TO HOLD BY THE SWORD

THE 2ND NORMAN EARL OF CHESTER - HUGH “LUPUS” D’AVRANCHES

BY PHILLIP E JONES

Appointed by William the Conqueror to replace Walter de Gerbod in 1071, Hugh was the son of Richard of Goz, the Viscount of Avranches and Margaret, a sister of the newly crowned English King. He was said to have had two sisters, Judith and Mathilda and it was the second’s sister’s son Ranulph de Mescines who would later be granted the Earldom of Chester by the king Henry I.

Although it has often been presumed that Hugh was not present at Hastings due to his youth, it has been suggested that he remained in Normandy ostensibly to watch over the interests of his relatives that were campaigning in England, but was said to have provided a large number of the ships that transported William’s invasion force to England. It is known that William the Conqueror returned to the continent after Hastings and returned to Britain in 1067 in order to lead the militarily suppression of the rebel English nobles who were challenging his right to rule the kingdom. Sometime after 1068 and before receiving the Earldom of Chester, the young Hugh was recorded as having held Tutbury Castle, which is thought to have been built in the first round of Norman fortifications undertaken by William after his victory at Hastings.

In addition to his duties and responsibilities as the Earl of Chester, Hugh was also thought to have been appointed as the “sword bearer” of England, a post which involved the young Earl carrying the sword of St Edward, which is alternatively known as the “Curtana”, or the “Sword of Mercy” at state occasions. The weapon which is held by the British Museum bears the inscription “Hugo comes Cestriae” which translates as “Hugh our brother at Chester”. Married to Ermentrude of Claremont, Hugh was known to have had one legitimate heir, although he was reported to have sired numerous illegitimate children, most of which died in their infancy. His one and only legitimate son Richard, later married Maud, daughter of Stephen of Blois, who was a direct relative of William, the Duke of Normandy.

Although he was still a comparatively young man at the time of his being granted the Earldom of Chester, Hugh was obviously deemed capable enough by his uncle to undertake the civilian and military administration of the remote north western territories. He was aided in his military command and civil administration of the Earldom by a council that was made up of his most trusted lieutenants including; Nigel the Baron of Halton, Robert the Baron of Montalt, William Maldebeng the Baron of Mallbank, Richard Vernon the Baron of Shipbrook, Robert Fitzhugh the Baron of Malpas, Hamo de Mascy the Baron of Dunham and Gilbert Venables the Baron of Kinderton. These Barons were in day-to-day control of their own areas, except in matters pertaining to Earl Hugh himself or to the king. Nigel, the Baron of Halton was also appointed as the Constable of Chester, which required him to lead the vanguard of any military force authorised by the Earl of Chester. For his part Robert, the Baron of Montalt was known to have been appointed as the High Steward of the County.

Although it is unlikely that Chester was ever completely deserted during or after its capitulation to Duke William, a reduction in the local population does seem to have taken place in the immediate aftermath of the Norman attack. In order to address this particular problem and to further extend and enlarge the city’s limits Hugh was reported to have ordered the creation of 3 separate “asylums” within the county. Located at Hoole Heath, Over Marsh and Rudheath in Cheshire, these areas permitted wanted men and those living outside of the law to settle down, without the fear of being arrested by the authorities. As a result of their creation, Cheshire was thought to have become one of the most colourful and dangerous regions of England for the next 600 years and it was only at the beginning of the 17^th Century, during the reign of James I that these asylums were finally abolished.

At the time of Hugh receiving the Earldom of Chester in 1071, the city itself was known to have been part of the Diocese of Lichfield. However, in 1075 Chester became a cathedral city in its own right after the former collegiate church of St John the Baptist became the see of the new Bishop. Although the church itself was said to have been founded in the late 7^th Century, it was thought to have been re-founded in 1057 as a Collegiate church by Earl Leofric of Mercia. In 1095, the see of the Diocese was removed from Chester once again this time to Coventry by the then Bishop Robert de Limesey.

Two years earlier Earl Hugh had re-founded the Abbey of St Werbugh in the city and requested that Anselm of Bec witness the new charter for his new church. A religious centre of some description is thought to have stood on the site prior to the building of the earlier Roman military fortress and more than a thousand years before Earl Hugh invited the leading cleric to witness his new foundation. The site has been successively recorded as the site of a temple to a local heathen deity, a temple to the Roman god Apollo, a late Roman Christian Church, a Saxon church dedicated to St Peter and Paul and then a church for secular canons which was dedicated to St Werbugh by the Saxon Countess, Aethelflaeda around 907 AD.

Werburga was the daughter of Wulfhere the king of Mercia and a grand-daughter of King Penda who was reported to have defeated Oswald of Northumbria at the Battle of Oswestry in 641 AD. Werburga was thought to have entered the convent at Ely and later rose to become the General Superintendent of all the convents within Mercia. Reported to have died at Threckingham in Lincolnshire sometime between 690 AD and 707 AD she was initially buried at her convent at Hanbury. Around 875 AD her final resting place was threatened by Danish invaders and her remains were then removed to the church of St Peter and St Paul in Chester for safe keeping. Some years later, Aethelflaeda, the Lady of the Mercians was said to have rededicated the church to the memory of St Werbugh and enlarged its precincts. This same church was later granted extensive holdings in and around Chester by King Edgar in 958 AD and was reported to have been extensively refurbished by Earl Leofric of Mercia in 1057.    

