The Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in

medieval England England in the Middle Ages concerns the history of England during the medieval period, from the end of the 5th century through to the start of the Early Modern period in 1485. When England emerged from the collapse of the Roman Empire, the econ ...

, extending principally over the counties of

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

and

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs apparent to the English throne, and after 1707 the British throne. From the late 14th century, it has been given only in conjunction with that of

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...

Honour of Chester and County Palatinate

The County of Cheshire was held by the powerful Earls (or "Counts" from the Norman-French) of Chester from the late eleventh century, and they held land all over England, comprising "the

honour Honour (British English) or honor (American English; see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of social teaching and of personal ethos, that manifests itself as a ...

of Chester". By the late twelfth century (if not earlier) the earls had established a position of power as ''quasi''-princely rulers of Cheshire that led to the later establishment of the County Palatine of Chester and

Flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start ...

. Such was their power that ''

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by t ...

'' set down by King John did not apply to Cheshire and the sixth earl was compelled to issue his own version.

County palatine

Wales 1234 (Marchia Wallie and Pura Wallia)

The earldom passed to the Crown by escheat in 1237 on the death of John the Scot, Earl of Huntingdon, seventh and last of the Earls. William III de Forz, 4th Earl of Albemarle, claimed the earldom as husband of Christina, the senior co-heir, but the king persuaded them to quitclaim their rights in 1241 in exchange for modest lands elsewhere. The other co-heiresses did likewise. It was annexed to the Crown in 1246. King Henry III then passed the Lordship of Chester, but not the title of Earl, to his son, the Lord Edward, in 1254; as King

Edward I Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vas ...

, this son in turn conferred the title and lands of the Earldom on his son, Edward, the first English

. By that time, the Earldom of Chester consisted of two counties:

and

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

. The establishment of royal control of the Earldom of Chester made possible King Edward I's conquest of

north Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, ...

, and

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

played a vital part as a supply base during the Welsh Wars (1275–84), so the separate organisation of a county palatine was preserved. This continued until the time of King

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

. Since 1301, the Earldom of Chester has always been conferred on the Princes of Wales. Briefly promoted to a

principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall un ...

in 1398 by King

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward the Black Prince, Prince of Wales, and Joan, Countess of Kent. Richard's father ...

, who titled himself "Prince of Chester", it was reduced to an earldom again in 1399 by King Henry IV. Whereas the Sovereign's eldest son is automatically

Duke of Cornwall Duke of Cornwall is a title in the Peerage of England, traditionally held by the eldest son of the reigning British monarch, previously the English monarch. The duchy of Cornwall was the first duchy created in England and was established by a r ...

, he must be made or created Earl of Chester as well as Prince of Wales. The independent palatinate jurisdiction of Chester survived until the time of King Henry VIII (1536), when the earldom was brought more directly under the control of the Crown. The palatinate courts of Great Sessions and Exchequer survived until the reforms of 1830. The importance of the County Palatinate of Chester is shown by the survival of

Chester Herald Chester Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. The office of Chester Herald dates from the 14th century, and it is reputed that the holder was herald to Edward, Prince of Wales, also known as the Bla ...

in the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sover ...

for some six hundred years. The office has anciently been nominally under the jurisdiction of

Norroy King of Arms Norroy and Ulster King of Arms is the Provincial King of Arms at the College of Heralds with jurisdiction over England north of the Trent and Northern Ireland. The two offices of Norroy and Ulster were formerly separate. Norroy King of Arms is ...

Revenues

In the year 1377, the revenues of the Earldom were recorded as follows:

County of Chester

:Fee-Farm of city of Chester – £22 2 4 1/2, : Escheated lands of said city – £0 7 0, :Rents of the Manor of Dracklow and Rudeheath – £26 2 6, :Farm of Medywick – £21 6 0, :Profits of Mara and Modren – £34 0 9, :Profits of

Shotwick Shotwick is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Puddington, on the southern end of the Wirral Peninsula in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The village ...

Manor and Park – £23 19 0, :Mills upon River Dee – £11 0 0, :Annual profits of Fordham Manor – £48 0 0, :Profits of Macklefield Hundred – £6 1 8, :Farm of Macklefield Borough – £16 1 3, :Profits of the forest of Macklefield £85 12 11 3/4, :Profits of escheater of Chester – £24 19 0, :Profits of the sheriff of said county – £43 12 3, :Profits of the Chamberlain of county – £55 14 0.

County of Flint

:Yearly value of Ellow – £20 8 0, :Farm of the town of

– £33 19 4, :Farm of Cayrouse – £7 2 4, :Castle of Ruthlam – £5 12 10, :Rents and profits of Mosten – £7 0 0, :Rents and profits of Colshil – £54 16 0, :Rents of Ruthlam town – £44 17 6, :Lands of Englefield (yearly) – £23 10 0, :Profits of Vayvol – £5 9 0, :Profits of the office of escheator – £6 11 9, :Mines of Cole and Wood within Manor of Mosten – £0 10 0, :Office of the sheriff in rents and casualties – £120 0 0, :Mines and profits of the Fairs of Northope – £3 9 2, :Casualties was lastly – £37 0 8. Total income was £418 1 2 3/4 from Cheshire and £181 6 0 from Flintshire.

List of the Earls of Chester

First Creation (1067–1070)

* Gerbod the Fleming, 1st Earl of Chester

Second Creation (1071)

*1071–1101 Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester (died 1101) *1101–1120 Richard d'Avranches, 2nd Earl of Chester (1094–1120) *1120–1129

Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester Ranulf le Meschin, 3rd Earl of Chester (1070−1129) was a Norman magnate based in northern and central England. Originating in Bessin in Normandy, Ranulf made his career in England thanks to his kinship with Hugh d'Avranches - the Earl of Chest ...

(died c. 1129) *1129–1153 Ranulf de Gernon, 4th Earl of Chester (died c. 1153) *1153–1181 Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester (1147–1181) *1181–1232

Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester and 1st Earl of Lincoln (1170–26 October 1232), known in some references as the 4th Earl of Chester (in the second lineage of the title after the original family line was broken after the 2nd Earl), w ...

(c. 1172–1232) *1232–1232

Matilda of Chester Matilda of Chester, Countess of Huntingdon (1171 – 6 January 1233) was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman, sometimes known as Maud and sometimes known with the surname de Kevelioc. She was a daughter of Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester, and the ...

, Countess of Chester '' suo jure'' (1171–1233) (Inherited Oct 1232 ''inter vivos'' gift to son Nov 1232) *1232–1237 John of Scotland, 7th Earl of Chester (c. 1207–1237) (dates above are approximate)

Third Creation (1254)

* Edward, Lord of Chester, but without the title of earl (1239–1307) (became King Edward I in 1272)

Fourth Creation (1264)

* Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, 1st Earl of Chester (1208–1265) (forfeit 1265) (There is no evidence that Alphonso, elder son of Edward I, was created earl of Chester, although he was styled as such)

Fifth Creation (1301)

* Edward of Caernarvon, Earl of Chester (1284–1327) (became King Edward II in 1307)

Sixth Creation (1312)

* Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Chester (1312–1377) (became King Edward III in 1327) ''Thereafter, the Earldom of Chester was created in conjunction with the Principality of Wales. See

for further Earls of Chester.''

Other associations

* ''Earl of Chester'' was one of the

GWR 3031 Class The Dean Single, 3031 Class, or Achilles Class was a type of steam locomotive built by the British Great Western Railway between 1891 and 1899. They were designed by William Dean for passenger work. The first 30 members of the class were built ...

locomotives that were built for and ran on the Great Western Railway between 1891 and 1915.