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DE GLANVILLE Ranulf
Birth: ABT 1120 Stratford St Andrew, Suffolk, England
Death: 1190 Siege of Acre, Palestine
Notes
Justice of Northern Circuit for Henry II
took King William the Lion of Scotland prisoner
this is how name (Ranulf, i.e. Randolph) came into family as it passed via his daughter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranulf_de_Glanvill
Ranulf de Glanvill (alias Glanvil, Glanville, Granville, etc., died 1190) was Chief
Justiciar of England during the reign of King Henry II (1154–89) and was the probable
author of Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Anglie (The Treatise on the
Laws and Customs of the Kingdom of England), the earliest treatise on the laws of
England.[1]
Political and legal career[edit]
He was born c. 1112 at Stratford St Andrew near Saxmundham in Suffolk, but there is
little information about his early life. He is first heard of as Sheriff of Yorkshire,
Warwickshire and Leicestershire from 1163 to 1170 when, along with the majority of
High Sheriffs, he was removed from office for corruption. However, in 1173 he had
been appointed Sheriff of Lancashire and custodian of the honour of Richmond. In
1174, when he was Sheriff of Westmorland, he was one of the English leaders at the
Battle of Alnwick, and it was to him that the king of Scotland, William the Lion,
surrendered. In 1175 he was reappointed Sheriff of Yorkshire, in 1176 he became
justice of the king's court and a justice itinerant in the northern circuit, and in 1180
Chief Justiciar of England.[2] It was with his assistance that Henry II completed his
famous judicial reforms, though many had been carried out before he came into office.
He became the king's right-hand man, and during Henry's frequent absences was in
effect regent of England. In 1176 he was also made custodian of Queen Eleanor, who
was confined to her quarters in Winchester Castle.
After the death of Henry in 1189, Glanvill was removed from his office by Richard I on
17 September 1189[2] and imprisoned until he had paid a ransom, according to one
authority, of £15,000. Shortly after obtaining his freedom he took the cross, and he
died at the siege of Acre in 1190.
He founded two abbeys, both in Suffolk: Butley, for Black Canons, was founded in
1171,[3] and Leiston Abbey, for White Canons, in 1183.[4] He also built a leper
hospital at Somerton, in Norfolk.
Marriage & progeny[edit]
Ranulf married Bertha de Valoignes, daughter of Theobald de Valoignes, lord of the
manor of Parham, Suffolk,[5] by whom he had three daughters:[6]
Maud de Glanvill, who married Sir William de Auberville.[7]
Mabel de Glanville, who married a certain de Arden.[7]
Helewis de Glaville, who married Robert fitz Ralph fitz Ribald.[7]
Tractatus de legibus[edit]
Perhaps at the instigation of Henry II, Glanvill wrote or oversaw the writing of
Tractatus de legibus et consuetudinibus regni Anglie (The Treatise on the Laws and
Customs of the Kingdom of England), a practical discourse on the forms of procedure
in the king's court, which was often known simply as Glanvill.[9] As the source of our
knowledge regarding the earliest form of the curia regis, and for the information it
affords regarding ancient customs and laws, it is of great value to the student of
English history. It is now generally agreed that the work of Glanvill is of earlier date
than the Scottish law book known from its first words as Regiam Majestatem, which
bears a close resemblance to his.
The treatise of Glanvill was first printed in 1554.[10] An English translation, with notes
and introduction by John Beames, was published at London in 1812.[11] A French
version is found in various manuscripts, but has not yet been printed. The treatise was
then edited and translated by G.D.G. Hall for the Oxford University Press 1965.[12]
The Tractatus may in fact have been ghostwritten by Ranulf's nephew Hubert Walter,
the Chief Justiciar and Lord Chancellor of England under Richard I.[13]
Parents
DE GLANVILLE Hervey (ABT 1095 - AFT 1166)
----- Maud (Matilda) ()
Siblings
DE GLANVILLE Ranulf (ABT 1120 - 1190)
DE GLANVILLE William (1133 - )
Marriage To DE VALOINES Bertha (ABT 1125 - AFT 1208)
m.
Notes
Parents
DE VALOINES Theobald (ABT 1090 - AFT 1135)
----- Helewise (ABT 1100 - )
Children by DE VALOINES Bertha ABT 1125 - AFT 1208
DE GLANVILLE Hervey (ABT 1145 - )
DE GLANVILLE Helewisa (ABT 1148 - 1 Mar 1194)
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