic Ocean on the west and the English Channel to the north with less definitive borders of the Loire River to the south and Normandy to the east...

. They were: Geoffrey Plantagenet
Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany
Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond was Duke of Brittany between 1181 and 1186, through his marriage with the heiress Constance. Geoffrey was the fourth son of King Henry II of England and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine.-Family:He was a younger maternal half-brother of Marie de...

 (1158–1186), son of Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

; Ranulph de Blondeville
Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester and 1st Earl of Lincoln , known in some references as the 4th Earl of Chester , was one of the "old school" of Anglo-Norman barons whose loyalty to the Angevin dynasty was consistent but contingent on the receipt of lucrative favours...

, Earl of Chester
Earl of Chester
The Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs-apparent to the English throne, and from the late 14th century it has been given only in conjunction with that of Prince of Wales.- Honour of Chester :The...

 (c. 1172–1232), the marriage with whom Constance treated as null on the ground of consanguinity; and Guy de Thouars (d. 1213), who survived his wife for twelve years. The only son of the first marriage, Arthur
Arthur I, Duke of Brittany
Arthur I was Duke of Brittany between 1194 and 1202. He was the posthumous son of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany and Constance, Duchess of Brittany...

 (1187–1203), was styled Earl of Richmond in his mother's lifetime, and on his murder at the hands of his uncle, King John, the earldom was resumed by the crown.

By her third husband Constance had two daughters, the elder of whom, Alice
Alix of Thouars
Alix of Thouars was the nominal Duchess of Brittany from 1203 to her death.- Life :...

, was given in marriage by Philip Augustus of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...

, to Peter de Braine in 1213, after which date Peter was styled Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond, until about 1235, when he renounced his allegiance to England, and consequently suffered forfeiture of his English estates.

In 1241 Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...

 granted the estates of Richmond to Peter of Savoy (1203–1268), uncle of his queen consort, Eleanor of Provence
Eleanor of Provence
Eleanor of Provence was Queen consort of England as the spouse of King Henry III of England from 1236 until his death in 1272....

. Peter was thereafter described as Earl of Richmond by contemporary chroniclers. By his will he left Richmond to his niece, Eleanor, who transferred it to the crown.

In the same year (1268) Henry III granted the earldom specifically to John I, Duke of Brittany
John I, Duke of Brittany
John I the Red , known as John the Red due to the colour of his beard, was Duke of Brittany, from 1237 to his death...

 (1217–1286), son of Peter de Braine, in whose family the title continued, though it was frequently forfeited, or reverted to the crown, and was recreated for the next heir, until 1342, when it was apparently resumed by Edward III
Edward III of England
Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...

, and granted by him to his son John of Gaunt, who then surrendered it in 1372.

The earldom was then given to John de Montfort, Duke of Brittany
John V, Duke of Brittany
John V the Conqueror KG was Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort, from 1345 until his death.-Numbering:...

, but on his death without heirs in 1399, or possibly at an earlier date through forfeiture, it reverted to the crown. The earldom now became claimed by both the Duke of Brittany
Duke of Brittany
The Duchy of Brittany was a medieval tribal and feudal state covering the northwestern peninsula of Europe,bordered by the Alantic Ocean on the west and the English Channel to the north with less definitive borders of the Loire River to the south and Normandy to the east...

 (a pariah in England) and the English appointees.

From 1414 to 1435 the earldom of Richmond was held by John Plantagenet, Duke of Bedford
Duke of Bedford
thumb|right|240px|William Russell, 1st Duke of BedfordDuke of Bedford is a title that has been created five times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1414 in favour of Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of France. He was made Earl of Kendal at the same time...

, and in 1453 it was conferred on Edmund Tudor
Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond
Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond , also known as Edmund of Hadham , was the father of King Henry VII of England and a member of the Tudor family of Penmynydd, North Wales.-Birth and early life:...

, half-brother to King Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...

. When Edmund's son Henry ascended the throne as Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....

 in 1485, the earldom of Richmond merged in the crown, and for the next forty years there was no further grant of the title.