Hugh Lupus has often been regarded by historians as something of a wastrel who had little interest in the mundane day-to-day running of the region, but was a man who was most content indulging in his favourite pastimes of fighting, hunting, womanising and generally entertaining himself and his fellows. According to Orderic Vitalis;

“Earl Hugh, with the help of many cruel Barons shed much Welsh blood and was not so much lavish as prodigal. His retinue was more like an army than a household and in giving and receiving he kept no account. Each day he devastated his own lands and preferred falconers and huntsmen to the cultivators of the soil and ministers of heaven. He was so much a slave to the gluttony of his belly that weighed down by his fat he could hardly move. From his harlots he had many children, nearly all of whom came to an unfortunate end”.

The young Earl was reported to have established several forested areas for his own amusement, including those at Delamere, Macclesfield and the Wirral. He was also thought to have been responsible for a fourth much smaller hunting area which ranged from the western outskirts of the city through to Hawarden on the border with Wales.

Orderic also noted; “Hugh loved the world and all its pomp, which he regarded as the chief part of human happiness. He was an active soldier, an extravagant giver and took great pleasure in gambling, debauchery, jesters, as well as his horses and hounds. Hugh’s enormous household resounded to the noise of youths, both noble and common who were always in attendance on him”.

Despite the apparent distraction caused by his sporting interests, Hugh was still first and foremost a soldier and his military control of the region was underpinned by the construction of a chain of castles which protected the area’s border with Wales. These defensive positions included the castles at Shotwick, Truman’s Hill, Dodleston, Pulford and finally at Aldford. The castle at Shotwick was thought to have been built around 1093 and it has been suggested that the Norman Motte and Bailey design actually replaced an even earlier Saxon defence. Some 60 or 70 years after it had first been constructed and because of the silting of the River Dee, Shotwick was thought to have become the main embarkation point for English troops making their way into Wales in order to suppress rebellions that broke out in both 1156 and in 1165. The castle was also thought to be a place of imprisonment for the Welsh Prince Gruffudd ap Cynan, who had initially helped Earl Hugh in his military campaigns against the Welsh leadership, but had later turned against his Norman masters and was subsequently incarcerated for his troubles.

Gruffudd ap Cynan was reported to have succeeded to the Crown of North Wales following the death of Trahaern ap Caradog sometime around 1081, but was said to have been captured by Robert of Rhuddlan, Earl Hugh’s lieutenant, before he could claim his title. Legend suggests that he spent at least 10 years as a prisoner of the Earl of Chester before making good his escape from the castle at Shotwick. If these events were true, then that might indicate that he had indeed been captured by Robert of Rhuddlan around 1081/2, reinforcing the timescale which has been reported. With the young Welsh ruler imprisoned, the Earl and his allies were said to have fully exploited the power vacuum which had been left in the region and used his enforced absence to extend their control over the region.    

One of Hugh’s most trusted lieutenants, Robert of Rhuddlan was said to have assisted Hugh in the continuing military control of the region throughout the period, but following Robert’s death at Deganwy in 1088, Hugh was thought to have personally taken over military operations on the Welsh borderlands and even managed to establish a Norman outpost at Tomen Y Mur in Merionethshire by about 1094. Robert was thought to have been killed by a band of Welsh rebels who were raiding around the Norman castle at Deganwy in 1088. Inexplicably, the French knight was reported to have ridden out alone to challenge the rebels, without having first arranged his own protection. Said to have been incapacitated by an arrow or bolt fired from some distance, Robert was then thought to have been attacked by the group, who decapitated the unfortunate nobleman and carried his severed head away as a trophy. Following the attack, the dead knight’s body was reported to have been recovered by his friends and later transported to Chester for interment at St Werburgh’s Abbey.  

Later in 1094, the Welsh people led by Cadwan were reported to have rebelled against the Norman Marcher Lords and aided by Gruffudd ap Cynan who had earlier escaped captivity at Shotwick Castle, initially managed to force the Norman’s back into England. However, William II having reorganised his forces, brought the full military weight of his Earls and Marcher Lords to bear and was able to re-establish control of the area soon afterwards. The Welsh rebels, rather than engage in a full-scale battle with Rufus simply withdrew to the mountains of North Wales, well away from harm and leaving the frustrated Norman’s with little option but to withdraw to their former positions.

Although efforts were made to reduce the influence of the Welsh rebels within the border area, the Norman’s were unable to force a decisive meeting upon the Welsh Princes and their armies. In 1097 Earl Hugh had once again attempted to resolve the situation militarily, but as before found his adversaries hard to find and it was only in the following year, 1098, that plans were put in place for a extensive militarily campaign against the Princes of North Wales.

