Biography
His wife Rohese, who is named in several documents, was a sister of Faramus of Boulogne. When Henry II came to the throne in 1154, he was made Chief Justiciar of England jointly with Robert de Beaumont, Earl of Leicester. 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 Abbey in Kent, where Richard de Luci died and was buried three months later on 14 July 1179.
His brother Walter de Luci was abbot of Battle Abbey. His second son was Godfrey de Luci (d. 1204), Bishop of Winchester.
His mother was Aveline, the niece and heiress of William Goth. In February 1130/31, Henry I in the charter for Séez Cathedral refers to Richard de Luci and his mother Aveline.
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 later became the Sheriff of both Essex and Hertfordshire in 1156.
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, which had been founded by de Luci.
Read more about this topic: Richard De Luci
Famous quotes containing the word biography:
“A great biography should, like the close of a great drama, leave behind it a feeling of serenity. We collect into a small bunch the flowers, the few flowers, which brought sweetness into a life, and present it as an offering to an accomplished destiny. It is the dying refrain of a completed song, the final verse of a finished poem.”
—André Maurois (1885–1967)
“Just how difficult it is to write biography can be reckoned by anybody who sits down and considers just how many people know the real truth about his or her love affairs.”
—Rebecca West (1892–1983)