Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester

Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester (1094 – 25 November 1120) was the son of Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester, and his wife, Ermentrude of Clermont.^[1]

Richard d'Avranches
The coat of arms of Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester[citation needed]
Born	1094
Died	25 November 1120
Title	Earl of Chester
Term	1101–1120
Predecessor	Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester
Successor	Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester
Spouse	Matilda de Blois

Early life

Born in 1094, Richard was the son of Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester and 2nd Viscount of Avranches, and his wife, Ermentrude of Clermont.^[1] His father died in 1101^[2] leaving Richard as his heir. Due to his age, a stewardship would have ruled until he was old enough. He probably became Earl of Chester in 1107. Richard married Matilda de Blois daughter of Stephen, Count of Blois and Adela of Normandy,^[3] daughter of William the Conqueror.^[4]

Military career

At the age of twenty, in 1114, Richard was on a military campaign and was styled the Earl of Chester. Together with King Alexander of Scotland, he led an Anglo-Norman army into Gwynedd as part of a three-pronged campaign organised by Henry I of England against Gwynedd, and Gruffudd ap Cynan. Gruffudd, rather than risk battle, satisfied the King with an oath of homage and a suitable fine. The campaign soon fizzled out, and Richard returned to Chester.

White Ship

The line of the d'Avranches as Earls of Chester failed when Richard, his wife, and his illegitimate half-brother Ottuel, joined the young William Adelin, heir to the English king Henry I aboard the doomed White Ship, which sank in 1120. The captain, unwisely, chose to race out of the harbour.^[5] The ship struck a submerged rocky embankment, capsized and sank.^[6] Richard, aged twenty-six,^[7] his wife Matilda, and half-brother Ottuel all drowned.^[8]

The earldom then passed through his father Hugh's sister Maud to Richard's first cousin Ranulph I, in 1121, because Hugh had no other suitable male heirs.