Ranulph de Blondeville, 4th Earl of Chester
| Ranulf de Blondeville | |
|---|---|
Azure, a Garb Or
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| Born | 1170 Montgomeryshire, Powys |
| Died | 1232 Wallingford, Berkshire, England |
| Resting place | Chester Abbey, Chester |
| Title | Earl of Chester |
| Term | 1181–1232 |
| Predecessor | Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester |
| Successor | Matilda of Chester, Countess of Salisbury (suo jure) |
| Spouse(s) |
Constance of Brittany (annulled 1199) Clemence de Fougères |
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester and 1st Earl of Lincoln (1170–1232), known in some references as the 4th Earl of Chester (in the second lineage of the title after the original family line was broken after the 2nd Earl), was one of the "old school" of Anglo-Norman barons whose loyalty to the Angevin dynasty was consistent but contingent on the receipt of lucrative favours. He was described as "almost the last relic of the great feudal aristocracy of the Conquest".
Ranulf, born in 1170, was the eldest son of Hugh de Kevelioc and Bertrade de Montfort of Evreux. He was said to have been small in physical stature.
He succeeded to the earldom of Chester (like his father before him) as a minor (aged eleven) and was knighted in 1188 or 1189, which gave him control of his estates in England and Normandy. Although he used, not inconsistently, the style Duke of Brittany, he never had the control of the duchy, and is not known to have played an important role there.
In 1188 or 1189, he was married to the Duchess Constance of Brittany, the widow of Henry II’s son Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, and mother of Arthur of Brittany, with whom King John contested the succession to the crown of England. Richard Coeur de Lion, John's brother, had no known legitimate issue. The King had named Arthur of Brittany as his adopted son and heir to the crown of England. Henry did not envy the Duchess and wanted her married to a magnate whom he could trust. The marriage gave Ranulf control of the earldom of Richmond, but it wasn't a success, and they separated.
In 1196, King Richard I of England nominated the nine-year-old Arthur as his heir, and summoned him and his mother, Duchess Constance, to Normandy. Constance left Nantes and travelled towards Rouen. On the way she was abducted by her estranged husband. Richard, furious, marched to Brittany at the head of an army, intent on rescuing his nephew. Arthur was secretly taken away by his tutor to the French court to be brought up with Louis, son of the French king Philip II. In 1199, Constance escaped from her husband and their marriage was dissolved on the grounds of desertion.
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Wikipedia