The Chester Timeline

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This is just a list of dates and links to other sources. A narrative history of Chester can be found elsewhere on this site. Another Chester Timeline can be found on the local authority website. Further information can be found in Phil Jones' detailed history (impressive to say the least!) and at British History Online (comprehensive). The original timeline is found in the Annals of Chester Cathedral

Contents

[edit] Chester Before The Romans

The geology of Cheshire consists mainly of Triassic (~240 million years old) "new red" sandstones. To the north west of Cheshire, these sandstones are heavily faulted and the underlying Carboniferous coal measures are exposed, thus, around Macclesfield, coal was easily mined. The mid-east area comprises the "Cheshire Basin" a fault-bounded "graben" structure which was flooded repeatedly in the Permian and early Triassic. The evaporation of this flood-water left salt beds which have been exploited both by cavern-working and hot-water brine extraction for over 200 years. Around the time that these rocks were forming, a significant "extinction event" took place globally. Theories for the cause of this extinction include shifting of continents, a giant meteor, a supernova (or similar), volcanic eruption, a greenhouse effect, or some combination of these - no one is really sure.

The Cheshire Plain is a flat, "boulder clay" plain bounded by the hills of North Wales in the west, and the Peak District of Derbyshire in the east. It was formed in and beneath ice sheets during the Ice Ages. The earliest signs of habitation in Cheshire may be from 380 000 to 400 000 BC (the 'Hoxnian Interglacial'). The Hoxnian is sometimes dated 300,000 and 200,000 BP so this is remarkably early (see also this dating). At some time the ice sheets lay just to the north of the Mersey and much of the topography of the Mersey valley may have been formed by flood-waters from the melting ice. Occupation by people is not likely to have been continuous as the ice came and went. There is considerable debate about hominid activities in this period. Further details on this period can be found here.

It appears that early settlement was largely along the sandstone ridges. Bickerton Hill, for example, has an Iron Age promontory hill fort dated around 600 BC (Maiden Castle) that encloses an area of 1.3 acres adjacent the cliff edge. It was destroyed by fire in around 400 BC, although the area was probably used as a settlement until around the 1st century AD, when the Romans arrived. Signs of Iron Age settlement (including post-holes) have been found in Chester (see this history) and reported.

see: Phil Jones History for more.

[edit] Chester Events in Roman Times

In 69, the "year of four emperors", civil war raged in Rome and weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain. Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance, ending up in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively - the Romans then conquered more of the island, building a fort at Chester on the way and providing the first approximate dates for this timeline. The governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, with XX Valeria Victrix, defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius (somewhere in northern Scotland). Chester was occupied for the next 300 years and may have been the effective capital of Roman Britain. Around 384, the usurper Magnus Maximus (he is mentioned on the "Pillar of Eliseg") fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots, but his continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned at this period. Not all of the troops in Britain may have returned, but by around 396, there were increasing barbarian incursions in Britain.

  • c57 Oman (History of England, Methuen, 1910) gives this as the date that either Didius or Suetonius moved the headquarters of one or both of his legions from Wroxeter to Deva, built a flotilla of flat-bottomed boats on the Dee and in 60 A.D. invaded North Wales.
  • 74 Roman fort first established at Chester? Some give this as the date of the fort - others give earlier dates.
  • c.76, Tuathal Teachtmhar, a legendary High King (exiled from Ireland as a boy) is said to have returned from Britain at the head of an army to claim the throne. He may have been supported by the Romans, possibly sailing from Chester (no firm evidence).
  • c.79, Romans construct the "Elliptical Building", possibly as the residence of the governor of the province of Britain. A building inscription from the palaestra of a bath building in the eastern half of the praetentura records completion in A.D. 79 (Also in this year - Vesuvius buries Pompeii)
  • c102, Rebuilding of the walls in stone commenced under Trajan, probably soon after A.D. 102
  • 122, Emperor Hadrian may have visited Chester on his way north to organize the construction of his wall from the Solway Firth to the Tyne, a project in which the Chester (XX) legion played a large part.
  • after 222, Perhaps under Constantius Chlorus, substantial portions of the N and W walls were rebuilt on a wider gauge incorporating much inscribed material (mostly tombstones - now in the Grosvenor Museum)
  • 380, Romans withdraw from Chester around this time
  • 406, Legio XX Valeria Victrix (once of Chester) is the legion featuring in the novel "Eagle in the Snow" (Wallace Breem) which postulates they were annihilated by the Germanic invasion of 406.

[edit] Chester in the Early Dark Ages

Following the decline of Rome in the west, Chester was first part of Mercia (Old English: Mierce, "border people") - one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy, centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the midlands. There is a more detailed article entitled Dark Age Chester

  • 603 Meeting of St Augustine with the British bishops at "Urbs Legion" (Chester? - others place the meeting with the British bishops in Wessex at a place known today as Augustine's oak - see "Bede and the Augustine's Oak conferences: implications for Anglo-British ecclesiastical interaction in early Anglo-Saxon England" - Martin Grimmer)

"After this all the princes of the Britons met together at the city of Legecester,(..possibly Chester/possibly Leicester..) and consented to make Cadwan their king, that under his command they might pursue Ethelfrid beyond the Humber. (Book XII part I)"

