General Notes

REFN: 7644AN
Alias:<ALIA> /De Gernon/
Vicomte d'Avranches
2nd Earl of Chester
He was the son of Ranulph III le Meschin, first Earl of Chester and Luc
y. In 1141, he married Maud of Gloucester, daughter of Robert de Caen, Ea
rl of Gloucester and Maud Fitz-Hamon. (Wikipedia)
Ranulf defected from the Empress to Stephen in 1145. This was rather surpr
ising as he had extensive estates in Normandy, which was now under the con
trol of Geoffrey of Anjou, husband to the Empress. It was believed he h
ad suffered greatly to Welsh incursions into his lands. He was also se
en as the arch-rebel, as he had precipitated the capture of the king at Li
ncoln. However, on the other hand, Ranulf could exercise his quarrel wi
th David King of Scotland regarding his coveted northern lands. Since 11
41 David had been allied to the Empress, so it is unsurprising that Ranu
lf switched sides. It is probable that Phillip the son of Earl Robert, Ran
ulf’s brother-in-law, may well have acted as an intermediary with the kin
g, as Phillip had defected to the king, standing against his own father. R
anulf came to the king at Stamford, repented his previous crimes and was r
estored to favour in late 1145 or early 1146. Ranulf was allowed to reta
in Lincoln Castle until he could recover his Normandy lands. Ranulf demons
trated his good will by helping Stephen to capture Bedford from Miles de B
eauchamp and by bringing 300 knights to the seige of Wallingford.
Although Ranulf’s support was welcomed by Stephen, it was not so welcom
ed by some of Stephen’s other supporters, whom Ranulf had seized land fro
m. Those magnates especially jealous of Ranulf were William de Clerfeit
h, Gilbert de Gant, Earl Alan of Richmond, William Peverel of Nottingha
m, William d’Aubigny and John Count of Eu. Many of the magnates were alarm
ed when it was discovered that Ranulf wanted the King to take part in a ca
mpaign against the Welsh. His opponents counseled the king that Wales w
as ideal for an ambush, and that the Earl might be planning treachery sin
ce he had offered no hostages or security for his good faith. So far as St
ephen went suspicions never fell on deaf ears, and it gave him the opportu
nity to practise his special technique of the contrived quarrel at cour
t. In this case the quarrel was at Northampton and was provoked by an unna
med advisor who told the Earl that the king would not assist him unle
ss he restored all the property he had taken and delivered hostages for h
is future loyalty. The Earl refused the request, stating that this was n
ot why he had come back to court and he had not been given notice of the m
atter. In the ensuing quarrel he was accused of treason, arrested and impr
isoned in chains until his friends succeeded in coming to terms with the K
ing (28 August 1146). It was then agreed that the earl should be releas
ed provided he surrendered all the royal lands and castles he had seized (
Lincoln included), gave hostages and took a solemn oath not to resist t
he king in future.
Ranulf was understandably angered as he was arrested whilst in the king
’s peace and protection and in contravention of the oath which the king h
ad sworn to him at Stamford. He revolted as soon as he regained his liber
ty having learnt it was useless to try to come to terms with a king who d
id not keep his word. When was set free he “burst into a blind fury of reb
ellion scarcely discriminating between friend or foe”.
When Ranulf made abortive attacks on Coventry and Lincoln (see below) t
he king seized his hostages. The most important of these was Ranulf’s neph
ew Gilbert fitz Richard de Clare, Earl of Hertford whom Stephen refus
ed to release unless he surrendered his castles. Gilbert reacted to th
is in the customary method, agreeing to the condition and then revolti
ng as soon as he was at liberty. This action pushed the Clares into the co
nflict, from which they had previously remained aloof.
One of Ranulf’s