Ludovic Stuart, 2nd Duke of Lennox (1574–1624), who also held other titles in the peerage of Scotland
Peerage of Scotland
The Peerage of Scotland is the division of the British Peerage for those peers created in the Kingdom of Scotland before 1707. With that year's Act of Union, the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England were combined into the Kingdom of Great Britain, and a new Peerage of Great Britain was...

, was created Earl of Richmond in 1613 and Duke of Richmond
Duke of Richmond
The title Duke of Richmond is named after Richmond and its surrounding district of Richmondshire, and has been created several times in the Peerage of England for members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families...

 in 1623. These became extinct at his death in 1624. The earldom was not recreated.

Earls of Richmond, 1st Creation (1136)

  • Alan de Bretagne, 1st Earl of Richmond
    Alan de Bretagne, 1st Earl of Richmond
    Alan of Penthièvre of Brittany, 1st Earl of Cornwall, 1st Earl of Richmond , Breton Alan Penteur, also known as "Alan the Black", was a Breton noble who fought for Stephen of England...

     (d.1146)
  • Conan IV, Duke of Brittany
    Conan IV, Duke of Brittany
    Conan IV of Penthièvre , called "the Young", was duke of Brittany, from 1156 to his death. He was son of Alan the Black, 1st Earl of Richmond and Bertha of Brittany. He was his mother's heir as Duke Conan III...

     (d.1171)
  • Constance, Duchess of Brittany
    Constance, Duchess of Brittany
    Constance of Penthièvre was hereditary Duchess of Brittany between 1171 and 1196...

     (1162–1201)
  • Arthur I, Duke of Brittany
    Arthur I, Duke of Brittany
    Arthur I was Duke of Brittany between 1194 and 1202. He was the posthumous son of Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany and Constance, Duchess of Brittany...

     (1187–1203)
  • on his death, his sister Eleanor
    Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany
    Eleanor the "Fair Maid of Brittany", 5th Countess of Richmond , also known as Damsel of Brittany or Pearl of Brittany for her peerless beauty, was the eldest daughter of Geoffrey Plantagenet and Constance, Duchess of Brittany...

     was considered by some to have succeeded to the Earldom. She died 1241.

Earls of Richmond, 2nd Creation (1219)

  • Peter de Braine, 1st Earl of Richmond (1190–1250), forfeit 1235

Earls of Richmond, 4th Creation (1268)

  • John I, Duke of Brittany
    John I, Duke of Brittany
    John I the Red , known as John the Red due to the colour of his beard, was Duke of Brittany, from 1237 to his death...

     (1217–1286), resigned peerage to his son 1268
  • John of Brittany, 2nd Earl of Richmond
    John II, Duke of Brittany
    John II was Duke of Brittany and Earl of Richmond, from 1286 to his death. He was son of Duke John I and Blanche of Navarre...

     (1239–1305)

Earls of Richmond, 5th Creation (1306)

  • John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond
    John of Brittany, Earl of Richmond
    John of Brittany or Jean de Bretagne 3rd Earl of Richmond, was an English nobleman of Breton origin. He entered royal service under Edward I, and fought in the Scottish Wars. On 15 October 1306 he received his father's title of Earl of Richmond...

     (1266–1334)
  • John III, Duke of Brittany
    John III, Duke of Brittany
    John III the Good was duke of Brittany, from 1312 to his death. He was son of Duke Arthur II and Mary of Limoges, his first wife...

     (1286–1341)

Earls of Richmond, 6th Creation (1341)

  • John de Montfort, 1st Earl of Richmond (1293–1345)

Earls of Richmond, 7th Creation (1342)

  • John of Gaunt, 1st Earl of Richmond
    John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster
    John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster , KG was a member of the House of Plantagenet, the third surviving son of King Edward III of England and Philippa of Hainault...

     (1340–1399, surrendered earldom 1372 in order to pursue his claim to the Crown of Castile
    Crown of Castile
    The Crown of Castile was a medieval and modern state in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accession of the then King Ferdinand III of Castile to the vacant Leonese throne...

