Richard de Luci (also Richard de Lucy) was first noted as
SheriffA sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of the County of Essex, then he was made Chief
JusticiarIn medieval England and Ireland the Chief Justiciar was roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister as the monarch's chief minister. Similar positions existed on the Continent, particularly in Norman Italy. The term is the English form of the medieval Latin justiciarius or justitiarius In...
of England.
Biography
His wife Rohese, who is named in several documents, was a sister of Faramus of Boulogne. When
Henry IIHenry 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...
came to the throne in 1154, he was made Chief
JusticiarIn medieval England and Ireland the Chief Justiciar was roughly equivalent to a modern Prime Minister as the monarch's chief minister. Similar positions existed on the Continent, particularly in Norman Italy. The term is the English form of the medieval Latin justiciarius or justitiarius In...
of
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
jointly with
Robert de Beaumont, Earl of LeicesterRobert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester was Justiciar of England 1155–1168.The surname "de Beaumont" is given him by genealogists. The only known contemporary surname applied to him is "Robert son of Count Robert"...
. When de Beaumont died in 1168, Richard de Luci continued to hold the office in his own right.
He resigned his office between September 1178 and Easter of 1179, and retired to
Lesnes AbbeyLesnes Abbey is a former abbey, now ruined, in Abbey Wood, in the London Borough of Bexley. It is a scheduled ancient monument and the adjacent park and heath are a Site of Special Scientific Interest...
in
KentKent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, where Richard de Luci died and was buried three months later on 14 July 1179.
His brother Walter de Luci was abbot of
Battle AbbeyBattle Abbey is a partially ruined abbey complex in the small town of Battle in East Sussex, England. The abbey was built on the scene of the Battle of Hastings and dedicated to St...
. His second son was Godfrey de Luci (d. 1204),
Bishop of WinchesterThe Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
.
His mother was Aveline, the niece and heiress of William Goth. In February 1130/31, Henry I in the charter for
Séez CathedralSées Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral, and national monument of France, in Sées in Normandy.It is the seat of the Bishop of Sées....
refers to Richard de Luci and his mother Aveline.
An early reference to the de Luci family refers to the render by
Henry IHenry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
of the Lordship of
DiceA die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
,
NorfolkNorfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
to Richard de Luci, Governor of
FalaiseFalaise is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.-History:The town was the birthplace of William I the Conqueror, first of the Norman Kings of England. The Château de Falaise , which overlooks the town from a high crag, was formerly the seat of...
,
NormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, after defending it with great valour and heroic conduct when besieged by
Geoffrey, Earl of AnjouGeoffrey V , called the Handsome and Plantagenet, was the Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine by inheritance from 1129 and then Duke of Normandy by conquest from 1144...
.
In 1153–4 de Luci was granted
Chipping OngarChipping Ongar is a small market town, and a civil parish called Ongar, in the Epping Forest district of the county of Essex, England. It is located East of Epping, South-East of Harlow and North-West of Brentwood.-Geography:...
, Essex by William, son of King Stephen and his wife,
Maud of BoulogneMatilda I was suo jure Countess of Boulogne. She was also queen consort of England as the wife of King Stephen.-Biography:...
, where be built Ongar Castle. He later became the
SheriffA sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of both
EssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
and
HertfordshireHertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
in 1156.
One of the members of his household was
Roger fitzReinfridRoger fitzReinfrid was a medieval English sheriff and royal justice.Roger was the brother of Walter de Coutances, who was Archbishop of Rouen from 1184 to 1207. Another relative was John of Coutances, who was either the brother of Walter and Roger, or their nephew. John went on to become Bishop of...
, the brother of
Walter de CoutancesWalter de Coutances was a medieval English Bishop of Lincoln and Archbishop of Rouen. He began his royal service in the government of Henry II, serving as a vice-chancellor...
. Roger became a royal judge and later donated land to Lesnes Abbey, which had been founded by de Luci.
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