He 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”.

He was small in physical stature, but was a giant in terms of family relationships and estates.

Marriage to Constance of Brittany He suceeded to his earldom (like his father before him) as a minor (just aged 9) and attaining majority and control of his estates in England and Normandy in 1187. In 1189 (aged 17) he was married to Constance of Brittany, the widow of Henry II’s son Geoffrey, and the mother of Arthur of Brittany, with whom King John contested the Angevin sucession 1199-1202, by Henry II. Henry did not trust the Countess and wanted her married to a magnate he could trust The marriage gave Ranulf the control of the Earldom of Richmond and the Duchy of Brittany, but was not a success and was dissolved in 1199.

In 1196, King Richard nominated the nine year old Arthur has his heir, and summoned him and his mother the Countess Constrance to Normandy. Constance left Nantes and travelled towards Rouen , on the way she was abducted by her second husband Ranulf. Richard furious, marched to Brittany at the head of an army, intent upon rescuing his nephew. The boy however was secretly taken away by his tutor to the French court to be brought up with Phillip’s son Louis.

In 1199 Constance escaped from her husband and their marriage was dissolved on the grounds of desertion.

To King’s John’s death In 1200 Ranulf cemented his power in Normandy by marrying Clemencia of Fougeres. relations with King John were initially tentative. Ranulf had opposed John’s attempted coup of 1193-4; he retained many contacts with partisans of his former stepson Arthur. He spent most of 1199-1204 in France and his continued loyalty was bought by John with further patronage. However the King was suspicious of the Earl (a common occurance) perhaps with some reason. In the winter of 1204-5, Ranulf suspected of dealings with the rebellious Welsh and of contemplating revolt himself, had extensive estates temporarily confiscated by the king. This episode apparently convinced Ranulf that though being one of the most important magnates in the country, loyalty was good business. Thereafter Ranulf basked in an uninterrupted flow of royal favours. In return Ranulf fought John’s Welsh wars 1209-12; helped secure the peace with the pope in 1213-14, and was with the king in Poitou in 1214.

Loyal to the king in 1215-16, he was one of the few magnates to witness the Magna Carta of 1215. He played a leading military role in the civil war by virture of his extensive estates and numerous castles. In fact Ranulf stood with William Marshal and the Earls of Derby and Warwick with the King, whilst the other nobility of the land stood with the enemy for remained aloof from the conflict

The Regency decision On John’s death in 1216, Ranulf’s influence increased further. There was an expectation at Gloucester that Ranulf would contend for the regency, although he later stood aside to allow William Marshal to assume the regency for the young Henry III. In fact events moved quickly at Gloucester, where the Marshal and the young Henry III were, in Ranulf’s absence. The Marshal was put forward and offered the regency by the Nobility and Cleric’s gathered at Gloucester before the arrival of Ranulf. There was concern that Ranulf might object and conflict arise by the decision, but when Ranulf arrived (29th October 1216) he stated that he did not want to be regent, so any potential conflict vanished.

The Campaign of 1217 Ranulf put his polictical weight behind re-issuing the Magna Carta in 1216 and 1217; his military experience was utilised in defeating the rebels at Lincoln in 1217 (see below). In that campaign of 1217 against King Louis of France and the Baronial rebels, Ranulf was based in the north midlands and was charged with stopping the northern barons linking up with King Louis in the south. The Earl chose to combine personal concerns with that of the country by attacking the Earl of Winchester’s castle at Mountsorrel in Leicestershire. It was the castle from which the Earl of Winchester’s predecessors had ousted Ranulf’s grandfather (Ranulf de Gernon). In the event the seige though conducted on personal objectives led to an outcome that was more gratifying to the Marshal. King Louis was persuaded by the Earl of Winchester to sent a relief force to the castle. When they arrived, they found Ranulf and the Royalist force gone. In fact they had headed to Lincoln. The French force took off after them. The Earl had headed to Lincoln to deal with a French force beseiging the castle there. William Marshal with his main army at Northampton also made for the city, and at Lincoln a battle was fought between the Royalist’s headed by William Marshal and Ranulf. The battle went in favour of the Royalists, and they capture forty-six Barons and the Earls of Winchester, Hereford and Lincoln.

 The Fifth Crusade 

In 1218 he decided to honour his crusading vow which he had made three years previously, and he journied eastwards. He met up with the Count of Nevers and the Count of La Marche in Genoa, he was accompanied by the Earls of Derby, Arundel and Winchester. They then sailed on towards Egypt and the Nile. An icy winter in camp was followed by a burning summer which affected the morale of the crusaders greatly. During September 1219, the Sultan wary of the conflict outside Damietta offered the Crusaders a startling offer – Bethlehem, Nazareth, Jerusalem and central Palastine and Galilee, so long as the Crusaders gave up there war in Egypt. Earl Ranulf was one of many voices in support of taking the offer, he was supported by his English peers. However the Bishop Pelagius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the military orders would have none of it. They finally refused the offer and on November 5th they found the walls of Damietta poorly manned, so they attacked and secured the city. When winter came the army was smouldering with discontent. Earl Ranulf left Damietta in September of 1220, with his fellow English Earls, leaving behind an indecisive force under the command of Bishop Pelagius and the Military Orders. Upon the Crusade’s failure he returned to England to find his rival, William Marshal dead and the government in the hands of Hubert de Burgh.

Ranulf’s Final Years Ranulf was not alone in finding the shoals of faction difficult to navigate in 1220-1224, and as tensions grew between government officials and old John loyalists. This flared into open conflict in the winter of 1223-4 when Ranulf among others briefly tried to resist de Burgh’s policy of resumption of sheriffdoms and royal castles.

Ranulf’s final years saw him acting as an elder statesman, witnessing th 1225 re-issue of the Magna Carta, playing a prominent role in the dispute in 1227 over Forest Laws and ,as a veteran, leading Henry III’s army on the ill-fated Poitou expedition of 1230-1. He came to lead the campaign after the death of William Marshal (the younger). He showed vigour and made a thrust into Anjou, but by the end of June a French had reached the Breton border. Ranulf concluded the campaign with a truce with the King of France for three years, to end in 1234.

Ranulf was fairly successful of never losing sight of his own personal advantage. In 1220 some of his estates avoided carucage; in 1225 Aid was not levied in Cheshire; and in 1229 he successfully resisted the ecclesiastical tax collector. His only major failure was not avoiding the 1132 levy of the fortieth on his lands, though this may well be atttributable to old age.

He finally passed away in October 1232, aged 60 years old. His earldom of Lincoln passed to the daughter of one of his sisters, who had married John de Lacy. His own earldom of Chester went to the son of his sister Maud of Chester, John the Scot.