Ranulph de , 3rd Earl of Chester MESCHINES

                   Ranulph de Meschines (surnamed de Gernons, from being born in GernonCastle, in Normandy), Earl of Chester. This nobleman, who was a leadingmilitary character, took an active part with the Empress Maud, and theyoung Prince Henry, against King Stephen, in the early part of thecontest, and having defeated the king and made him prisoner at the battleof Lincoln, committed him to the castle of Bristol. He subsequently,however, sided with the king, and finally, distrusted by all, died underexcommunication in 1155, supposed to have been poisoned by WilliamPeverell, Lord of Nottingham, who being suspected of the crime, is saidto have turned monk to avoid its punishment. The earl m. Maud, dau. ofRobert, surnamed the Consul, Earl of Gloucester, natural son of KingHenry I, and had issue, Hugh, his successor, named Keveliok, from theplace of his birth, in Merionethshire; Richard; Beatrix, m. to Ralph deMalpas. His lordship was s. by his elder son, Hugh (Keveliok), 3rd Earlof Chester. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant and Extinct Peerages, Burke'sPeerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 365, Meschines, Earls of Chester]

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Ranulf II de Gernons, 4th Earl of Chester, VICOMTE (Viscount) DE BAYEUX,VICOMTE D'AVRANCHES, Ranulf also spelled RANDULF, or RALPH (b. c.1100--d. Dec. 16, 1153), a key participant in the English civil war (from1139) between King Stephen and the Holy Roman empress Matilda (also aclaimant to the throne of England). Ranulf, nicknamed 'aux Gernons' (i.e.moustaches), played a prominent and vacillating part in the civil war ofStephen's reign, his actions, in common with most of his peers, springingfrom personal grievances rather than dynastic loyalty or principle.Ranulf's father, Ranulf I, had been granted the earldom of Chester in1121 after his maternal uncle had drowned in the White Ship disaster(1120) but, in return, had been compelled to surrender Cumberland and hispatrimony of Carlisle. The restoration of these lost estates was themainspring of much of Ranulf II's political life. Inheriting the Chesterearldom in 1129, he initially supported Stephen as king after 1135.However, successive treaties between Stephen and King David of Scotlandin 1136 and 1139 gave the Scots large tracts of land in Cumberlandcoveted by Ranulf who reacted by seizing the town and besieging thecastle. Ranulf now allied with the Empress Matilda in defeating the kingat Lincoln in February 1141, capturing and briefly imprisoning Stephen.Ranulf's association with the Angevin party was cemented by his marriagein 1141 to the daughter of Robert of Gloucester. Later (1149) hetransferred his allegiance to the king in return for a grant of the cityand castle of Lincoln. Coventry received its original charter from him.However, his territorial ambitions were no closer realisation as the kingof Scots was also a close ally of Matilda. In 1145, Ranulf was reconciledto Stephen. However, there was no love lost between Ranulf and the king'sentourage, many of whom had suffered at his hands. In August, 1146, atNorthampton, Ranulf was suddenly arrested and put in chains when herefused the king's demand to restore all lands he had taken. He was onlyreleased when he surrendered all former royal property, includingLincoln. Stephen's arrest of Ranulf was a public relations disaster. Hehad broken his oath of reconciliation of 1145 and his own promise ofprotection, thus deterring any more defections from the Angevin faction.Stephen had breached a central tenet of effective medieval rule, that ofbeing a good -- i.e. fair -- lord. Ranulf joined Henry FitzEmpress andwas reconciled with David of Scotland who, in return for the lavish grantto Ranulf of most of Lancashire, retained Carlisle. But Ranulf was nevera party man. His priorities remained centred on his own territorial anddynastic advantage, as shown by his 'conventio' with a leading royalistbaron Robert of Leicester (1149/53). Under this treaty, the two magnates,independently of their rival liege-lords Stephen and Henry FitzEmpress,agreed to limit any hostilities forced between them by their masters andto protect their respective tenurial positions. Ranulf's career,notorious for his arrest in 1146, is more significant as evidence thatthe drama of high politics was played against a dense background ofbaronial competition for rights, lands, and inheritances which tookprecedence over any claims of royalty. [Encyclopædia Britannica CD '97,RANULF DE GERNONS, 4TH EARL OF CHESTER]