Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester
Ranulf de Blondeville | |
|---|---|
| Earl of Chester | |
SIGILLUM RANULFI COMITIS CESTRIE ET LINCOLNIE ("Seal of Ranulf Count of Chester and of Lincoln"). His arms of a "garb of wheat" are visible on his shield and on his horse's caparison, and became common as "arms of patronage" borne by the later Cheshire gentry (see e.g. "Scrope v Grosvenor'). | |
| Tenure | 1181–1232 |
| Predecessor | Hugh of Cyfeiliog, 5th Earl of Chester |
| Successor | Matilda of Chester, Countess of Salisbury (suo jure) |
| Born | 1170 Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales |
| Died | 26 October 1232 (aged 61–62) Wallingford, Berkshire, England |
| Buried | Chester Abbey, Chester |
| Spouses | Constance of Brittany (annulled 1199) Clemence de Fougères |
| Parents | Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester Bertrade of Évreux |
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester and 1st Earl of Lincoln (1170 – 26 October 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 has been described as "almost the last relic of the great feudal aristocracy of the Conquest".