  • 675, according to the Annales Cestrienses "Wulferus, king of Mercia, father of S. Werburg", died.
  • 689 St John's Church founded by Ethelred of Mercia - "In the year of our lord six hundred and eighty-nine Ethelred, king of the Mercians, the uncle of S. Werburg, with the assistance of Wilfric, bishop of Chester, as Giraldus [Cambrensis] relates, founded a collegiate church in the suburbs of Chester in honour of S. John the Baptist (Annals of Chester)"
  • 690, St Werbergh dies: her relics were taken to Chester in late 9th Century or early 10th Century (Annales Chestriensis gives this date as 690)
  • 704, according to the Annales Cestrienses "Ethelred, king of Mercia, gave up the kingdom to Kenred, brother of S. Werburg".
  • 789, Chester Annals record "Primus Danorum educatus [adventus] in Angliam qui docuerunt Anglos nimis potare" (The first arrival in England of the Danes, who taught the English to drink too much).
  • 828, Egbert, King of the West Saxons, takes Chester. Under Egbert, Wessex rose to become the most powerful of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, overthrowing the supremacy of Mercia.
  • 837, Ethelwulf held the Witenagemot (literally "meeting of the wise") in Chester, and, being crowned (in Kingston not Chester?), received at Chester the homage of tributary kings, "From Berwick to Kent." (Encyl Brit 1911 - not found in the A.S. Chron). April 10 — Comet Halley passes approximately 5 million km from Earth — its closest ever approach.
  • 868 Chester Annals record a severe famine, follow by a visitation of the plague.

[edit] Chester in the Later Dark Ages

While the House of Wessex ruled a kingdom in southwest England from the 6th century (under Cerdic of Wessex) it was not until the unification of the Kingdoms of England that they became rulers of all England (Bretwalda) roughly from Alfred the Great in 871 to Edmund II (Edmund Ironside) in 1016. The Dane, Sweyn Forkbeard claimed the throne from 1013 to 1014 and Sweyn and his successors ruled until 1042. There was a brief Saxon restoration between 1042 and 1066. During this time Chester was at some times deserted and at others an important strategic location. There is a more detailed article entitled Dark Age Chester

[edit] Alfred the Great(23 April 871 — 26 October 899)

Alfred is noted for his defence of the kingdom against the Danish Vikings, becoming the only English King to be awarded the epithet "the Great". He was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself "King of the Anglo-Saxons", was a learned man, and encouraged education and improved his kingdom's law system as well as its military structure. By 879, both Wessex and Mercia, west of Watling Street, were cleared of the Danish invaders.

  • 875 St Werbergh's shrine moved to the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul within the city walls of Chester - "..when the Danes made their winter quarters at Repton after the flight of Burdred, king of the Mercians, the men of Hanbury, fearing for themselves, fled to Chester as to a place which was very safe from the butchery of the barbarians, taking with them in a litter the body of S. Werburg, which then for the first time was resolved into dust."
  • 893 Vikings raided Chester, then 'a deserted city in Wirral'
  • 894 Danes made a forced march across England to occupy the ruined Roman fortress of Chester - besieged by Alfred 894. The invaders "marched day and night, till they reached a waste fortress in Wirrall, called Legaceaster. The Saxon army could not overtake them, before they were within and had possession of the fortress": "Waste fortress" (westre ceastre) may be the origin of the name "West Chester" sometimes applied to the city.

[edit] Edward the Elder(26 October 899 - 17 July 924)

Edward extended the control of Wessex over the whole of Mercia, East Anglia and Essex, conquering lands occupied by the Danes and bringing the residual autonomy of Mercia to an end in 918, after the death of his sister, Ethelfleda (Æðelflǣd). There is no reference to Edward's relations with the Mercians in the narrative sources between 919, when Edward is commanding Mercian armies, and 924, when William of Malmesbury records a Mercian revolt at Chester. Between 907 and 921 further forts were built over an area which stretched from north-east Wales to Manchester. Chester thus probably became the focus of complex garrisoning arrangements, initially to monitor Viking settlement.

  • 900, Edward was consecrated at Kingston-upon-Thames by the archbishop of Canterbury, Plegmund (of St Plegmund's Well fame): Edwardus rex Anglorum est consecratus in regem a Pleemundo Dornobernensi archiepiscopo apud Kingestune.
  • 901, while it is a lot to base on a single document, it is possible that there was an attempt at Mercian independence that year, as a charter of Æthelred and Æthelflæd gives the Lord and Lady of the Mercians grander styles than usual, and there is no mention of Edward. This was also the time of Æthelwold's revolt against Edward, which might have encouraged the Mercians to make their own bid for freedom
  • 902, A Hiberno-Norse community settles in Wirral after its expulsion from Dublin. The exiles, led by Hingamund, were granted land in Wirral by Æthelflæd (Edward the Elder's sister) but cast covetous eyes on the wealth of Chester. Archaeology confirms a Hiberno-Norse presence in Chester:a brooch with Borre-Jellinge ornament found at Princess Street is identical with a brooch found in Dublin, and must have derived from the same mould.
  • 912 Chester besieged by Hingamund, only to be repulsed by the great army which Æthelflæd assembled in the city. Comet Halley passes perihelion. There is a cryptic reference in "Lives of the Queens of England before the Norman conquest" to "A monastery, dedicated to St. Barnabas, was likewise founded by the 'Lady of Mercia', at Brunnesburgh, [In Cheshire.] that year, which shortly after fell to decay" (St Barnabas is the Parish Church in Bromborough and there is an interesting cross there)
  • 924 Chester joins a Welsh revolt against English rule (William of Malmesbury records a Mercian revolt at Chester). The revolt is put down by Edward the Elder who dies leading his army on 17 July 924 at Farndon. Annals of Chester record: "King Athelstane is crowned; in whose time, and thenceforth until the arrival of the Normans, secular canons and afterwards regular monks, served in this monastery in honour of S. Werburg."