Earl Hugh of Chester, along with his neighbour Hugh of Shrewsbury assembled a large Anglo-Norman force with which to finally pacify the whole of North Wales. With this well provisioned and well armed force, within a matter of months the two Norman Earls and their army had managed to dislodge many of the Welsh rebels from their mountain fortresses and force them back to the Isle of Anglesey. With nowhere to go and nowhere to hide the Welsh leaders, along with most of their troops were forced to retire across the sea to Ireland.

With a decisive victory within his grasp, misfortune then intervened to rob Hugh and his compatriot the Earl of Shrewsbury of total dominance within North Wales. At the same time that the Welsh rebels were evacuating Anglesey, the Norwegian king Magnus Barefoot was said to be leading a large scale raiding party in the Irish Sea area and reportedly against the Danish inhabitants of the Isle of Man. Having become aware of the Norman presence, the Norwegian fleet was said to have changed its course and landed troops to engage the Anglo-Norman force. Following bitter fighting between the two sides, Earl Hugh of Shrewsbury was reported to have been killed along with a large number of his entourage and forcing Earl Hugh of Chester to withdraw from the area. Consequently, the region was soon reoccupied by the Welsh rebels who had subsequently returned from Ireland and replicating the military stalemate which had existed before the ill-fated campaign had even begun. This relatively unsuccessful campaign was reported to have been both Earl Hugh’s and the Norman’s final large-scale military intervention in Wales and one that would only be repeated by the Plantagenet Edward I, nearly 80 years later. Despite his failure to defeat the Welsh Prince’s in battle, records suggest that a peace settlement was eventually agreed between the two sides which allowed the native Welsh Lords to have authority in their own lands, provided they made no further claims on the Norman held districts which lay under Hugh’s protection.      

As well as the lands he held in the Earldom of Chester, Hugh also held properties in many other parts of England and had extensive family holdings in Normandy. Many of these possessions had been granted to Hugh by his uncle William I and reflected the young Earl’s faithfulness and loyalty to the Crown which was almost total. However, in 1082 Hugh was reported to have committed his only known act of disobedience against William which could so easily have cost the young Earl much, if not all of his hard earned inheritance.

William and his half brother Earl Odo were said to have entered into a dispute with one another regarding Odo’s attempts to secure the Papacy of Rome by employing English troops as a form of leverage to support his claim. William was reported to have forbade his relative from employing such tactics, shortly before he left England to visit his estates in Normandy. Making the most of his half brothers absence, Odo was thought to have approached Earl Hugh at Chester and persuaded him to furnish him with troops for his unauthorised venture.

Unfortunately for the two Earls, William was notified about their proposed actions and was able to intercept his two erring subjects and their forces on the Isle of Wight, before they managed to reach the continent. Having chosen to ignore the king’s implicit instructions Earl Odo was subsequently arrested and imprisoned. His young accomplice, Earl Hugh, was more fortunate and somehow managed to avoid any sort of outright punishment by the king and was thought to have retained his good standing with William. It was a mistake that the young Earl would not make again and for the rest of his life he remained a completely loyal and obedient servant of the Crown.

His loyalty to the Crown was tested once again in 1087, following the death of William I. The late king’s rightful heir to the English throne was his second son William Rufus, but his claim was openly disputed by William’s half brother Earl Odo who had the support of a number of leading Barons. Hugh of Chester though was not likely to repeat his earlier mistake of allying himself to Odo and instead offered his support and loyalty to William Rufus. As it turned out, it was a wise move on his part, as Odo’s potential rebellion was crushed a short time later and the hapless Earl Odo was banished from England forever.

D’Avranches was given a further opportunity to prove his loyalty and military worth to the new king when the Scottish ruler Malcolm Canmore tried to take advantage of Rufus’s difficulties with Earl Odo and marched his army southward as far as Chester. Fortunately for the new king Earl Hugh and his lieutenants were more than a match for the northern invaders and prevented the Scottish forces from advancing any further. He was also reported to have been busy helping to pacify a Welsh rebellion which had broken out around the same time, but was once again unable to achieve a definitive victory over the unruly Welsh Princes.  

In his final years, Hugh’s earlier lifestyle of debauchery and gluttony began to have a serious effect on his health, it being reported that he was so fat that he could hardly move and there are suggestions that eventually he had to be carried around because he was so incapable of movement. Despite his incapacity, it has been reported that Hugh was still ale to act as an advisor and counsellor to the king and was even thought to be advising Henry I who had succeeded to the throne in 1100, just a year before the Earl’s own death in July 1101. Three days before he departed this life, Hugh was recorded to have entered the Abbey at Chester as a simple monk, no doubt hoping that the Christian centre that he founded in 1093 would help to preserve his everlasting soul.

Following his death on 27^th July 1101 Earl Hugh was thought to have been interred in the churchyard of the Abbey, but some years later his body was said to have been re-interred in the Abbey’s Chapter House, reportedly on the order of Hugh’s later successor Ranulph de Gernons.

At the time of his death, Hugh was known to have held extensive properties in Cheshire, Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Norfolk, Suffolk, Hampshire, Berkshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire. He was said to be the largest landowner in England and second only to the king and his two half brothers, Earl Odo and Robert, Count of Mortran.      

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