as Frodsham, Macclesfield in Cheshire and Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire. In addition to the manors which were held by sub-tenants the earl, of course, had manors of his own and he owned several castles, too, in the County of Chester, including Chester Castle and Shotwick Castle. When he became earl of Lincoln he acquired or built the castles of; Lincoln Castle, Bolingbroke Castle, Beeston Castle and Chartley Castle. In his capacity as Viscount of Avranches, he would have also owned Château d'Avranches until 1204. He also was temporarily the Castellan of the important Oxfordshire castle Wallingford Castle. Chronology of Ranulf's career Early career In 1188 or 1189, he was married to the Duchess Constance of Brittany, the widow of Henry II's son Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany, and mother of Arthur of Brittany, with whom King John contested the succession to the crown of England. King Richard I of England, John's brother, had no known legitimate issue. The king had named Arthur of Brittany as his adopted son and heir to the crown of England. Henry did not envy the Duchess and wanted her married to a magnate whom he could trust. The marriage gave Ranulf control of the earldom of Richmond, but it wasn't a success, and they separated. In 1196, King Richard I nominated the nine-year-old Arthur as his heir, and summoned him and his mother, Duchess Constance, to Normandy. Constance left Nantes and travelled towards Rouen. On the way, she was abducted by her estranged husband. Richard, furious, marched to Brittany at the head of an army, intent on rescuing his nephew. Arthur was secretly taken away by his tutor to the French court to be brought up with Louis, son of the French king Philip II. In 1199, Constance escaped from her husband and their marriage was dissolved on the grounds of desertion. In 1200 Ranulf cemented his power in Normandy by marrying Clemence of Fougères; she was the daughter of William of Fougères, widow of Alan de Dinant, and sister of Geoffrey of Fougères. He had opposed John's attempted coup of 1193–4, and retained many contacts with partisans of his former stepson Arthur. He spent most of 1199–1204 in France and his continued loyalty was bought by John with further patronage. However, the King was suspicious of the Earl, perhaps with some reason. In the winter of 1204–5, Ranulph, suspected of dealings with the rebellious