[edit] Æþelstān (August 2, 924 – October 27, 939)

Athelstan was the son of Edward the Elder, and grandson of Alfred the Great. His father succeeded, after some difficulty, to the Kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons formed by Alfred. His aunt, Edward's sister, Æthelflæd, ruled western Mercia on his behalf following the death of her husband, Ealdorman Æthelred. On Æthelflæd's death, Edward was quick to assume control of Mercia, and at the time of his death he directly ruled all the English kingdoms south of the Humber. Athelstan was fostered by his family as 'Half-King' in Mercia, perhaps as a method of encouraging Mercian loyalty to the West Saxon dynasty. On Edward's death, Athelstan immediately became King of Mercia, though it seems to have taken longer for him to be recognised in Wessex where his half-brothers Ælfweard and Edwin had support. During his reign Chester retained its strategic significance because of its command over the route to Dublin and its proximity to Wales, whose princes' relations with the West Saxons were always ambiguous.

  • 937 Battle of Brunanburh (possibly at Bromborough). Athelstan's crushing defeat of the combined Norse-Celtic force facing him irrevocably confirmed England as an Anglo-Saxon kingdom, forcing the Celtic kingdoms to consolidate in the positions they occupy today.

[edit] Edmund I (October 27, 939 – May 26, 946)

Chester was an important base in 942 when there was collusion between the Welsh and the Scandinavian kingdom of York during King Edmund's campaign against the latter. Edmund was murdered in 946 by Leofa, an exiled thief. He had been having a party in Pucklechurch, when he spotted Leofa in the crowd. After the outlaw refused to leave, the king and his advisors fought Leofa. Edmund and Leofa were both killed. He was succeeded as king by his brother Edred.

  • 942, Edmund at "Chester" during his reconquest of the midlands from Anlaf of Northumbria (this could have been Leicester as "Legracester" and "Legecester" are sometimes confused)

[edit] Edred (May 26, 946 - November 23, 955)

King Edred, known as 'weak-in-the-feet', was King of England from 946 until his death. He was a son of King Edward the Elder by his third marriage, to Edgiva, daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent. He succeeded his brother, King Edmund I. Like his elder brothers, Edred enjoyed military success over the Vikings. Edred was a strongly religious man but in very poor health; he could only eat the juices of chewed food. As he died a bachelor and thus had no children, he was succeeded by his nephews, Edwy and Edgar, who divided the country.

  • c.949, Chester mint strikes coin for the Welsh king, Hywel Dda

[edit] Edwy [Eadwig, The Fair] (November 23, 955 - October 1, 959)

The eldest son of King Edmund and Saint Elgiva, Edwy was chosen by the nobility to succeed his uncle Edred as King. His short reign was marked by ongoing conflicts with his family, the Thegns, and especially the Church, under the leadership of Saint Dunstan and Archbishop Odo. His kingdom did not include Chester.

  • 955, Mercia is restored to having a separate political existence from Wessex (955-959), while Edwy rules south of the Thames, Edgar became king of Mercia
  • ???, A lead customs tag produced at the Chester mint at this time was later found at Coppergate in York
  • 958 Edgar, king of Mercia, grants a charter to the familia of St Werburgh.

[edit] Edgar [The Pacific] (October 1, 959 – July 8, 975)

Edgar seized the Northumbrian and Mercian kingdoms from his older brother, Edwy, in around 955 and became king on the death of Edwy a few year later. Edgar's reign was a peaceful one, and it is probably fair to say that it saw the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England at its height. Although the political unity of England was the achievement of his predecessors, it was Edgar who saw to its consolidation. By the end of Edgar's reign there was practically no likelihood of any recession back to its state of rival kingships, and the division of its domains.

  • 970, 20 moneyers at work at Chester mint
  • 973, King Edgar, comes to Chester by ship and holds court at Edgar’s Field. Taking the helm of a barge, he is rowed the short distance up the River Dee to St John’s Church by six or eight tributary kings.

[edit] Edward [The Martyr, Eadweard II] (July 8, 975 - March 18, 978)

Edward was king of England from 975 until he was murdered in 978. He is thought to have been the son of King Edgar and Æthelflæd. His succession to the throne was contested by supporters of his half-brother Æthelred, but with Dunstan's support, Edward was acknowledged by the Witan and crowned king by Dunstan and Oswald of Worcester. His reign was short and disturbed by factional strife. He was killed at Corfe Castle by servants of his stepmother the Queen Dowager Ælfthryth (Elfrida) on 18 March 978. Edward became known as "the Martyr" because of his violent end.

  • c975, Church of St. Peter and St. Paul was re-dedicated to St. Werburgh and St Oswald. A monastery was founded in the names of these two saints. The ASC records "in the same year, during harvest, appeared "cometa" the star; and then came in the following year a very great famine, and very manifold commotions among the English people."

[edit] Ethelred [the Unready: Old English Æþelred Unræd] (March 18, 978 – April 23, 1016)

His nickname ‘the Unready’ derives from Old English unræd, meaning 'without counsel', 'ill-advised' or 'indecisive'. This can be seen as a pun on his name, Æþelræd, which may be understood to mean 'noble counsel', thus giving rise to a likely understanding of 'Noble counsel, No counsel'. The first evidence of the new Mercian shires comes in a reference to "Cheshire" in 980.

