John de Lacy
d. 1240
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About
John de Lacy, Constable of Chester and Baron of Pontefract, was one of the twenty-five sureties of Magna Carta and became first Earl of Lincoln in right of his wife Margaret de Quincy - which meant that two surety families shared one earldom. Their daughter Maud married Richard de Clare, stacking a third charter house onto the pile. He died in 1240, an excommunicate rebel turned pillar of the minority government, which was a common enough arc among the twenty-five.
Research notes
✓ DOCUMENTED (web-confirmed 25 Jul 2026; Magna Carta Trust): JOHN DE LACY, 1ST EARL OF LINCOLN, Constable of Chester, Baron of Halton and Pontefract (c.1192-1240) - ONE OF THE TWENTY-FIVE SURETY BARONS OF MAGNA CARTA (1215). Son of Roger de Lacy; m. Margaret de Quincy, in whose right he became Earl of Lincoln 1232. Father of Maud de Lacy (our line, wife of Richard de Clare 5th Earl of Hertford/Gloucester). Direct ancestor - a Magna Carta surety. Added 25 Jul 2026.