Earl of Chester

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Earl of Chester

The Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England. Since 1301 the title has generally been given to heirs-apparent to the English throne, and from the late 14th century it has been given only in conjunction with that of Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the Heir Apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom . The current Prince of Wales is Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom....
.

hire belonged to the powerful Earls of Chester from the late eleventh century, and they held land all over England called 'the honour of Chester'.

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Prince of Wales

Traditional power base

Cheshire belonged to the powerful Earls of Chester from the late eleventh century, and they held land all over England called 'the honour of Chester'. By the late twelfth century they had established a position of power as rulers of Cheshire that formed the basis of the later notion of the 'county palatine'.

Royal title

The earldom reverted to the Crown in 1237 on the death of John the Scot, Earl of Huntingdon, seventh and last of the Earls. It was annexed to the Crown in 1246. King Henry III

Henry III of England

Henry III was the son and successor of John of England as King of England, reigning for fifty-six years from 1216 to his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester....
then passed the Lordship of Chester, but not the title of Earl, to his son the Lord Edward in 1254, and as King Edward I

Edward I of England

Edward I , popularly known as Longshanks, the English Justinian, and the Hammer of the Scots , was a House of Plantagenet King of England who achieved historical fame by conquering large parts of Wales and almost succeeding in doing the same to Scotland....
he conferred the title and the lands of the Earldom first on son, Edward, the first English Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the Heir Apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom . The current Prince of Wales is Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom....
. By that time the Earldom of Chester consisted of two counties: Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a Counties of England in North West England. The county town, and the location of the county council, is the City status in the United Kingdom of Chester, although Cheshire's largest town in terms of area and population is Warrington....
and Flintshire

Flintshire (historic)

Flintshire is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales and a former administrative county of Wales, which mostly lay on the north-east coast of Wales....
.

The establishment of royal control at Chester made possible King Edward I's conquest of north Wales

North Wales

File:North Wales .pngNorth Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales, bordered to the south by Mid Wales and to the east by England....
, and Chester

Chester

Chester is the county town of Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, Wales, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider local government district of the Chester , which had a population of 118,210 according to the United Kingdom Census 2001....
played a vital part as a supply base during the Welsh Wars (1275-84), so the separate organisation of a county palatine was preserved. This continued until the time of King Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lordship of Ireland and claimant to the Early Modern France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII of England....
. Since 1301 the Earldom of Chester has always been conferred on the Princes of Wales.

Briefly promoted to a principality

Principality

A principality is a monarchy feudatory or sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a monarch with the title of prince or princess, or a monarch with another title within the generic use of the term prince....
in 1398 by King Richard II

Richard II of England

Richard II was the eighth King of England of the House of Plantagenet. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III of England....
, it was reduced to an earldom again in 1399 by King Henry IV

Henry IV of England

Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . Like other kings of England, he also claimed the title of King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence the other name by which he was known, Henry Bolingbroke....
. Whereas the Sovereign's eldest son is born Duke of Cornwall

Duke of Cornwall

The Dukedom of Cornwall was the first dukedom created in the peerage of England.The present Duke of Cornwall is Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, the reigning British monarch ....
he must be made or created Earl of Chester (and Prince of Wales; see the Prince Henry's Charter Case (1611) 1 Bulst 133; 80 ER 827). Prince Charles

Charles, Prince of Wales

The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the eldest child of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, making him heir apparent, equally and separately, to the thrones of Commonwealth realm....
was created Earl of Chester on 26 July 1958, when he was also made Prince of Wales and Earl of Carrick

Earl of Carrick

The Earl of Carrick was the head of a comital lordship of Carrick, Scotland in south-western Scotland. The title emerged in 1186, when Donnchadh, Earl of Carrick, son of Gille Brigte, Lord of Galloway, became Mormaer or Earl of Carrick, Scotland in compensation for exclusion from the whole Lord of Galloway....
.

The independent palatinate jurisdiction of Chester survived until the time of King Henry VIII (1536), when the earldom was brought under the control of the Crown. The palatinate courts of Great Sessions and Exchequer survived until the reforms of 1830.

The importance of the Royal County of Chester is shown by the survival of Chester Herald

Chester Herald

Chester Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an Officer of Arms at the College of Arms in London. The office of Chester Herald dates from the 14th century, and it is reputed that the holder was herald to Edward, Prince of Wales, Edward, the Black Prince....
, in the College of Arms

College of Arms

The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland....
, for some six hundred years. The office, currently held by Timothy Hugh Stewart Duke

Timothy Duke

Timothy Hugh Stewart Duke is an Officer of Arms at the College of Arms in London. Duke began his career as an officer of arms in 1989 when he was appointed Rouge Dragon Pursuivant....
, has anciently been nominally under the jurisdiction of Norroy King of Arms

Norroy and Ulster King of Arms

Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is one of the senior Officer of Arms of the College of Arms, and the junior of the two provincial King of Arms....
.

List of the Earls of Chester

First Creation (1071)

Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester
Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester

Hugh d'Avranches , called the Fat or the Wolf was the first Earl of Chester and one of the great magnates of early Norman England....
(d. 1101)
Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester
Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester

Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester , was the son of Hugh, 1st Earl of Chester and Ermentrude of Clermont....
(1094-1120)
Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester
Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester

Ranulf le Meschin, Ranulf de Briquessart or Ranulf I [Ranulph, Ralph] was a late 11th- and early 12th-century Normans magnate based in northern and central England....
(d. c. 1129)
Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester (d. c. 1153)
Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester (1147-1181)
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester (c. 1172-1232)
John de Scotia, 7th Earl of Chester (c. 1207-1237)

Second Creation (1254)

Edward, Lord of Chester
Edward I of England

Edward I , popularly known as Longshanks, the English Justinian, and the Hammer of the Scots , was a House of Plantagenet King of England who achieved historical fame by conquering large parts of Wales and almost succeeding in doing the same to Scotland....
, but without the title of earl (1239-1307) (became King in 1272)

Third Creation (1264)

Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester
Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester

Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester , was the principal leader of the baronial opposition to King Henry III of England. After the rebellion of 1263-1264, de Montfort became de facto ruler of England and called the De Montfort's Parliament in medieval Europe....
(1208-1265) (forfeit 1265)

(There is no evidence that Alphonso

Alphonso, Earl of Chester

Alphonso was the ninth child of Edward I of England and Eleanor of Castile . During his lifetime, he was first in line to the throne.Alphonso was born at Bayonne, in Gascony, and named after his maternal uncle, King Alfonso X of Castile, who was his godfather....
, elder son of Edward I, was created earl of Chester, although he was styled as such)

Fourth Creation (1301)

Edward of Caernarvon, Earl of Chester
Edward II of England

Edward II, of Caernarfon, was Kingdom of England from 1307 until he was deposition in January 1327. His tendency to ignore his nobility in favour of low-born favourites led to constant political unrest and his eventual deposition....
(1284-1327) (became King in 1307)

Fifth Creation (1312)

Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Chester
Edward III of England

Edward III was one of the most successful List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of Englands of the Britain in the Middle Ages. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II of England, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into the most efficient military power in Europe....
(1312-1377) (became King in 1327)

Thereafter, the Earldom of Chester was created in conjunction with the Principality of Wales. See Prince of Wales
Prince of Wales

Prince of Wales is a title traditionally granted to the Heir Apparent to the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom . The current Prince of Wales is Charles, Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom....
for further Earls of Chester.

Sources

BE Harris, "Administrative History" in CR Elrington (ed), The Victoria County History of Chester (University of London Institute of Historical Research, London, 1979) vol II 1-97