  • 980 The Danes renew their raids on England attacking Chester and Southampton. Manx Vikings led by King Godfred I ally themselves with Prince Custennin of Gwynedd and raid Anglesey and the Lleyn Peninsula. Custennin is killed. AS Chronicle records that Vikings ravage Chester, doing great damage: "the county of Chester was plundered by the pirate-army of the North". Three of the four Anglo-Saxon coin hoards found in the city, those from Castle Esplanade, Pemberton's Parlour, and Eastgate Street, have been assigned to roughly the same period and interpreted as linked to that raid.
  • 989 Comet Halley revisits.
  • 1000, Chester served as the naval base for an attack on Cumberland and Man: "This year the king went into Cumberland, and nearly laid waste the whole of it with his army, whilst his navy sailed about Chester with the design of co-operating with his land- forces; but, finding it impracticable, they ravaged Anglesey"
  • 1010, Wulfric, Earl of Mercia and Chief Councillor of State to King Ethelred died (12 October). Leofwine becomes earl of Chester.

[edit] Edmund [Ironside] (April 23, 1016 - November 30, 1016)

  • 1016, Chester ravaged by Edmund Ironside and Uhtred, Earl of Northumbria because Cheshire men would not fight against the Danes (under Canute). Edmund did not last long - a popular story has it that soldiers acting in favor of Canute hid in the cess-pit of a lavatory and stabbed Edmund in the bowels when he sat down to relieve himself (or that the Ealdorman of Chester Eadric Streona arranged for him to be shot from the midden with a primitive crossbow - the "Skåne Lockbow"), though this has never been proven and he may well simply have died of injuries sustained in battle.

[edit] Canute [The Great] (1016 - November 12, 1035)

The custom of "sanding the streets" in Knutsford (Cheshire) - some believe it means 'Canute's ford' - is thought to have started in Canute's reign. Tradition has it that King Canute threw sand from his shoes into the path of a wedding party upon fording the River Lily. Queen Victoria, in her journal of 1832 recorded: "we arrived at Knutsford, where we were most civilly received, the streets being sanded in shapes, which is peculiar to this town". Today the custom is practised May Day. Wirral locals also believe that Canute's less than successful attempt to hold back the sea with a command occurred in the Wirral at Meols.

  • 1017, Eadric ("the grasper") ealdorman of the Saxon Mercians is killed on the orders of Canute. Mercia may have been given to Leofric immediately after that. Leofric may have married Lady Godiva about this time.
  • 1030, Norwegian king Olaf Haraldsson (he of St Olave), was killed. Olaf (995 – 1030) is credited with converting Norway to Christianity.

[edit] Harold I [Harefoot] (November 12, 1035 – March 17, 1040)

Upon Canute's death, Harold's younger half-brother Harthacanute, the son of Canute and his queen, Emma of Normandy, was legitimate heir to the thrones of both the Danes and the English. He was, however, unable to travel to his coronation, because his Danish kingdom was under threat of invasion by King Magnus I of Norway and King Anund Jacob of Sweden. England's magnates favoured the idea of installing Harold Harefoot temporarily as regent, due to the difficulty of Harthacanute's absence, and despite the opposition of Godwin, the Earl of Wessex, and the Queen, he eventually wore the crown. Harold survived an attempt to unseat him led by Alfred Aetheling and Edward the Confessor, Emma's sons by the long-dead Ethelred the Unready, in 1036. Harold died at Oxford on March 17, 1040, just as Harthacanute was preparing an invasion force of Danes, and was buried at the abbey of Westminster. His body was subsequently exhumed, beheaded, and thrown into a fen bordering the Thames when Harthacanute assumed the throne in June, 1040.

  • 1035, King Cnut died at Shaftesbury leaving the rule of the country in dispute between Harthacnut (the son of Emma) and Harold Harefoot (the son of Aelfgifu). The Earls of Northumbria and Mercia (Chester) support Harold's claim while Earl Godwine (father of Harold II) supports Harthacanute's.

[edit] Harthacanute (March 17, 1040 – June 8, 1042)

Harthacanute was a harsh and unpopular ruler: to pay for his fleet, he severely increased the rate of taxation, and in 1041 the people of Worcester killed two of Harthacanute's housecarls who had been collecting the tax, prompting an attack by Harthacanute in which the city was burned. The story of Lady Godiva, wife of Leofric "Count of Chester", riding naked through the streets of Coventry to persuade the local earl to lower taxes may come from the reign of Harthacanute.

[edit] Edward the Confessor [Eadweard II] (1042 – 5 January 1066)

Edward's reign was marked by peace and prosperity, but effective rule in England required coming to terms with three powerful earls: Godwin of Wessex, Leofric of Mercia, and Siward of Northumbria. Edward's sympathies for Norman favourites frustrated his nobles alike, fuelling the growth of anti-Norman opinion led by Godwin (who had become the king's father-in-law in 1045).

  • 1043 Earl Leofric (comes of Chester), founds Coventry Abbey; gives grant of land by charter
  • 1051 Earl Leofric supported Edward the Confessor when he came under threat at Gloucester from Earl Godwin. Earl Godwin and his family were outlawed for a time
  • 1057, Chester Chronicle records: "Leofric, earl of Chester, in the time of S. Edward, king and confessor, repaired, and conferred privileges on the collegiate church of S. John the Baptist, and the church of S. Werburg situate within the city as William of Malmesbury relates in his Chronicle, De Gestis Anglorum, Book 2". Earl leofric dies. He is succeeded by Ælfgar
  • 1062, Edwin becomes the last Saxon Earl of Chester (his sister, Ealdgyth will later marry Harold II)
  • 1063, Earl Harold (later Harold II) attacked Gryffudd ap Llywelyn's (for ap Cynan, see below) palace at Rhuddlan in Flintshire using Chester as his base. Following Gruffydd's death (at the hands of his own troops) Harold married his widow, Ealdgyth (sister of Edwin, Earl of Chester) and divided Gruffydd's realm into the traditional kingdoms of Gwynedd and Powys, the rule of which were given to Bleddyn ap Cynfyn and his brother Rhiwallon ap Cynfyn.

