Monarch Henry II Name Richard Luci Children Godfrey de Luci | Spouse(s) Rohese Succeeded by Ranulf de Glanvill Siblings Walter de Luci | |
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Preceded by Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester Died July 14, 1179, Abbey Wood, London, United Kingdom People also search for Walter de Luci, Godfrey de Luci, Roger fitzReinfrid | ||
The Fall of Humanity
Richard de Luci (1089 – 14 July 1179) (also Richard de Lucy) was first noted as High Sheriff of Essex, after which he was made Chief Justiciar of England.
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Biography
His mother was Aveline, the niece and heiress of William Goth. In the charter for Seez Cathedral in February 1130/31 Henry I refers to Richard de Luci and his mother Aveline. His brother Walter de Luci was abbot of Battle Abbey.
An early reference to the de Luci family refers to the render by Henry I of the Lordship of Dice, Norfolk to Richard de Luci, Governor of Falaise, Normandy, after defending it with great valour and heroic conduct when besieged by Geoffrey, Earl of Anjou.
In 1153–4 de Luci was granted Chipping Ongar, Essex by William, son of King Stephen and his wife, Maud of Boulogne, where he built Ongar Castle. He was appointed Sheriff of both Essex and Hertfordshire for 1156.
When Henry II came to the throne in 1154, de Luci was made Chief Justiciar of England jointly with Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester. When de Beaumont died in 1168, de Luci continued to hold the office in his own right. One of the members of his household was Roger fitzReinfrid, the brother of Walter de Coutances. Roger became a royal judge and later donated land to Lesnes Abbey in Kent, which had been founded by de Luci.
He resigned his office between September 1178 and Easter of 1179, and retired to Lesnes Abbey, where he died and was buried three months later on 14 July 1179.
De Luci's wife, Rohese, who is named in several documents, was a sister of Faramus of Boulogne. Rohese and Faramus were children of William de Boulogne who was the son of Geoffrey fitz Eustace and Beatrice de Mandeville.
De Luci's second son was Godfrey de Luci (d. 1204), Bishop of Winchester. His daughter, Maud, who inherited all his Essex lands, married Walter Fitz Robert; their son was Robert Fitzwalter. Richard also had a son Geoffrey and daughters Aveline wife of Gilbert de Montfichet of Stansted Mountfitchet, Alice wife of Odinel de Umfraville of Prudhoe, Northumberland and Rohese (Rose) who married William de Mounteney and later Michael Capra, both of Mountnessing, Essex.