    )

Earls of Richmond, 9th Creation (1414)

  • John of Lancaster, Earl of Richmond
    John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford
    John of Lancaster, 1st Duke of Bedford, KG , also known as John Plantagenet, was the third surviving son of King Henry IV of England by Mary de Bohun, and acted as Regent of France for his nephew, King Henry VI....

     (1389–1435)

Earls of Richmond, 10th Creation (1452)

  • Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond
    Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond
    Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond , also known as Edmund of Hadham , was the father of King Henry VII of England and a member of the Tudor family of Penmynydd, North Wales.-Birth and early life:...

     (1430–1456)
  • Henry Tudor, 2nd Earl of Richmond
    Henry VII of England
    Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....

     (1456–1509), deemed forfeit in 1461 by the Yorkists, yet recognised as indisputable heir by Francis II, Duke of Brittany, who surrendered his rights to him and aided his side in the Battle of Bosworth Field
    Battle of Bosworth Field
    The Battle of Bosworth Field was the penultimate battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the House of Lancaster and the House of York that raged across England in the latter half of the 15th century. Fought on 22 August 1485, the battle was won by the Lancastrians...

    , after which became Henry VII. The Honour of Richmond
    Honour of Richmond
    The Honour of Richmond in north-west Yorkshire was granted to Count Alan Rufus by William the Conqueror in 1071AD. The honour, which was assessed for the service of 60 knights, was one of the most important fiefs in Norman England. - Territory :...

     became a personal fief of the Tudor dynasty
    Tudor dynasty
    The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...

    .

Earls of Richmond, 11th Creation (1613)

  • Ludovic Stuart, 2nd Duke of Lennox (1574–1624), created Duke of Richmond
    Duke of Richmond
    The title Duke of Richmond is named after Richmond and its surrounding district of Richmondshire, and has been created several times in the Peerage of England for members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families...

     in 1623

See also

  • Arthur III, Duke of Brittany
    Arthur III, Duke of Brittany
    Arthur III , known as the Justicier and as Arthur de Richemont, was Lord of Parthenay and titular Count of Richmond in England and for eleven months at the very end of his life, Duke of Brittany and Count of Montfort after inheriting those titles upon the death of his nephew.-Biography:Belonging...

  • Duke of Richmond
    Duke of Richmond
    The title Duke of Richmond is named after Richmond and its surrounding district of Richmondshire, and has been created several times in the Peerage of England for members of the royal Tudor and Stuart families...

  • Richmond Herald
    Richmond Herald
    Richmond Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms of the College of Arms in England. From 1421 to 1485 Richmond was a herald to John, Duke of Bedford, George, Duke of Clarence, and Henry, Earl of Richmond, all of whom held the Honour of Richmond...

  • Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland
    Ralph Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland
    Sir Ralph de Neville, 1st Earl of Westmorland, 4th Baron Neville de Raby, Lord of Richmond, Earl Marshal, KG, PC , was an English nobleman of the House of Neville...

  • George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence
    George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence
    George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, 1st Earl of Salisbury, 1st Earl of Warwick, KG was the third son of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, and the brother of kings Edward IV and Richard III. He played an important role in the dynastic struggle known as the Wars of the...

  • White Greyhound of Richmond
    White Greyhound of Richmond
    The White Greyhound of Richmond is one of the Queen's Beasts, a greyhound featured prominently in Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. According to the Cambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society:...

  • Richmond Herald
    Richmond Herald
    Richmond Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms of the College of Arms in England. From 1421 to 1485 Richmond was a herald to John, Duke of Bedford, George, Duke of Clarence, and Henry, Earl of Richmond, all of whom held the Honour of Richmond...

  • House of Lancaster
    House of Lancaster
    The House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...

  • Tudor dynasty
    Tudor dynasty
    The Tudor dynasty or House of Tudor was a European royal house of Welsh origin that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms, including the Lordship of Ireland, later the Kingdom of Ireland, from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch was Henry Tudor, a descendant through his mother of a legitimised...

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