[edit] Harold II (5 January 1066 — 14 October 1066)

  • 1066, Halley's comet puts in an appearance. Harold supposedly dies at Hastings, although a Chester legend has it that he later lived in the Hermitage near St John's.

[edit] Chester and the Anglo-Norman Kings

The Norman dynasty ruled England from the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066, until 1154. They were followed by the House of Plantagenet (House of Anjou, or Angevin dynasty) originally a noble family from France, which had ruled Anjou and ruled England from 1154 to 1485. During this period the Earls of Chester wielded considerable political power (see: The Earls of Chester), and at time opposed the crown, but afterwards their line died out the Earldom was held by the heir to the throne. The Victorian stained glass windows above the staircase in Chester Town Hall depict Gherbod the Fleming, who was given the Earldom of Chester by William the Conqueror, and the seven Norman Earls of Chester; Hugh I (c.1077-1101); Richard (1101-20); Ranulph I (1120-28); Ranulph II (1128-53); Hugh II (1153-81); Ranulph III (1181-1232); and John the Scot (1232-37).

[edit] William I [William the Conqueror, William the bastard] (25 December 1066 - 9 September 1087)

William invaded England in 1066, leading an army of Normans to victory over the Anglo-Saxon forces of Harold Godwinson and suppressing subsequent English revolts in what has become known as the Norman Conquest. His reign, brought Norman culture to England, saw changes to English law, a programme of building and fortification, changes to the vocabulary of the English language, and the introduction of continental feudalism into England.

  • 1070, Chester besieged by the Normans, Wulf son of Harold and Ealdgyth, taken hostage as a babe when Chester opened its gates to William. Work starts on Chester Castle under Gherbod the Fleming (this date is subject to debate)
  • 1086, in an engraving of the coat of arms of Hugh of Avranches, first Norman Earl of Chester, the artist has gave the head of the wolf a wide grin, which might be mistaken for that of a cat - this has been suggested as the origin of the Cheshire Cat.
  • 1087, King Philip of France described the portly William I as looking like a pregnant woman. William mounted a furious attack on Philip's territory, and burned Mantes. His horse stood on an ember and William was thrown against the pommel of his saddle so violently that "his intestines burst". He lingered for five weeks, but on September 9, 1087 died.

[edit] William II [Willam Rufus] (9 September 1087 — 2 August 1100)

Commonly known as 'William Rufus', perhaps because of his florid, red-faced appearance. He was an effective soldier, a ruthless ruler and, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 'hated by almost all his people.' English Church chroniclers took a dim view of William's reign, accusing him of being homosexual. According to Norman tradition, William scorned the English and their culture.

  • 1092 Hugh of Avranches granted Chester abbey, all the tolls, rents, and issues of a fair lasting three days about the feast of St. Werburg 'in the summer' (20–22 June), and assigned jurisdiction over it to the abbot's court and the proceeds to the monks.
  • c.1093 Gruffydd ap Cynan exhibited at Chester market in chains and released by a young Welshman visiting 'to buy necessities'. St Anselm found the Benedictine monastery in Chester: see (Chester Cathedral). According to the Chester Annals: "Anselm .. on the invitation of the noble prince, earl Hugh, he came to Chester, and there founded the abbey in honour of S. Werburg, and, having assembled the monks together, he appointed Richard, a monk of Bec, the first abbot. Having done this, in the same year, upon his return from Chester, he was made archbishop of Canterbury."
  • 1095, William II invades Wales - his army was unable to draw the Welsh to battle and returned to Chester without having achieved very much
  • 1097, King Willam mounted a second invasion of Wales, but again without much success
  • 1098, Hugh of Avranches marched from Chester as joint leader of an ill-fated expedition to Anglesey. This time, Earl Hugh joined with Earl Hugh of Shrewsbury in another attempt to recover his losses in Gwynedd. Gruffydd and his ally Cadwgan ap Bleddyn retreated to Anglesey, but then were forced to flee to Ireland in a skiff when a fleet he had hired from the Scandinavian settlement in Ireland accepted a better offer from the Normans and changed sides. The expedition became a disaster for almost everyone involved when the Norse fleet turned up and the Earl of Shrewsbury was shot by an arrow said to have been fired by Magnus III of Norway. See Gerald of Wales for more on this
  • 1101, William II killed in a "hunting accident" his body is abandoned by his nobles at the place where he fell. William's younger brother, Henry, hastens to Winchester to secure the royal treasury, then to London, where he is crowned within days. It is left to a local charcoal-burner named Purkis to take the king's body to Winchester Cathedral on his cart

[edit] Henry I [Beauclerc] (3 August 1100–1 December 1135)

Called "Beauclerc" for his scholarly interests and "Lion of Justice" for refinements which he brought about in the rudimentary administrative and legislative machinery of the time.Henry's reign is noted for its political opportunism - his succession was confirmed while his brother Robert was away on the First Crusade and the beginning of his reign was occupied by wars with Robert for control of England and Normandy. In the 12th century, though Chester was clearly regarded as a prosperous town, there are hints that it was very dependent on external trade. William of Malmesbury, for example, noted that while its hinterland abounded in beasts and fish, especially salmon, it was unproductive of cereals, which had to be imported from Ireland. Somewhat later the monk Lucian also praised the woods, pastures, beasts, and fisheries of the Cestrians, but also remarked that they were well placed to obtain supplies not only locally but from Wales and Ireland. There was a market in the city immediately south of St. Peter's church.This was fronted in the 1120s by important buildings, including the sheriff's house and a 'great shop' (magna sopa).

