Earls of Richmond

The now-extinct title of Earl of Richmond was created many times in the Peerage of England. The earldom of Richmond was initially held by various Breton nobles associated with the Ducal crown of Brittany; sometimes the holder was the Breton Duke himself, including one member of the cadet branch of the French Capetian dynasty. The historical ties between the Ducal crown of Brittany and this English Earldom were maintained ceremonially by the Breton dukes even after England ceased to recognize the Breton Dukes as Earls of England and those dukes rendered homage to the King of France, rather than the English crown. It was then held either by members of the English royal families of Plantagenet and Tudor, or English nobles closely associated with the English crown. It was eventually merged into the English crown during the reign of Henry VII and has been recreated as a Dukedom.

The title Earl of Richmond is associated with the now extinct Earldom, the earlier Lords of Richmond who held the Honour of Richmond, one of the most important fiefs in England, and eventually the Dukes of Richmond. The title Earl evolved from the French-Breton-Norman title Count (Comte) from the times of William the Conqueror.

From their first creation, the Lords and Earls of Richmond were among the "English ruling class" of post-Conquest England as defined by Keats-Rohan as "[those holding fiefs, (the right to collect fees)] held in some relationship in the feudal chain from the king of England, whether the holder be Norman, Breton, Manceau, Poitevin, Fleming or Anglo-Saxon." " In William I's Norman Conquest of England in fact "the regional origin of [the Conquerors] ...was not exclussively Norman, ... and the size of the Breton contingent ..is generally agreed to be the most significant." . Until the late 12th century, all the Earls of Richmond were Breton nobles.

The Earldom of Richmond was frequently associated with the accumulation of great wealth within England.

The title Earl of Richmond was frequently known in the courts of the Kings of France and the Dukes of Brittany as Comte de Richemont or other spelling variations, where in the courts of England and Brittany, French was frequently used.

The Honour of Richmond preceded the Earldom of Richmond. The Honour conveyed, among other things, economic rights to the holder. The Honour of Richmond was reputed to be among the wealthiest in England. It appears to have been in existence in England from 1071 shortly after the Harrying of the North, a military campaign shortly after the date of the Battle of Hastings (1066). This was before the title Earl of Richmond was held in accordance with any strict legal principle. It was initially awarded to Breton nobles from the ducal family of Brittany by the King of England. It represented, among other things, the close association of England and Brittany.

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