Chester

Who holds it

Name

Ranulf III

Title

Earl of Chester

Since

1181

Confidence

high

Lord in 1200

The earl of Chester: his castle, his justiciar and his reeves govern the city; the abbey of St Werburgh holds its own liberty and the Midsummer fair.

How things stand that morning

The earl's city, loyal and busy.

Threats

• Welsh raids
• Silting of the Dee (a slow danger)

Charter

Henry II's charter (1171 in Ballard's table); two charters of John as count of Mortain and lord of Ireland (1188-99; that they concern the Irish trade is inferred); Earl Ranulf's charters to the citizens (1190-1212, one granting the gild merchant; whether before 1200 is not pinned). John's royal charter of 1202 is not yet.

Council

Two reeves (later sheriffs) under the earl; the gild merchant. No mayor yet (the first is recorded in the 1230s).

Communities

Irish and Welsh traders; St Werburgh's Benedictine monks; the nuns of St Mary.

Fairs and markets

St Werburgh's Midsummer fair, under the abbey and the earl's protection.

Militia

The citizens defend the walls; Welsh raids are a known danger.

Walls and castle

Roman and Saxon walls, extended; the earl's castle by the Dee; the Dee bridge.

Trade and crafts

The Dee port: Irish hides, grain and fish; Gascon wine; salt from the wiches; leather; the Dee mills and fisheries.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Ballard for the charters; offices from later practice.

Primary sources for Chester

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Charter Rolls of King John (1199 to 1216, at the royal chancery). The enrolled charters of John's first years, beginning with his accession in 1199: confirmations to towns, bishoprics and abbeys, grants of land and office, and the great grants to men like William Marshal and the king's new allies in Poitou. Read online
• The Great Rolls of the Pipe for 1199 and Michaelmas 1200 (1199 and 1200, at the Exchequer). The audited accounts of every sheriff and farmer for the Exchequer year ending Michaelmas 1200: county farms, the scutage of 1199, the carucage of 1200, debts of magnates and towns, wardships, and the fines offered to the new king.