Welsh and of contemplating revolt himself, had extensive estates temporarily confiscated by the king. This episode apparently convinced Ranulph to show loyalty in future. Thereafter he was showered with royal favours. In return he fought John's Welsh wars 1209–12; helped secure the peace with the pope in 1213–14, and was with the king in Poitou in 1214. Loyal to the king in 1215–16, he was one of the few magnates to witness Magna Carta of 1215, which he would later adapt to appease his own barons in the form of the Magna Carta of Chester. He played a leading military role in the civil war by virtue of his extensive estates and numerous castles. Ranulf stood with William Marshal and the earls of Derby and Warwick with the king, whilst the other nobility of the land stood with the enemy or remained aloof from the conflict. Regency Chester was appointed in 1215 Lord of the County of Lancashire with the power to appoint sheriffs. He was also High Sheriff of Lancashire, High Sheriff of Staffordshire and High Sheriff of Shropshire in 1216. On John's death in 1216, Ranulf's influence increased further. There was an expectation at Gloucester that Ranulf would contend the regency for the young Henry III. Events moved quickly at Gloucester, where William Marshal and the young king were, in Ranulph's absence. The Marshal was put forward and offered the regency by the nobility and clerics gathered at Gloucester before the arrival of Ranulph. There was concern that Ranulph might object to the decision, but when he arrived (29 October 1216) he stated that he did not want to be regent, so any potential conflict vanished. Campaign of 1217 Before John's death, rebel barons had offered the throne of England to Louis, the dauphin. Louis had invaded the country during the summer of 1216 and had taken Winchester. De Blondeville put his political weight behind re-issuing Magna Carta in 1216 and 1217; his military experience was used in defeating the rebels at Lincoln in 1217. Ranulph was based in the north midlands and was charged with stopping the northern barons from linking up with Louis in the south. The Earl chose to combine personal concerns with those of the country by attacking Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester's castle at Mountsorrel in Leicestershire—from which the Earl of Winchester's predecessors had ousted Ranulph's grandfather, Ranulf de Gernon. Louis