Roger de Lacy was also known as Roger FitzJohn and during the time that he was hoping to inherit his grandmother's de Lisours lands as Roger de Lisours. He was the son of John fitz Richard, Baron of Halton, Lord of Bowland, Lord of Flamborough and Constable of Chester. Roger became Baron of Pontefract on the death of his paternal grandmother Albreda de Lisours who had inherited the Barony in her own right as 1st-cousin and heir to Robert de Lacy, Baron of Pontefract. In agreements with his grandmother Roger adopted the name of de Lacy, received the right to inherit the Barony of Pontefract and its lands, and the lands of Bowland, and Blackburnshire. He gave up all claims to his grandmother's de Lisours lands. He also gave his younger brother Robert le Constable the Flamborough lands that he had inherited from his father. He married Maud de Clere.
At the accession of King John of England, Roger was a person of great eminence, for we find him shortly after the coronation of that prince, deputed with the Sheriff of Northumberland, and other great men, to conduct William, King of Scotland, to Lincoln, where the English king had fixed to give him an interview. King John gave de Lacy Pontefract Castle in 1199, the year he ascended the throne.
Roger was the Constable of Chester, and joined Richard the Lionheart for the Third Crusade. Roger assisted at the Siege of Acre, in 1192 and clearly earned the favour and the trust of King Richard as a soldier and loyal subject as judged by his subsequent service.
King Richard reconquered some castles along his Norman border from Philip II of France in 1196 and de Lacy was likely in his retinue. In 1203, de Lacy was the commander of the Château Gaillard in Normandy, when it was besieged and finally taken by Philip, marking the loss of mainland Normandy by the Plantagenêts. Under de Lacy's command the defence of the castle was lengthy, and it fell only after an eight-month siege on 8 March 1204. After the siege, de Lacy returned to England to begin work reinforcing Pontefract Castle.
Siege of Rothelan
In the time of this Roger, Ranulph, Earl of Chester, having entered Wales at the head of some forces, was compelled, by superior numbers, to shut himself up in the castle of Rothelan, where, being closely besieged by the Welsh, he sent for aid to the Constable of Chester. Hugh Lupus, the 1st Earl of Chester, in his charter of foundation of the Abbey of St. Werberg, at Chester, had given a privilege to the frequenters of Chester fair, "That they should not be apprehended for theft, or any other offense during the time of the fair, unless the crime was committed therein." This privilege made the fair, of course, the resort of thieves and vagabonds from all parts of the kingdom. Accordingly, the Constable, Roger de Lacy, forthwith marched to his relief, at the head of a concourse of people, then collected at the fair of Chester, consisting of minstrels, and loose characters of all description, forming altogether so numerous a body, that the besiegers, at their approach, mistaking them for soldiers, immediately raised the siege. For this timely service, the Earl of Chester conferred upon De Lacy and his heirs, the patronage of all the minstrels in those parts, which patronage the Constable transferred to his steward; and was enjoyed for many years afterwards.
