Sixth Earl of Chester. Married again after Constance, but left no heirs; all estates passed to his four sisters. Earl of Richmond, Lincoln. Also Vicomte de Bayeux and Vicomte d’Avranches.
295Sided with King John with the barons over Magna Carta. Simon of Montford was a cousin, nephew to Ranulf’s mother Bertrade.
295“Simon also sought his own alliances in the English nobility as claimant to the earldom of Leicester, to which end he attracted the patronage of the aged Ranulf of Chester, premier baron in England. Not the least of Simon’s skills was that of impressing people.”
205Who’s Who in Medieval England says he is the 3rd earl of Chester. Probably means he’s the third Ranulf.
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From Who’s Who in Medieval England:
...One of the old school of Anglo-Norman barons whose loyalty to the Angevin dynasty was consistent but contingent on the receipt of lucrative favors. Bishop Stubbs described him as 'almost the last relic of the great feudal aristocracy of the Conquest" and, however his career is viewed, he was—and thought himself—very grand. Small in physical stature, he was a giant in terms of family relationships and estates, the twin pillars of his ambition and political career. Succeeding to the earldom as a minor in 1181 and attaining majority and control of his estates in Enh=gland and Normandy in 1187, in 1189 he married Constance of Brittany, widow of Henry II's son Geoffrey (d. 1186) and mother of Arthur of Brittany, with whom King John contested the Angevin succession 1199-1202. Although bringing Ranulf control of the honour of Richmond in England as well as the duchy of Brittany, the marriage was not a success, being finally dissolved in 1199. The following year Ranulf cemented his power in Normandy by marrying Clemencia of Fougères.
Relations with John were initially tentative. Ranulf had opposed John's attempted coup of 1193-4; he retained many contacts with partisans of his former stepson, Arthur; and his second wife's family joined Philip II [of France against John]. SPending most of 1199-1204 in France, Ranulf's continued loyalty was bought by John with continued patronage. But the king was suspicious of Ranulf (as, indeed, he was of most people), perhaps with reason. In the winter of 1204-5, Ranulf, suspected of dealings with the rebellious Welsh and of contemplating revolt himself, had extensive estates temporarily confiscated by the king. The episode demonstrated the limits of independent action even by the most powerful English magnate, which may have persuaded Ranulf that loyalty was good business. Thereafter, Ranulf basked in an uninterrupted flow of royal favours. In return, he fought John's Welsh wars 1209-12; helped secure the peace with the pope in 1213-14; and was with the king in Poitou in 1214. Loyal to John in 1215-16, one of the few barons to witness Magna Carta of 1215 ex parte regis, Ranulf played a leading military role in the civil war by virtue of his extensive estates and numerous castles.
On John's death, Ranulf's influence increased further. Although he stood aside to allow William Marshal to assume the regency for the young Henry III, he put his political weight behind the reissuing of Magna Carta (1216 and 1217); his military experience in defeating the rebels at Lincoln (1217); and his diplomatic skill in negotiating the treaty with Louis of France (1217) and peace with the Welsh (1217/8). His rewards from the government he partly ran were immense, including the earldom of Lincoln, a clutch of sheriffdoms and estates in the north, East Midlands, and East Anglia. In 1218, his decision to honour the Crusade vow he had taken in 1215 may point to a genuine piety beyond that of the customary ecclesiastical patronage expected of the great. It may also reflect a degree of thwarted ambition: relations with the regent were not always easy.
In the East, Ranulf played a leading role in the Fifth Crusade's siege and occupation of Damietta (1218-19). On the Crusade's failure, he returned to England in 1220, to find William Marshal dead and the government in the hands of HUbert de Burgh. Ranulf was not alone in finding the shoals of faction difficult to navigate in 1220-1224 as tensions grew between government officials and old John loyalists. These flared into open conflict in the winter of 1223-4 when Ranulf, among others briefly tried to resist de Burgh's policy of resumption of sheriffdoms and royal castles.
Ranulf's final years saw him acting as an elder statesman, witnessing the 1225 re-issue of Magna Carta; playing a prominent role in the dispute in 1227 over Forest Laws; and, as a veteran, leading Henry III's army on the ill-fated POitou expedition of 1230-1. He never lost sight of his private advantage. In 1220, some of his estates avoided the carucage; the 1225 Aid was not levied in Cheshire; and in 1229, he successfully resisted the ecclesiastical tax collector. It may have been a sign of age and declining influence that he failed to stop the levy of the 1232 Fortieth on his lands. The whole of Ranulf's career had been determined by the maintenance and acquisition of rights and property. It must therefor have been galling that he had no heir, on his death his estates being divided between his four sisters. Ranulf's political career reinforces the folly of historical periodisation. Knighted by Henry II, with estates on both sides of the Channel, Ranulf cut a European figure after 1204, on Crusade 1218-20 and on two campaigns in Poitou, 1214 and 1230-1. A witness to all first four issues of Magna Carta, he had little thought of running his estates according to new constraints of political or legal behaviour. Historians seeks the origins of change: in Ranulf III of Chester they have a good example of the tenacity of tradition.
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