Vol II File 18: The Paternal Ancestry of Homer Beers James

Hosted websites will become read-only beginning in early 2024. At that time, all logins will be disabled, but hosted sites will remain on RootsWeb as static content. Website owners wishing to maintain their sites must migrate to a different hosting provider before 2024 (More info)

27. Meschines - Keveliok Line

1. Ralph de Meschines, married Maud de Abrincis, co-heir or her brother, Hugh Lupus, 1st Earl of Chester. See the lineage of the Abrincis Family above in Vol II. They had the following children:

1. Ranulph de Meschines. See below.
2. William, of Coupland.
3. Geoffrey, of Gillesland.

2. Ranulph or Randle de Meschines, surnamed de Bricasard, Viscount Bayeux, in Normandy (son of Ralph de Meschines, by Maud, his wife, co-heir of her brother, Hugh Lupus, the celebrated Earl of Chester), was given by King Henry I., the Earldom of Chester, at the decease of his first cousin, Richard de Abrincis, 2nd Earl of Chester, of that family (See Abrincis Line), without issue. By some of the historians he is styled Earl of Carlisle, from residing in that city; and they further state, that he came over in the train of the Conqueror, assisted in the subjugation of England, and shared, of course, in the spoil of the Conquest. He was lord of Cumberland and Carlisle, by descent from his father, but having enfeoffed his two brothers, William, of Coupland, and Geoffrey, of Gillesland, in a large portion thereof, he exchanged the Earldom of Cumberland for that of Chester, on condition that those whom he had settled there, should hold their lands of the king, in capite. He married Lucia Romara, widow of Roger de Romara, Earl of Lincoln, and daughter of Algar, the Saxon, Earl of Mercia. They had the following children:

1. Ranulph de Meschines, his successor. See below.
2. William de Meschines.
3. Alice (Adeliza) Meschines, married Richard Fitz-Gilbert, ancestor of the old Earls of Clare. See continuation elsewhere.
4. Agnes Meschines, married Robert de Grantmesnil (Grentemaisnel).

The earl died in 1128, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Ranulph.

3. Ranulph de Meschines (surnamed de Gernons, from being born in Gernon Castle, in Normandy), 2nd Earl of Chester, who was a leading military character, took an active part with the Empress Maud, and the young Prince Henry, against King Stephen, in the early part of the contest, and having defeated the king, and made him prisoner at the battle of Lincoln, committed him to the castle of Bristol. He subsequently, however, sided with the king, and finally, distrusted by all, died, under excommunication, in 1155, supposed to have been poisoned by William Peverell, Lord of Nottingham, who, being suspected of the crime, is said to have turned monk, to avoid its punishment. The earl married Maud, daughter of Robert, surnamed the Consul, Earl of Gloucester, natural son of King Henry I., and they had three children as follows:

1. Hugh (Keveliok)de Meschines, his successor. See below.
2. Richard de Meschines.
3. Beatrix Meschines.
4. Hugh (Keveliok) de Meschines, surnamed from the place of his birth, in Merionethshire, was the 3rd Earl of Chester. He joined in the rebellion of the Earl of Leicester and the King of Scots, against King Henry II., and in support of that monarch's son, Prince Henry's pretensions to the crown. In which proceeding he was taken prisoner, with the Earl of Leicester, at Alnwick, but obtained his freedom soon afterwards, upon the king's reconciliation with the young prince. Again, however, hoisting the banner of revolt, both in England and in Normandy, with as little success. he was again seized, and then detained a prisoner for some years. He eventually, however, obtained his liberty and restoration of his lands, when public tranquillity became completely re-established some time about the 23rd year of the king's reign. He married Bertred of Evereux, daughter of Simon, Earl of Evereux, in Normandy, and they had the following children:
- 1. Ranulph (Randle)Keveliok, his successor, surnamed Blundevil (or rather Blandevil, from the place of his birth, the town of Album Monasterium, modern Oswestry, in Powys), 4th Earl of Chester, was made a knight, in 1188, by King Henry II., and the same monarch bestowed upon him in marriage, Constance, Countess of Brittany, daughter and heiress of Conan, Earl of Brittany, and widow of King Henry's son, Geoffrey, with the whole of Brittany, and the Earldom of Richmond. He eventually divorced Constance, and married instead Clementia, sister of Geoffrey de Filgiers, widow of Alan de Dinnan, and niece of William de Humet, Constable of Normandy, with whom he acquired not only a large accession of landed property in France, but some extensive manors in England. In the 6th year of King John, he had a grant from the crown of all the lands belonging to the honor of Richmond, in Richmondshire, excepting a small portion, which the king retained in his own hands. This lord never having had issue, his great possession devolved, upon his death, upon his nephews and sisters
- 2. Maud Keveliok, married David, Earl of Huntingdon, brother of William, King of Scotland, and had one son and three daughters as follows:
  - 1. John, surnamed Le Scot, who succeeded to the Earldom of Chester, d.s.p. June 7, 1237. He inherited from his uncle, Ranulph, the whole country palatine, and the advowson of the priory of Coventry. He married ???
  - 2. Margaret Keveliok, married Alan de Galloway, and had a daughter:
    - 1. Devorguill, married John de Baliol, and was mother of John Baliol, declared King of Scotland, in the reign of King Edward I.
  - 3. Isabel
  - 4. Maud
- 3. Mabel Keveliok, married William de Albini, Earl of Arundel. Hugh de Albany, Earl of Arundel, son of Mabel and William, inherited from his late uncle, Ranulph, Coventry, as his chief seat, with the manors of Campden, in Gloucestershire; Diney, in Buchinghamshire; and Ledes, in Yorkshire.
- 4. Agnes Keveliok, Countess of Derby, married William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby. She and her husband had the castle and manor of Chartley, in Staffordshire, and inherited from her late brother all the lands which lay between the rivers Ribble and Merse, together with a manor in Northamptonshire, and another in Lincolnshire.
  5, Hawise Keveliok, married Robert de Quincy, son of Saier de Quincy, Earl of Winchester. See below.
  
  The earl had another daughter, Amicia, whose legitimacy is questionable. She married Ralph de Mesnilwarin, Justice of Chester. He died at Leeke, in Staffordshire, in 1131, and was succeeded by his only son, Ranulph (Randle) de Mesnilwarin.
- 5. Hawise Keveliok, married Robert de Quincy, son of Saier de Quincy, Earl of Winchester. She and her husband had the castle and manor of Bolingbroke, co. Lincoln, and other large estates in that shire. Her brother granted to her, in her lifetime, the Earldom of Lincoln, in order that she might become countess thereof, and that her heirs might also enjoy it. Which grant seems to have been confirmed by the crown so far, that at her ladyship's desire, the king conferred the dignity of Earl of Lincoln upon John Lacy, Constable of Chester, and the heirs of his body, by Margaret de Quincy, daughter of Lady Hawise and her husband, Robert de Quincy. John Lacy was married to Margaret de Quincy.
  
  See the continuation of this lineage in the Quincy Line.

28. Montfort Line to Simon de Montfort (Earl of Leicester)

1. Robert, King of France had an illegitimate son, Almaric.

2. Almaric, who had the town of Montfort by gift of his royal father, and thence assumed the surname of Montfort.

3. Simon de Montfort

4. Almaric, Earl of Montfort, father of Simon.

5. Simon de Montfort, surnamed the Bald, great grandson of Almaric, the illegitimate son of Robert, King of France. This Simon married Amicia Bellemont (Beaumont), one of the two sisters and co-heirs of Robert de Bellemont, or Beaumont, surnamed Fitz-Parnel, 4th and last Earl of Leicester of that family, obtained a grant of the Earldom of Leicester from King John, with a confirmation of the Stewardship of England, which he acquired by the possession of the honor of Hinkley, a portion of the immense fortune of his wife. But notwithstanding these marks of royal favor, the earl, within a brief period, revolted from the King of England to the King of France, for which act of treason the Earldom of Leicester was transferred to Ranulph, Earl of Chester, the honors of Hinkley seized upon the by the crown, and De Montfort himself banished the realm. Soon after this in 1209 we find him, under the title of Earl of Montfort, General of the crusade against the Albigenes, and in nine years subsequently a leader in the besieging army of King Louis of France, before the walls of Toulouse, where he was slain by a slinger from the battlements. He had two sons by the co-heiress of Beaumont, as follows:

1. Almaric de Montfort, Earl of Montfort, in France, and Constable of France.
2. Simon de Montfort. See below.

6. Simon de Montfort, the younger son, is said to have sought an asylum in England from the hostility of Blanche, the Queen of France, and to have obtained a restitution of the Earldom of Leicester and Stewardship of England, from King Henry III., through the petition of his brother, Almaric, then Earl of Montfort, and Constable of France. Certain it is, however, that in 1232, the 16th year of Henry III.), he bore the title of Earl of Leicester, and had obtained a grant of all his mother's inheritance in England from his brother. In 1236, he officiated at the nuptials of Henry III., and held the ewer in which the king washed. And in two years afterwards he obtained the hand of the King Henry III.'s sister, Eleanor Plantaganet, daughter of John, Lackland, King of England, and his wife, Isabella of Angouleme, and widow of William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke; the marriage ceremony being performed by Walter, one of the royal chaplains at Westminster. This marriage was, however, opposed by the princess's other brother, Richard, Earl of Cornwall (afterwards King of the Romans), and the kingdom at large, because the lady had made in her widowhood a vow of chastity, in the presence of Edmund, Archbishop of Canterbury, and several of the nobility. And so strongly did public discontent manifest itself, that the earl was obliged to repair in person to Rome for the purpose of obtaining a dispensation, which with considerable difficulty he at length accomplished; and returning to England was most graciously received at court by the king, who appointed him his chief counselor. Not withstanding this, however, William de Abindon, a Dominican friar, and many other of the clergy, continued to exclaim against the marriage. The birth of Prince Edward, the king's eldest son, occurring soon after, the earl was chosen one of the sponsors of the royal infant. But before the close of the same year, he experienced the caprice of royal favor. The king observing him and his countess among the nobility that attended the queen at her purification, called him an excommunicated person, and prohibited his entering the church. "Which sudden unkindness," says Dugdale, "much dismaying him, he went away by water to Winchester House, which (the bishop being dead), the king had lent to him. But there he could not be permitted to stay, the king in great wrath causing him to be put out of doors. Whereupon he returned sorrowing and weeping, yet could not appease his anger, the king plainly telling him, that he had abused his sister before marriage; and that, though he afterwards gave her to him for a wife, it was unwillingly, and to avoid scandal. Upbraiding him, that to ratify this his unlawful marriage, he went to Rome, and there corrupted that court with large bribes and promises; adding that, having failed in payment of the money, he ought justly to be excommunicated." This storm ultimately drove his lordship from the kingdom, but only for a short period, as we find him returning in 1240, and having then an honorable reception from the king and all the court. Soon after this he made a journey to Jerusalem, having previously disposed of one of his woods to the knights hospitallers and canons of Leicester for somewhat less than 1000 pounds to defray part of the necessary expenses of the undertaking. Henceforward he appears for a series of years to have enjoyed high favor of the king, and to have fully merited it by his eminent services. In the 32nd year of Henry III., he was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces in Gascony, and in the end of that year he sat in the great convention of parliament held at London; about which time he obtained from the king a grant of the custody of Kenilworth Castle, for Eleanor, his wife, to hold during her life; and returning into Gascony, he forced Gauston de Bearne, who had raised the standard of rebellion, to an honorable truce. The earl came back to England the next year, and was received at court with great honor. Soon after which, in fulfillment of a vow he made as penance for his marriage, he began a journey to the Holy Land, and in the 34th year of the same reign returned safely, with his brother-in-law, Richard, Earl of Cornwall, and others. For the two following years he was actively and victoriously employed in Gascony, until the king hearkening to complaints against him for cruelty and oppression, which appear to be unsubstantiated, removed him from the seneschalship of the country. Upon the subsequent insurrection of the barons against the king, the Earl of Leicester, siding with the former, was appointed their general-in-chief, in which character he fought the great battle of Lewes, where the royal army sustained so signal a defeat, the king himself being made prisoner with Prince Edward, his son; his brother, Richard, King of the Romans, and many other personages of eminence, attached to his cause. This victory placing the government in the hands of the earl and his adherents; himself, the Bishop of Chichester, the Earl of Gloucester, and a few others of less note, were nominated to discharge the executive functions. One of the earliest acts of the usurpation was to summon a parliament in the king's name, by writs dated December 24, in the 49th year of Henry III., directed to the bishops and abbots, and to such lay lords as could be relied upon; by which, signifying "the realm to be then in peace and quiet, and the desire of the king to establish the same to the honor of God, and benefit of his people;" they were summoned to meet in London, on the octaves of St. Hilary, there to sit in parliament, "to treat and give their advise." At the same time precepts were issued to the sheriff, ordering them to return two knights for each county; to the cities and boroughs the like number of citizens and burgesses; and to the barons of the Cinque Ports, a certain number of their discreetest men for the same purpose. This is deemed the first precedent of a parliament, such as ever since has been established, and Sir William Dugdale thus speculates upon the causes of the revolution: - "If I may be so bold as to give my opinion, what reasons these potent rebels then had, thus to alter the former ancient usage, I shall take leave to conjecture, that it was, because they discerning what great retinues the nobility and other great men in those elder times had; as also the great number of the king's tenants in capite, then called barons minores, it might have proved dangerous to themselves to permit such a multitude to come together." The new government did not , however, endure long for a breach taking place between the two chiefs, Leicester and Gloucester, the arms of those powerful persons were directed against each other, and Prince Edward effecting his escape about the same time, the Earl of Gloucester reared the royal standard, and formed a junction with the forces of the prince. With this army, marching towards Kenilworth, they surprised the young Simon de Montfort, the earl's son, and made prisoners of no less than thirteen of his chief adherents, almost without resistance. Elated with this triumph they proceeded to Evesham, where the Earl of Leicester and his great force lay, expecting the arrival of his son, whose banners the royal army as a stratagem of war alone displayed, and thereby completely deceived this able commander. His lordship undismayed, however, drew out his army in order of battle, and fighting gallantly to the last, fell in the midst of his enemies, when victory declared for the royal cause. It was said, that when the earl discerned the superiority and disposition of the royalist forces he swore "by the arm of St. James (his usual exclamation), they have done discreetly; but this they learned from me: let us therefore commend our souls to God, because our bodies are theirs." Nevertheless, encouraging his men, he told them, "it was for the laws of the land, yea, the course of God and justice, that they were to fight." The principal persons slain in the memorable engagement were, the Earl himself; Henry de Montfort, his eldest son; Hugh Le Despencer, the Justice of England; Ralph Basset, of Drayton, and about one hundred and sixty knights, and many other gentlemen of his party. Among the prisoners, were Guy de Montfort, a younger son of the earl; John Fitz-John, Humphrey de Bohun, the younger; John de Vesci, Peter de Montfort, Junior; and Nicholas de Segrave. Thus fell, in 1264, Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester; one of the most eminent soldiers and statesmen of the period in which he lived, and under his attainder, the earldom was extinct. Of his widow, Eleanor, the king's sister, it is stated, that after the fatal battle of Evesham, she fled into France, and retired to a nunnery at Montarges, which had been founded by her husband's sister. They had the following children:

1. Henry de Montfort, fell at Evesham, leading the van of the baronial army.
2. Simon de Montfort, who for some time gallantly defended the castle of Kenilworth, was eventually made prisoner in the Isle of Ely, by Prince Edward; afterwards effecting his escape he fled into France, and in 1270, being at Viterbuirm, in Italy, he joined with his brother, Guy, in the murder of their cousin, Henry, eldest son of Richard, King of the Romans, in the church of St. Silvester, as the prince assisted at mass.
3. Guy de Montfort, fought in the van of the baronial army at Evesham, and being made prisoner, was confined in Dover Castle, from which escaping, he fled into Tuscany, and there acquiring a high reputation as a soldier, he obtained the daughter and heiress of the Earl Rufus for his wife.
4. Almaric de Montfort, who, when conveying his sister from France to be married to Llewellyn, Prince of Wales, was taken prisoner, with her at sea, and suffered a long imprisonment.
5. Eleanor Montfort was born about Michaelmas, 1252, at Kenilworth, who married by proxy, early in 1275, and in person at Worcester, October 13, 1278, Llewellyn ap Griffith, Prince of North Wales. By Llewellyn ap Griffith, who was slain December 10, in the 8th year of Edward I., 1282, she had two daughters as follows:
- 1. Catherine Llewellyn, heiress of the monarchs of North Wales, married Philip ap Ivor, Lord of Cardigan.
- 2. Gwenllian Llewellyn, a nun.