  • 1101, Hugh of Avranches dies, July 27. Richard of Avranches becomes second earl. (mcj Defuncto Hugone comite cestrensi principe nobili. Ricardus puer vij annorum comitatum suscepit. - The noble prince Hugh [Lupus, 1st], earl of Chester, being dead, Richard, a boy of seven years of age, inherited the earldom)
  • 1102, Abbot Robert I of the monastery of (Bury) St. Edmund(s), illegitimate son of Hugh of Avranches, earl of Chester, is deposed for simony by St. Anselm.
  • 1110, Chester Annals record: "King Henry, son of William the bastard, gave [Matilda] his daughter in marriage to Udescalcus, emperor of Germany, who now lies buried at Chester".
  • 1115 (mcxv Ricardus comes Cestriæ duxit uxorem Mathildam neptem Henrici regis filiam Stephani comitis - Richard, earl of Chester, took to wife Matilda, niece of king Henry [I.], daughter of earl Stephen.)
  • 1116, Death of Richard, first abbot of Chester.
  • 1119, the earliest record of Hoole in the Chartulary of the abbey of St. Werburgh.
  • 1120, the line of the d'Avranches as Earls of Chester fails when Richard of Avranches is drowned on the White Ship. See this site for more detail. (Obiit Robertus Prior. In die S. Katerine filius regis et Ricardus comes Cestrie cum uxore sua et multis aliis submersi sunt apud Barbelfleo - Robert, the prior [of S. Werburg], died. On S. Catherine's Day [Nov. 25], the king's son [William] and Richard, earl of Chester, with his wife and many others, were drowned near Barfleur.)
  • 1121, Ranulf de Meschines "le Briquessart" (1074-1128) becomes Earl of Chester. Chester Annals briefly records that "William was elected abbot" (Willelmus abbas effectus) - the abbots post had been vacant during the last years of the life of Richard of Avranches.
  • 1128, Ranulf de Gernon inherited the palatine earldom, aged 28 (cxxviij Obiit Godefridus abbas Scropesburiensis. Obiit Ranulphus Miscinus comes Cestrie cui successit Rannulphus comes filius ejus - Godfrey, abbot of Shrewsbury, died. Randle Meschines, earl of Chester, died, and was succeeded, as earl, by his son Randle II)
  • 1134, The Annals record that Norton Priory "founded by William, son of Nigel, constable of Chester". William "FitzNigel" was Baron of Halton. They may have their dates slightly wrong - William is believed to have died in 1134 and be buried at Chester.
  • 1135, Henry I died on 1 December 1135 of food poisoning from eating "a surfeit of lampreys" (of which he was excessively fond) at Saint-Denis-en-Lyons (now Lyons-la-Forêt) in Normandy. His remains (after the extraction of the brains and intestines) were sewn into the hide of a bull to preserve them on the journey, and then taken back to England. A later writer recorded: "the man, indeed, who had been hired, at great expense, to extract the brain, became infected, as it is said, from the intolerable stench and died."

[edit] Stephen [of Blois] (22 December 1135 – 25 October 1154)

An unfavourable thumbnail sketch of Stephen is given by Walter Map (who wrote during the reign of Matilda's son Henry II): "A man of a certain age, remarkably hard-working but otherwise a nonentity [idiota] or perhaps rather inclined to evil." The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Peterborough Chronicle, second continuation) provides a more favourable picture of Stephen, but depicts a turbulent reign:- "In the days of this King there was nothing but strife, evil, and robbery, for quickly the great men who were traitors rose against him. When the traitors saw that Stephen was a good-humoured, kindly, and easy-going man who inflicted no punishment, then they committed all manner of horrible crimes . . . And so it lasted for nineteen years while Stephen was King, till the land was all undone and darkened with such deeds, and men said openly that Christ and his angels slept".

