TO HOLD BY THE SWORD

THE 6TH NORMAN EARL OF CHESTER - HUGH DE KEVELIOC

BY PHILLIP E JONES

The eldest son of Ranulph de Gernon, Hugh was reported to have been born at Gyffylliog near Ruthin in North Wales in around 1147 and immediately inherited his father’s title on Ranulph’s death in 1153. As he would have been only 6 or 7 years old at the time of his succession, it was usual practice for such lands and estates to be managed on the minor’s behalf by an authorised guardian appointed by the king. Although it isn’t entirely clear what arrangements were made for the young Hugh Kevelioc, his inheritance of the title seems to have coincided with the reigns of two English monarchs, King Stephen who died in 1154 and his successor King Henry II who succeeded to the throne in the same year. Either one of these monarchs may have acted as a royal guardian for Hugh, until such time as he achieved his majority, but exactly which one is unclear.

By around 1165 Hugh was thought to have reached his majority and become responsible for the extensive lands and estates which had been bequeathed to him by his late father and which made him one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the whole of England. He was reported to have married Bertreda, the daughter of Baron Simon de Montford a leading nobleman of the age and between them had 6 children, Ranulph III, Maud, Mabel, Alice, Hawise and Margaret.

Ranulph III who was surnamed Blundeville, from his association with the market town of Oswestry in Shropshire, was Earl Hugh’s only son and therefore his legal heir. He was known to have married Constance of Brittany, the widow of Geoffrey of Plantagenet and mother to Arthur Plantagenet, a later claimant to the English throne. Hugh’s eldest daughter Maud was reported to have married David of Huntington and his second daughter Mabel, married William D’Aubigny. His third daughter Alice married William de Ferres and his fourth daughter Hawise married Robert de Quincy. Hugh’s youngest daughter, Margaret married John de Lacy, an individual whose successors would be inextricably linked to the Earls of Chester.

In 1163 Henry II was said to have publicly quarrelled with his leading churchman Thomas Beckett, a dispute which reverberated throughout the country and threatened to divide both church and state. The Welsh Princes, Owain Gwynedd and Rhys ap Gruffudd were thought to have taken full advantage of the uneasy situation and launched a rebellion in around 1164 which forced Henry to act against them. By the following year, the king, no doubt accompanied by Earl Hugh II of Chester was said to have launched a military campaign against the Welsh rebels, but was unable to penetrate any further than the town of Rhuddlan. Prevented from forcing a decisive battle on the Welsh and being constantly subjected to ambush and raids, the king and his nobles were eventually forced back to the English side of the border. At around the same time Owain Gwynedd’s rebel forces were reported to have completely razed Basingwerk Castle to the ground, the site of which would later became a monastery.

Having taken control of his own affairs sometime around 1165, Earl Hugh was said to have been an active military commander, particularly in the ongoing campaigns against the neighbouring Welsh Princes who continued to dispute the border area which lay close to Chester. In 1170 he was reported to have killed a “multitude” of Welshmen at the Battle of Baldert Bridge and used their severed heads to build a mound at Boughton on the outskirts of Chester to celebrate his victory.

The English political scene remained fragmented throughout the period and in common with his late father Hugh II seems to have been pre-disposed to being actively involved in the political intrigues of the day. Along with a number of other leading noblemen, Earl Hugh seems to have been resentful of King Henry’s open interference in their affairs and rather foolishly was reported to have given his tacit support to the monarch’s son, also called Henry, the Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou. Not content with simply transferring his allegiance, the Earl was also thought to have spoken out against the king in both Normandy and Brittany and generally spread revolt throughout the kingdom. As part of this conspiracy, Hugh and his allies were thought to have been supported by the French king, who was reported to have sent troops into both of these now disaffected areas in order to further undermine King Henry.

Unfortunately for the conspirators and their French supporters, the English king was a shrewd and extremely able military commander and was able to crush the revolt quite quickly. The French forces were driven out of Normandy and Brittany without a fight, while the English rebels, including Earl Hugh were cornered at the town of Dol, close to St Malo. With the leaders of the proposed coup besieged, the rebellion against Henry collapsed and the Earl of Chester and his allies were forced to surrender, having received guarantees for their lives.

By 1174, Hugh II of Chester was said to have been transported back to England as a captive of the king and was then held prisoner at Southampton. Around a month later it was reported that Keveliok was once again transferred across the channel, this time to be held at Falaise in Normandy. However, by the end of the year he was said to have sufficiently ingratiated himself with the king that he was released and permitted to return home to England. Although he had managed to escape with his life, the cost of his actions against the monarch had proved to be expensive, particularly in terms of the lands and titles which were sequestered by the Crown as punishment for his rebellion.

For Earl Hugh, it was a lesson well learned and for the remainder of his life he was reported to have been a most loyal and faithful servant to the Crown. Despite his return to the good graces of the king and the later restoration of many of his holdings, the still relatively young Earl was not fated to enjoy his good fortune for long. Although only thought to be in his late thirties Hugh began to suffer from regular bouts of ill-health which would plague him through to his death in 1181. He was reported to have passed away at Leek in Staffordshire and his remains were later transported to the Abbey of St Werburgh’s in Chester where he was interred in the Chapter House.

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