Nicknamed “aux Gernons” = “moustaches.”205

Played a prominent and vacillating role in the civil war, motivated by his desire to have lands restored to him. He inherited the earldom in 1129 and initially supported Stephen as king after 1135. But Stephen’s treaties with King David of Scotland gave lands that Ranulf wanted. Ranulf retaliated by seizing Lincoln in 1140. Stephen drove Ranulf from the town the following year. Ranuld then joined Maud in her defeat of Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln in February 1141. He then married the daughter of Robert of Gloucester, Maud’s half-brother and key supporter. But in 1145, Ranulf reconciled with Stephen. But even this did not cool the feud; in August 1146, at Northampton, Ranulf was suddenly arrested and put in chains when he refused Stephen’s demands to surrender all the lands he’d (Ranulf) taken. Ranulf finally surrrendered all royal lands, including Lincoln, to secure his release. But Stephen still turned out the loser: His arrest of Ranulf was a public relations disaster, breaking his own oath of protection and reconciliation. Demonstrating his untrustworthiness, Stephen deterred any additional defections from the Angevin faction.205

Ranulf turned again to the Angevins in 1149 when he joined Henry FitzEmpress and reconciled with David of Scotland, who lavishly granted most of Lancashire to Ranulf. But Ranulf showed his independence and focus on his own interests when he famously entered into a treaty with a leading royalist baron Robert of Leicester (1149/53). The treaty stipulated that neither party would encroach on the other’s lands and that both would respect the other’s existing rights, *regardless of the directives of their liege lords.* The treaty demonstrates the power of the barons, particularly in the north, and the small gap in stature and power between the king and the nobility at the time.205


From “The Early Origins of the Messenger Family:”
Fourth Earl of Chester, also Vicomte de Bayeux and Vicomte D’Avranches. Key participant in the civil war between supporters of Matilda and Stephen. Initially backed Matilda’s claim, then changed allegiances to Stephen in return for lands in Lincoln.295 “Early Origins” calls this earl “de Brequessart de Meschines,” but “Who’s Who in Early Medieval England” shows the the civil war earl as Ranulf II of Chester.205