The 4th and 6th Earl

Ranulf de Blondeville was the 6th Earl of Chester, but also (sort of) the 4th. The Earldom of Chester was created in 1067 by William the Conqueror and the title given to Gerbod the Fleming, the 1st Earl. He ultimately became a monk after feeling guilt over killing Arnulf III, Count of Flanders. Although Gerbod had children, none of them succeeded as earl.

So in 1071, William created a new Earl, Hugh d'Avranches, who was then called the 1st Earl of Chester. This made him, in the language of such things, the "1st Earl of the Second Creation." Unfortunately for d'Avranches, he and his family were aboard the White Ship, and perished in that disaster, in 1120.

A new earl had to be created, and that was Ranulf le Meschin, both of whose parents were from powerful Norman families and had ties to William the Conqueror's son Henry. He was now the 3rd earl, and the title passed from him to his son and then grandson, and then his great-grandson, Ranulf de Blondeville. Ranulf was therefore the 6th Earl of the Second Creation. Because he was only the fourth in the dynasty begun by Ranulf le Meschin, he was sometimes referred to as the 4th Earl.

Ranulf de Blondeville supported King John and his successor, Henry III, working with William Marshal against the rebellious barons and against the French who invaded during the civil upheaval.

He joined the Fifth Crusade, and was in favor of ending it when the Sultan of Damietta offered them Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem, central Palestine and Galilee if they would just give up attacking Damietta and get out of Egypt. The papal legate leading the Crusade, Pelagius, refused the offer.

Ranulf returned to an England under the control largely of Hubert de Burgh, who was managing things for the young Henry III. Loyal to the person wearing the crown, Ranulph clashed with de Burgh's policies. He was a witness to the re-issuing of Magna Carta in 1225 and led the English army in 1230-31 into Poitou against Philip II. He died on 26 October 1232, about 60 years old.

Because of his sentimental attachment to different places, his remains were divided. He had been briefly made the castellan of Wallingford Castle (the remains of Wallingford are seen above), and his viscera were buried there. His body went to Chester, to be interred in St. Werburg's. His heart was buried at Dieulacres Abbey, which he founded.

He did not have a son to become the 7th (or 5th) Earl, so what happened next? The king did not have to create a new earl, because there was a way around the situation. I'll explain that tomorrow.

Ranulf de Blondeville

Yesterday I mentioned how Roger de Lacy was required, as Constable of Chester, to support Ranulf de Blondeville. Ranulph was his overlord, being the Earl of Chester (the 4th Earl or the 6th Earl, depending on how you counted). He was born in 1170, and became earl on the death of his father when Ranulph was only 11 years old.

He came into his majority in 1188 or 1189, and was knighted. In 1189 he also married Constance, Duchess of Brittany. She had been married to Henry II's son Geoffrey II, who had died in 1186 at 27 years of age. Henry wanted Brittany under his control, so pushed the marriage to one of his vassals. Through this marriage Ranulph also became the Earl of Richmond.

Ranulph styled himself "Duke of Brittany," but he had no real influence there and no one else considered him to be the duke, nor did he spend a lot of time there. When Henry's son Richard was in power, he summoned Constance and her son by Geoffrey, Arthur, to Rouen. Arthur had, however, been quietly taken to the court of Philip II of France, Richard's rival, to be raised with Philip's son Louis VIII. The people of Brittany did not want England dictating their duchess's husband or trying to rule them, especially in absentia. Constance requested a divorce on the grounds of desertion, and got it in 1199.

In 1200 Ranulph married Clemence of Fougères, of a Norman family, to extend his contacts in Normandy. King John was suspicious of him, especially since Ranulph had opposed Prince John's power grab while King Richard was on Crusade, but John overcame concerns about Ranulph by first confiscating his estates and then, after deeming Ranulph had learned his lesson, returning them and showering Ranulph with gifts to further ensure loyalty. Ranulph became a strong supporter of John afterward, supporting him in the First Barons War.

Ranulph was a witness to the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215 and, because he had barons under his earldom, created his own "Magna Carta of Chester" to appease them. (Magna Carta dd not apply to the earldom of Chester, which was a separate feudal domain.)

There was a lot of fighting to come, even after Magna Carta, and I'll go into that and Ranulph's death and his burial in three separate places, but ponder this question between now and next time: how was he either the 4th or the 6th earl?

See you here tomorrow.

Roger de Lacy

Roger de Lacy is one of those people for whom I started this blog: a person not famous enough to be of interest to the Modern Age but who was significant in his time.

Born in 1170 to the Baron of Halton John Fitz Richard and Alice of Essex, he was also known as Roger Fitz John, but also went by Roger de Lisours for a time, hoping he might inherit the de Lisours lands after the current holder (his paternal grandmother) died. She held a barony because of her relationship to its previous owner, Robert de Lacy, the Baron of Pontefract.

Robert de Lacy died in 1193, and Roger agreed to change his name to de Lacy as part of the agreement with his grandmother to give up his desire for the de Lisours lands but inherit the de Lacy-connected Pontefract. This agreement also made him Lord of Bowland and Lord of Blackburnshire. He was also hereditary Constable of Chester.

The problem with Pontefract was that Robert de Lacy had not supported King Henry I in the power struggle with his brother, Robert Curthose. Henry confiscated Pontefract Castle as a result, and Roger had to pay King Richard I 3000 marks for the "Honour of Pontefract"; Roger could live in the castle and take care of it, but its owner was still the Crown.

Roger stayed in England during the Third Crusade, although he was a powerful noble with several lands from which he could draw men to accompany Richard. His father went along, however, and died at the Siege of Acre.

When John became king, Roger was part of the noble escort to bring King William "the Lion" of Scotland to John. John trusted Roger to be commander of Château Gaillard, the fortress built by Richard as a staging point in his quest to re-take lands in Normandy that Philip of France had conquered while Richard was in the Holy land and imprisoned. That put Roger in charge during the siege by Philip, which was discussed yesterday.

de Lacy survived the siege and returned to England, where he worked to reinforce Pontefract Castle. Meanwhile, there was trouble in Wales. The Earl of Chester, Ranulph by name, took a small army into Wales and, finding himself opposed and outnumbered, was besieged in Rhuddlan Castle, whence he sent a message to the Constable of Chester for military support. Roger de Lacy gathered a bunch of minstrels and other sketchy figures and led them to Rhuddlan. It was a very large group, and seeing it approach frightened the Welsh, thinking they were about to face a fierce army. The Welsh fled. Ranulph conferred upon de Lacy the patronage of minstrels, an "honor" which de Lacy gave away to his steward.

Roger de lacy married Maud de Clere and had two children. John de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, and a daughter who married a Scottish lord of Galloway.

So what was Ranulph doing in Wales? Why did he think going there was a good idea? Let's look into his life tomorrow.