Richard Plantagenêt Earl of Cornwall

  Information about this person:

• Background Information. ¹⁴¹
Richard, 2^nd son of King John, by Isabel, daughter and heir of Aymar Taillefer, Count of Angoulême, was born 5 Jan. 1209; was Constable of Wallingford Castle, 1216; knighted 2 Feb 1224/5 by his brother, Henry III, who a few days afterwards, 13 Feb. 1224/5, granted him, as Richard the King's brother, the county of Cornwall during pleasure. This grant, which resembles that to Henry FitzCount above, can hardly be held to have conferred the Earldom; nevertheless, not long after, viz. 30 May 1227, he is officially styled Earl of Cornwall, and must be assumed to have been invested with the Earldom in or shortly before that year.

Richard was Count of Poitou before 18 Aug. 1225. Lieut. of Guienne, 1226-27; Chief Commissioner for making a truce with France, 1230; Keeper of the Honour of Wallingford, 1230-31; of the Honour of Knaresborough, 1235; took the Cross, 1236; was on an Embassy to the Emperor Friedrich, 1237; Lord of the forest of Dartmoor 1239; Commander in Chief of the Crusaders, 1240-41, when he entered a truce with the Soldan of Babylon. Joint Plenipoteniary to France, and Ambassador to Pope Innocent IV, 1250; Privy Councillor 1253; Joint Guardian of England, 1253-54.

Richard acquired vast estates and great wealth by farming the Mint, the Jews, &c., and doubtless in consequence thereof, was elected, at Frankfort, 13 Jan 1256/7, by the Princes of the Empire, King of the Romans, being crowned 17 May 1257, at Aachen. In Oct. 1259 he was Ambassador to Pope Alexander IV. He was a faithful adherent of the King, his brother, against the rebellious Barons, and both were taken prisoners at the battle of Lewes, 14 May 1264.

Richard married, 1^stly, 30 Mar. 1231, at Fawley, near Marlow, Bucks, Isabel, widow of Gilbert (de Clare), Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, da. of William (Marshal), Earl of Pembroke, by Isabel suo jure Countess of Pembroke, daughter and heir of Richard (de Clare), also Earl of Pembroke. Isabel d. 17 Jan 1239/40, in childbed, at Berkhampstead, of jaundice, and was buried at Beaulieu, Hants, her heart being sent to Tewkesbury Abby.

Richard married, 2n^dly, 23 Nov. 1243, at Westm. Abbey, Sancha, 3^rd daughter and coheir. of Raymond Berengar, Count of Provence, by Beatrice, daughter of Tomaso, Count of Savoy. She, who was crowned Queen (with her husband) 1257, d. 9 Nov 1261, and was buried at Hailes Abbey, co. Gloucester, which her husband had in 1251, founded.

Richard married, 3^rdly, 16 June 1269, Beatrice, daughter of Walram de Fauquemont, Seigneur de Montjoye, by Jutta, daughter of Otto, Count of Ravensburg in Wesphalia.

Richard died at Berkhamstead Castle, Herts, having been bled for ague, 2 Apr 1272, and was buried in Hailes Abbey afsd., aged 63, his heart being sent to Rewley Abbey, Oxon, of which, also he was the founder.

~Cokayne's The Complet Peerage, Vol. III, pp. 430-431

• Web Reference: From Wikipedia: Richard Earl of Cornwall.
Richard, second son of John, King of England, was born 5 January 1209 at Winchester Castle, the second son of King John and Isabella of Angoulême. He was made High Sheriff of Berkshire at the age of only eight, was styled Count of Poitou from 1225 and in the same year, at the age of sixteen, his brother King Henry III gave him Cornwall as a birthday present, making him High Sheriff of Cornwall. Richard's revenues from Cornwall provided him with great wealth, and he became one of the wealthiest men in Europe. Though he campaigned on King Henry's behalf in Poitou and Brittany, and served as Regent three times, relations were often strained between the brothers in the early years of Henry's reign. Richard rebelled against him three times, and had to be bought off with lavish gifts.

• Castle.

Launceston Castle

Richard had a relationship with Joan. ¹²⁴⁴

Richard married Lady Isabella Marshall, daughter of Sir Willam Marshall Knight, Third Earl of Pembroke and Isabella de Clare Countess of Pembroke.¹⁴¹ (Lady Isabella Marshall was born on 9 Oct 1200 in Pembroke Castle, Pembrokeshire, Wales, died on 17 Jan 1240 in Berkhamsted Castle, Hertfordshire, England ¹⁶⁰ and was buried in Beaulieu Abbey, Hampshire.)

Richard next married Sanchia de Provence, daughter of Ramón V Berengar comte de Provence and Beatrix de Savoie. ¹⁴¹(Sanchia de Provence was born circa 1228 in Provence and died on 9 Nov 1261 in Berkhamstead Castle, Behamstead, England.)