Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester, was, by his own declaration,
a Norman. Possessing, at one time or another, a Dukedom, numerous
Earldoms and Viscounties on both sides of the Channel, he owned and
controlled about a third of both England and Normandy. Skilled in
siegecraft and loyal to a fault, Ranulf spent a lifetime at war
alongside the impetuous King Richard the Lionheart and then his reviled
brother King John, ably commanding their armies and earning a reputation
for his offensive spirit and his tenacity in defence. Loyal to a fault,
in 1215 he refused to sign Magna Carta and spent the next two years as
England's main defence against a French-backed rebel army. Offered the
regency of all England, he graciously refused. His military might tipped
the balance in support of the child king Henry III. Ranulf's reputation
grew further when he went on crusade, covering himself with glory and
winning the admiration of Rome. He went on to use his experience of war
to build spectacular castles, and his diplomacy secured economic
prosperity for much of the Midlands. When he died at the height of his
fame in 1232, it was said in France that the devil himself had thrown
his soul out of hell - even in death he was simply too hot to handle! By
Ranulf's own declaration, his body was that of a foreigner; but surely
his heart and soul belong to England. This is the story not just of one
man, but of the birth pangs of the English nation.
