Ranulf de Gernon, Vicomte de Bessin

Male Abt 1050 - 1129  (~ 79 years)


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  • Name Ranulf de Gernon , Vicomte de Bessin  [1
    Suffix Vicomte de Bessin 
    Born Abt 1050  Bayeux, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Gender Male 
    Died 1129  [2
    Notes 
    • He gained the title of Vicomte de Bayeux [Normandy] in 1089, or 'de la Bessin', of which Bayeux is the capital.

      Ranulf de Briquessart (or Ranulf the Viscount) (died c. 1089 or soon after) was an 11th century Norman magnate and viscount. Ranulf's family were connected to the House of Normandy by marriage, and, besides Odo, bishop of Bayeux, was the most powerful magnate in the Bessin region. He married Margaret, daughter of Richard Goz, viscount of the Avranchin, whose son and successor Hugh d'Avranches became Earl of Chester in England c. 1070.

      Ranulf is probably the "Ranulf the viscount" who witnessed a charter of William, Duke of Normandy, at Caen on 17 June 1066. Ranulf helped preside over a judgement in the curia of King William (as duke) in 1076 in which a disputed mill was awarded to the Abbey of Mont St. Michael. On 14 July 1080 he witnessed a charter to the Abbey of Lessay (in the diocese of Coutances), another in the same year addressed to Remigius de Fécamp bishop of Lincoln in favour of the Abbey of Préaux. and one more in the same period, 1079 x 1082, to the Abbey of St Stephen of Caen. His name is attached to a memorandum in 1085, and on 24 April 1089 he witnessed a confirmation of Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy and Count of Maine to St Mary of Bayeaux, where he appears below his son in the witness list.

      He probably died sometime after this. His son Ranulf le Meschin became ruler of Cumberland and later Earl of Chester. The Durham Liber Vitae, c. 1098 x 1120, shows that his eldest son was one Richard, who died in youth, and that he had another son named William. He also had a daughter called Agnes, who later married Robert de Grandmesnil (died 1136).
    Person ID I1421  Bosdet Genealogy
    Last Modified 16 May 2013 

    Father Ranulph de Gernon, Vicomte de Bessin,   b. Abt 1017, Bayeux, Calvados, Basse-Normandie, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Relationship Natural 
    Mother Aliz de Normandie,   b. Normandy, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Relationship Natural 
    Family ID F602  Group Sheet

    Family Margaret d'Avranches,   b. Abt 1054, Avranches, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married Abt 1069  Avranches, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Children 
     1. Ranulph le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester,   b. Abt 1070, Briquessart, Livry, France Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 17 Jan 1128/29, Chester, Cheshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age ~ 59 years)
    Family ID F1021  Group Sheet

  • Sources 
    1. [S179] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed, G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, (Name: Alan Sutton Publishing; Location: Gloucester, U.K.; Date: 2000;).

    2. [S160] Richard Glanville-Brown, (Location: 2, Milton, Ontario, Canada;).