The rule of the Norman Earls of Chester may be said to have extended over a period of about one hundred and sixty-seven years--that is to say, from the time of the grant to Hugh Lupus down to the death of John the Scot, when, he having died in 1237 without male issue, the Crown seized the Earldom. King Henry III. then gave it to his son, Prince Edward, probably in 1245 (together with other possessions), on his marriage with the Princess Eleanor of Castile. Two years after this the new Earl--the first of the royal Earls of Chester--made his public entry into his county palatine, and in its ancient metropolis received the homage of his officers and military tenants. The entry in the _Chronicle_ of St. Werburgh’s Abbey recording the event runs thus:-- “1236. On the Feast of Kenelm (July 17) The Lord Edward, Earl of Chester, entered Chester for the first time, and was received with all due respect, as well the Clergy as the laity having gone forth to meet him. Having remained three days to receive the homage and fealty, as well of the Nobles of Chester as of Wales, he set out for Wales, to inspect his lands and Castles there, and returning on the day of the invention (or finding) of (the relics of) S. Stephen, August 3rd, he left Chester and returned to England,[3] going by way of Darnall.” [3] Observe the expression “left Chester and returned to England.” Cheshire was a separate state apart from England. On Prince Edward succeeding to the throne, he relinquished the Earldom in favour of his eldest son. His successors, on being invested with the executive power when they created their heirs-apparent to the Crown Princes of Wales, at the same time invested them with the Earldom. The oldest title the present King when Prince of Wales held was that of Earl of Chester. The greater part of the present county of Flint was held by the Norman Earls before the conquest of Wales. King Edward I., after he had created it into a separate county, attached it to the “Sword of Chester” as presently described. It is evident that it was considered an important appanage to the Earldom, as from time to time the name Flint has been associated with that of Chester, the title adopted being that of Earl of Chester and Flint. Edward of Windsor, eldest son of Edward II., was summoned to Parliament by the name of Earl of Chester and Flint, “since which time it has been continued as a title in the Princes of Wales; and there you will be sure to find who were Earls of Flint,” says Peter Heylyn in his _Help to English History_. The last Prince of Wales summoned by that title to Parliament was Prince George, afterwards George II., in 1714. If the reigning sovereign had no son to succeed him, the Earldom appears to have been retained by the Crown until a new creation. This was so in the case of Richard II., who styled himself Prince of Chester, and created the county palatine a principality. This, however, was revoked in the following reign.