  • 1138 Chester Annals records "Bellum inter Gallos et Scocios" - a battle between the French and the Scots. It is possible that the chronicler intended to describe the forces of Stephen, who were chiefly Normans, as the French. The battle is otherwise known as the Battle of the Standard
  • 1140, Major fire in Chester. (mcxlij kal. Julii urbs cestria combusta et castellum de Bromfeld v non. Martii. iij non. octobris obiit Willelmus abbas Cestrie cui successit Radulphus abbas xi kal. Feb. - The city of Chester was burned down on June 30, and thecastle of Bromfield on March 3. October 5, William, abbot of Chester, died. Ralph succeeded him as [third] abbot on January 22 [1141].) Ranulf de Gernon (supporting Matilda) takes Lincoln.
  • 1141, Battle of Lincoln, (mcxlj iijo non. Februarii Stephanus rex Anglie a duobus comittibus, id est, a Ranulpho comite Cestriæ et a Roberto comite Gloucestrie captus in bello apud Lincolniam - On February 3, Stephen, king of England, was made prisoner in battle at Lincoln by two earls, namely, Randle, earl of Chester, and Robert, earl of Gloucester.)
  • 1146, Ranulf de Gernon accused of treason by Stephen, arrested and imprisoned in chains until his friends succeeded in coming to terms with the King (28 August 1146). (mcxlvj Ranulphus comes de Cestrie dolo captus est a rege Stephano apud Northamantiam iiij kal. Septembris. Quo audito Walenses vastaverunt provinciam. Contra quos Robertus dapifer cum paucis armatis perrexit ad bellum, et multa millia occidit apud Wichum iij non. Septembris - Randle, earl of Chester, was made prisoner by stratagem by king Stephen at Northampton, August 29. When the Welsh heard of it, they laid waste the province [of Chester]. Against whom Robert [de Montalt] the seneschal [of Chester] advanced to battle with a few armed men, and killed many thousands at Nantwich on September 3)
  • 1147, (mcxlvij Natus comes Hugo II - Hugh II, earl [of Chester], was born)
  • 1153 Ranulf de Gernon survived a failed attempt at murder by poison by one of his arch-enemies, William son of William Peverel of Nottingham. Ranulf died later the same year (possibly of the poison). Hugh of Cyfeiliog (1147 – June 30, 1181) becomes Earl of Chester at the agae of six. (mcliij Obiit Stephanus Rex Angliæ. Obiit Ranulphus II. comes Cestrie, et Eustachius filius Stephani - Stephen, king of England, died. Randle, earl of Chester, and Eustace, son of king Stephen, died.)

[edit] Henry II (25 October 1154-6 July 1189)

Like his grandfather, Henry II had an outstanding knowledge of the law. A talented linguist and excellent Latin speaker, he would sit on councils in person whenever possible. His led a frugal lifestyle: dressed casually except when tradition dictated otherwise and ate a sparing diet. Henry also had a good sense of humour and was never upset at being the butt of the joke. Unfortunately, he is best remembered for his involvement in the murder of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury

  • 1157, During the minority of Hugh of Cyfeiliog, Henry II receives the homage of Malcolm IV (Máel Coluim mac Eanric), king of Scots, in Chester before invading north Wales (Henry refuses to allow Malcolm to keep Cumbria, or allow his brother William to keep Northumbria, but instead grants the Earldom of Huntingdon to Malcolm, for which Malcolm does homage at Chester)
  • 1169 (mclxix In hoc anno factus Hugo comes Cestrie miles, eodem vero anno duxit Hugo comes Cestrie uxorem filiam Simonis comitis Ebroensis nomine Bertrad quam Rex Henricus II. Angliæ ei tradidit quia ipsius cognata fuit. - In this year Hugh [II., Kyveliock], earl of Chester, was made a knight. In the same year, Hugh, earl of Chester, took to wife Bertrada, daughter of Simon, count of Evreux. Henry II., king of England, gave her to [the earl] because she was his own [the king's] cousin.)
  • 1170 (Hic natus Ranulphus III. filius Hugonis comes Cestrie. In hoc etiam anno interfecit Hugo comes Cestrie magnam multitudinem Walensium juxta pontem de Baldert de quorum capitibus factum unum de aggeribus apud Hospitalem infirmorum extra Cestriam - This year Randle III., son of Hugh, earl of Chester, was born. In this year also Hugh, earl of Chester, slew a great multitude of Welshmen, near the bridge of Baldert, of whose heads one of the mounds at the hospital for the sick outside Chester is formed.) Thomas Becket was slain at Canterbury - a decorative boss at Chester Cathedral illustrates his murder (Becket was later voted Worst Britain of the 12th Century)
  • 1174 Some sources say that Hugh of Cyfeiliog captured at Alnwick (he seems to have been captured at Dol).
  • 1180, Major fire destroys much of Chester. The mint is closed.
  • 1189, Ranulf of Blundeville married to Constance of Brittany, the widow of Henry II’s son Geoffrey, and the mother of Arthur of Brittany, with whom King John contested the succession. Weak, ill, and deserted by all but an illegitimate son, Geoffrey, Archbishop of York, Henry II died at Chinon on 6 July 1189. His legitimate children, chroniclers record him saying, were "the real bastards."

[edit] Richard I [The Lionheart] (6 July 1189 – 6 April 1199)

Richard described England as "cold and always raining" and spent only six months of his reign there while siphoning the kingdom's resources to support his Crusade. According to William Stubbs: "He was a bad king: his great exploits, his military skill, his splendour and extravagance, his poetical tastes, his adventurous spirit, do not serve to cloak his entire want of sympathy, or even consideration, for his people. He was no Englishman, but it does not follow that he gave to Normandy, Anjou, or Aquitaine the love or care that he denied to his kingdom. His ambition was that of a mere warrior: he would fight for anything whatever, but he would sell everything that was worth fighting for. The glory that he sought was that of victory rather than conquest."

  • 1193 In the early evening of March 25, 1199, Richard was walking around a castle he was besieging. One defender in particular was of great amusement to the king — a man standing on the walls, crossbow in one hand, the other clutching a frying pan which he had been using all day as a shield to beat off missiles. He deliberately aimed an arrow at the king, which the king applauded. However, another arrow then struck him in the left shoulder near the neck. A surgeon, called a 'butcher' by Hoveden, removed it, 'carelessly mangling' the King's arm in the process. The wound swiftly became gangrenous. Richard asked to have the crossbowman (a boy) brought before him. Richard, as a last act of mercy, forgave the boy his crime and died. His last act of chivalry proved fruitless as mercenary captain Mercadier had the crossbowman skinned alive and hanged as soon as Richard died.

