LINCOLN. 89 [After live dentil of those two Earls at one {imp joint Earl*, tlio' both (if them left issue i,thp issue male of the former existing till or after 119S) the Earldom of Lincoln appears to have (opted to the Crown for some (iO years. It was however (•.inferred in 1216 by Louis, the Dauphlin of l-'ranee. when invading England ou Ull.UBRT UK liANl(") who accordingly styled himself KARL OF LINCOLN. He was nephew and heir of the late Karl, being s. ami h. of Robert DK GaNT (br. of the said Karl; by his second wife. Cundreda, da. of Hugh DK GUHSAY, which Gilbert received in London from the said Prince the "sword of the county of Lincoln. "( b ) He wns defeated by the Royal forces at Lincoln, 19 Slay 1217. and kept as a prisoner bv Ids cousin the Earl of Chester, till his deaths iu (1241-42), 26 Hen. ill]. III. 1217, 1. Kundnlpli, .y/y,.,/ " ,h. ghmetoftth," Eahl of' to < 'iikstkh, tii which dignity he had sue. iu 11M on the death of 123 - '. his father, Hugh, Karl of Chester [1153—1161 1, who was s. and h. of liandolph, Karl of Chester [112B-115»j,yr. br. of the half blood, tx parti- maternu of William (DE Roumaiik), Karl ok Lincoln abovenamed, was (soon after the defeat of the rebels at Lincoln, in which he had borne a prominent part', cr. by the young King Henry III., 23 May 1217, | li KARL OK LINCOLN, an Earldom to which he appears to have laid some £ = hereditary claim. () He, shortly before his death, transferred his interest Z"Z therein( e ) as far as such right belonged to him, to Hawi-e de Quincy one of his ss sisters aud coheirs expectant " ul inde Cuinitissa existal." He d. s.p., 28 Oct. 1232, aged above b'O, when all Ins honours lapsed to the Crown. J g ± It is curious that Brooke, uncontradicted by Vincent, makes this Gilbert to be grandson of the first Karl Gilbert " by his son, Gilbert, who was disinherited by King Henry II." Mr. TowUsend follows this version, while Dugdale (ou this occasion more accurate, apparently, than Vincent) gives the pedigree as in the text. ( b ) Roger of Wcndover. C) His grandson aud heir, Gilbert de Gant, was sum. to Pail, as a Baron, 129j, but d. s.p. 1298. ( d ) " Karl Ranulph'a hereditary claim to the Earldom of Lincoln was immediately admitted, for by writ on the 23d of May, the Sheriff was commanded 'quod habere facias dilecto et lideli nostro Rannlpho, Comiti Cestria}, tcrtium deiiarium de Comitalu Lbncolnitc, qui eum contingit jure luereditario ex parte RanulpbJ Comitis, patris sui.' [R»t. Clans., 1 Hen. 111., m. 17.] The word 'patris ■' occurs in this record, but his father's name was Hugh. It was probably his grandfather, Kanulph, that was referred to. A further injunction to the like effect was directed to the same officer from Worcester on the 15th March following 'Rex Yicecomiti Line.,' salntem j l'recipimus tibi quod habere facias dilecto et tideli nostro Ranulpho, Comiti CestrinD et Lincolmic tercium deiiariuin de denariis qui pervenieut de placitis comitatus Lincolnia?, pereipiendum nomine Comitis Lincolniec donee inquisierimus quantum predecessores sui Comitct quondam Lineolmic inde percipere consueveruut nomine Comitis Lincolniie,' &c. [Ibid, 2 Hen. III., m. 9.]" See " Top and Gen.," vol. i, p. 313. (°) This remarkable charter is witnessed (infer olios) by Richard Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, anil must, therefore, be subsequent to August 1231 if not later still. It is printed iu the Coll. Tup. et (jen., vol. vii, p. 130, in the Tap. and Gen., vol. i, p. 313, &e. In it the Karl grants to his dearest sister, Hawise de Quency, " Comitatum Lincolniie scilicet quantum ad me pertinuit, ut inde Comitiisa cxistat." Mr. J. Horace Round suggests that what he really made over was the tcrlius denarius of the county, adding that "at that time belting was essential to an Earl, and no woman would" be made a Countess in her own right tho' her husband might be made an Earl as in the Warwick cases, tho,' of course, all this is very imperfectly known to us and probably the system was constantly undergoing changes." Brooke, after stating that all dignities are derived from the Sovereign, considers it to be " idle and altogether untrue that this gift of Raudoll to his sister could make her a Countess," but is (as usual) contradicted by Vincent, who, after quoting the charter, adds " that the King did no way disallow of it," but it should be noted that tho' the King granted the Earldom of Lincoln to John de Lacy with ike consent of his mother, the said Hawise, he in no way recognised her title thereto as Countess. See p. 90 note "a."
