Hugh d'Avranches (died 1101)

A Norman baron, with the nickname Lupus, meaning 'fat', who became Earl of Chester in 1070. In the 1080s, together with his cousin Robert of Rhuddlan, Hugh advanced into north Wales building castles at Bangor and Caernarfon. He supported William Rufus against Odo and the king's brother Robert Curthose in 1087. In 1092 Hugh founded the abbey of St Werburgh in Chester which later became Chester cathedral. On the death of his cousin Robert in 1093, Hugh acquired the overlordship of Gwynedd in north Wales and crushed a Welsh revolt in 1094-8.