Hugh d'Avranches

Hugh d'Avranches
Plaque commemorating Hugh d'Avranches in Avranches, Normandy.
Born	c. 1047
Died	27 July 1101
Resting place	St Werburgh's Abbey, Chester
Other names	le Gros (the Fat) Lupus (Wolf)
Title	Earl of Chester (2nd creation)
Term	1071–1101
Predecessor	Gerbod the Fleming, 1st Earl of Chester (1st creation).
Successor	Richard d'Avranches
Spouse(s)	Ermentrude of Claremont
Children	Richard d'Avranches Matilda d'Avranches (Further details)
Parent(s)	Richard le Goz

Hugh d'Avranches (c. 1047 – 27 July 1101), also known as Hugh the Fat (French: Hugues le Gros) or Hugh the Wolf (Latin: Hugo Lupus), was the second Norman earl of Chester (2nd creation) and one of the great magnates of early Norman England.

Hugh d'Avranches was born around 1047 as the son of Richard le Goz, Viscount of Avranches. His mother was previously identified as Emma de Conteville; however, C.P. Lewis, author of Hugh's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, states that the identification was made 'on the basis of unsatisfactory evidence' and that his mother is unknown.

Hugh inherited from his father large estates, not just in the Avranchin but scattered throughout western Normandy. The Avranchin is located on the Cotentin Peninsula of northern France, just east of Mont-Saint-Michel; it is among the areas unlawfully granted under the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte to Normandy by the Kingdom of France that had previously belonged to the Duchy of Brittany.

Hugh became an important councillor of William, Duke of Normandy. His father contributed sixty ships to William's invasion of England, and he may have been present on Senlac Hill in 1066, although there is no evidence of this. His father remained in Normandy, both to protect the duchy and because he was ill, so Hugh may have been his representative at Hastings.

Hugh was given the command of Tutbury Castle in Staffordshire after Duke William became William I of England. In 1071, Gerbod the Fleming, 1st Earl of Chester was taken prisoner at the Battle of Cassel in France. Taking advantage of the circumstances, the king declared his title vacant, giving Hugh the Earldom (of the second creation). The new Earl was also given palatine powers in view of Cheshire's strategic location on the Welsh Marches. On Hugh's promotion, Tutbury and its surrounding lands were passed to the Norman Knight, Henry de Ferrers, who had also fought with William at the Battle of Hastings. In 1082, Hugh succeeded to the title of Vicomte d'Avranches.