'Raised from the dust?' : networks, careerism, and the middling sort in the Earldom of Chester, c.1150-c.1230

This thesis examines the careers of middling individuals in the Earldom of Chester c.1150 - c.1230. It identifies two key issues with the existing scholarship on medieval careers: firstly, an overreliance on those active in royal circles, and secondly the lack of a comparative approach which examines the similarities and differences in the career experiences of individuals active in different social milieus. This thesis builds on previous scholarship by adopting similar methodological approaches and applying them to a regional study of careers in the Earldom of Chester. One of the first of its kind to do so in this setting, it conducts case studies of individuals drawn from a wide variety of social milieus in Cheshire and the midlands, examining the careers of minor aristocrats, clerics, and burgesses to uncover the common foundations of career success. What is revealed is that a common set of factors underlay career success for individuals in each social milieu this thesis examines, albeit relied upon to differing degrees. These were service to social superiors, networking with others in the local community, and, to a lesser extent, familial links both ancestral and contemporary. In the process, this thesis has shed new light upon the inner workings of the earldom, its networks, and the careers of those within, as well as provided a methodological framework (in its comparative approach) for other studies of medieval careers to expand upon.