[edit] John [Lackland] (6 April 1199 – 18/19 October 1216)

King John's reign has been traditionally characterised as one of the most disastrous in English history: it began with defeats—he lost Normandy to Philip Augustus of France in his first five years on the throne—and ended with England torn by civil war (The First Barons' War), the Crown Jewels lost and himself on the verge of being forced out of power. In 1213, he made England a papal fief to resolve a conflict with the Roman Catholic Church, and his rebellious barons forced him to sign the Magna Carta in 1215.

  • 1209, Basingwerk castle burnt by Ranulf of Blundeville, Earl of Chester, after complaints from the monks of Chester that they had lost the Well Church at Basingwerk during the wars with the Welsh Princes. Ranulf had the castle rebuilt to protect the many pilgrims to the Well Church.
  • 1214, Ranulf of Blundeville established the abbey of Dieulacres at Abbey Green, nr Leek, Staffordshire. The story is that Ranulf de Blundeville had a vision one night in bed. His grandfather, Ranulf de Gernons, appeared and instructed his grandson to go to Cholpesdale, in the territory of Leek, and found a Cistercian abbey there on the site of the former chapel of St. Mary the Virgin there, and to provide it with buildings and ample possessions. Ranulf de Gernons also ordered that in the seventh year of the interdict that would be placed upon England, his grandson should transfer to this new site the Cistercians of Poulton. Apparently, when Ranulf de Blundeville told his wife of this vision she exclaimed in French ‘deux encres’ – ‘may god grant it increase’. Thereupon Ranulf fixed the name.
  • 1216, Before John's death, rebel barons had offered the throne of England to Louis, the heir to the French throne. Louis had invaded the country during the summer of 1216 and had taken Winchester. Ranulf of Blundeville put his political weight behind re-issuing the Magna Carta in 1216 and 1217. Retreating from the French invasion, John took a safe route around the marshy area of the Wash to avoid the rebel held area of East Anglia. His slow baggage train (including the Crown Jewels), however, took a direct route across it and was lost to the unexpected incoming tide. This dealt John a terrible blow, which affected his health and state of mind. Succumbing to dysentery and moving from place to place, he stayed one night at Sleaford Castle before dying on 18 October (or possibly 19 October) 1216, at Newark Castle (then in Lincolnshire, now on Nottinghamshire's border with that county). Numerous, possibly fictitious, accounts circulated soon after his death that he had been killed by poisoned ale, poisoned plums or a "surfeit of peaches".

[edit] Henry III (18-19 October 1216 - 16 November 1272)

Henry was the first child king in England since Ethelred the Unready. Despite his long reign, his personal accomplishments were slim and, weak and vacillating, he was a political and military failure. Henry was much taken with the cult of the Anglo-Saxon saint king Edward the Confessor who had been canonised in 1161, and took to dressing like him. By the 1230s Chester was a prosperous trading centre with a market of regional importance, two fairs, and a port. Its economy continued to expand, stimulated by royal interest and its role as a supply centre for royal enterprises in Wales, which more than compensated for the resultant temporary interruptions to the Welsh trade.

  • 1218, 11 February - letters of safe conduct were issued for Prince Llywelyn ab Iorwerth to come to Worcester. The next day Earl Ranulf of Chester, Walter Lacy, Hugh Mortimer, John Fitz Alan, Walter and Roger Clifford were ordered to conduct him hither to pay homage to the king
  • 1222, according to Picturesque England King John visits Chester for a few days. This must count as a miracle since he died in 1216 (and this just goes to prove you can't believe everything you read on the web). Comet Halley returned as well.
  • 1227, The Dee Bridge collapses during a flood
  • 1232, Ranulf of Blundeville dies, aged 60. His heart was buried at Wallingford Castle, while his body was buried at St Werburg's, Chester, Cheshire. His earldom of Chester went to the son of his sister Maud of Chester, John Canmore known as "John the Scot".
  • 1264, Henry III defeated and taken prisoner by Simon de Montfort's army and reduced to being a figurehead king. Henry III and Prince Edward (Lord of Chester) placed under house arrest. Simon de Montfort becomes Earl of Chester (until 1265).
  • 1267 Royalist supporters of Henry III besieged Luke de Taney (he of the battle of Orewin Bridge), Simon de Montfort's justice of Chester, in Chester castle during the Second Baron's War

[edit] Edward I [Hammer of the Scots] (20 November 1272 – 7 July 1307)

Unlike his father, Henry III, Edward I took great interest in the workings of his government and undertook a number of reforms to regain royal control in government and administration. The late 13th and early 14th century probably saw the peak of Chester's prosperity in the Middle Ages. Though there was a corn market in Eastgate Street by the 1270s, and though some corn was undoubtedly grown in the county and by the citizens themselves in the town fields, considerable quantities of wheat and barley had to be brought in from further afield, principally Ireland. The grain was not simply for home consumption: the city also acted as a centre for distribution throughout its region. Although trade with the native Welsh was suspended during Edward I's campaigns, such disruption was more than counterbalanced by the citizens' provisioning of the English armies. Trade rose to a peak during the campaign of 1282-3, when foodstuffs, including peas, beans, wine, salmon, cheese, and salted meat as well as corn, flowed through Chester in quantities which far exceeded those from any other province apart from Ponthieu. With the establishment of peace Chester resumed its wider distributive role. The extremely high tax income of the Dee Mills throughout the 13th and earlier 14th century perhaps reflected toll income resulting from Chester's role as an entry-port for wheat, oats, barley, and malt.

  • 1275, Edward called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llywelyn_ap_Gruffydd" class="external t