4 - Penitence and Piety: The Death-bed Charters of Ranulf, Earl of Chester (d. 1153)

Summary

One of the most prominent magnates during King Stephen's troubled reign, Ranulf earl of Chester is probably best known for his reluctance to commit himself to either Stephen or his rival, the Empress Matilda, in their claim to the English throne. He preferred instead to pursue his own territorial interests, especially in the north Midlands. His military career, however, overshadows his relations with the Church and in particular his patronage of monastic houses: notably Basingwerk Abbey in Flintshire, founded in 1132 (only a few years after he succeeded his father as earl), and Trentham Priory in Staffordshire, endowed on his death bed in 1153. Other charters issued as he lay dying and evidently in the preceding months were also for monastic houses, but compensating them for wrongs that he had done. After discussing the circumstances of his death itself, the main purpose of this article is to consider these compensatory charters in their probable chronological sequence, with particular emphasis on their wording and on the witnesses. As the earl approached death, his thoughts naturally turned to the salvation of his soul and reconciliation with the Church, but whether or not this was a last-minute change of heart is discussed in a wider review of his piety, especially as a monastic patron, and his general standing with Church authorities. The conclusion is that his reputation as a self-centred careerist might need to be revised.

Ranulf's Death: When, Where, and How?

The year 1153 is given for Ranulf's death in a fifteenth- or early sixteenth-century copy of the Chester Annals, composed probably in the later thirteenth century and evidently incorporating earlier information, such as a late twelfth-century kalendar which noted the obits of abbots and benefactors. The same year is given by the chroniclers Robert de Torigny (d. 1186)6 and Gervase of Canterbury (also late twelfth century), and in a medieval account of the foundation of Repton Priory. The last source also gives a precise date of death as 16 December, although the Chester Annals kalendar has 17 December.

Ranulf's whereabouts in his final months and weeks are not entirely clear. Early in 1153 he was with Henry, duke of Normandy (soon to be Henry II) at Devizes, and was still with him at Gloucester in April–May, probably at Coventry in June, and later in the summer at Wallingford.