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Birth:          BEF 1040 Hereford, England
Death:          ABT 1096 on the road to Palestine during Crusade

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_de_Beaumont,_2nd_Earl_of_Leicester
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_de_Gael
the Revolt of the Earls, the last serious revolt against William the Conqueror.
Birth[edit]

Ralph was born before 1042, most probably about 1040 in Hereford, as not later than 
1060 he attested, in company with other Bretons, a notification at Angers as son of 
Ralph the Staller.

Inheritances[edit]

He inherited the great Breton barony of Gaël, which comprised more than forty 
parishes. In England, whether by inheritance or by grant from the Crown, he held large 
estates in Norfolk, as well as property in Suffolk, Essex, Hertford, and possibly other 
counties. In some of these estates he certainly succeeded his father, but it is not 
known whether he obtained the Earldom immediately on his father’s death.

Up to 1074[edit]
In 1065 he was with Conan II, Duke of Brittany when he besieged Rivallon I of Dol, 
Lord of Dol, in the castle of Combourg.
In 1066 he fought on the Norman side at the Battle of Hastings.
In February or March 1068 he was present at William the Conqueror’s court with his 
father.
In 1069 he routed a force of Norsemen which had invaded Norfolk and occupied 
Norwich. It may been in recognition of this exploit (or of services rendered at 
Hastings) that the Conqueror created him Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk, or the East 
Angles, the Earldom being also styled, from its capital, of Norwich.
It is presumably this Ralph who, on 13 April 1069 was with the King at Winchester and 
witnessed, as Earl Ralph, a diploma in favour of St.Denis of Paris and in the same 
year witnessed, as Earl Ralph, a grant in favour of the Bishop of Essex.
1074- It is possible that Ralph defended Dol when the Conqueror besieged it 
unsuccessfully in 1074, although it is more likely that Ralph was in Dol during the 
revolts against Hoel II, Duke of Brittany and that William came to Dol in defense of 
Hoel. [1]

Ralph built a church in Norwich, in the new town, and give it to his chaplains; but 
there is no record of religious benefactions by him in Brittany.

Marriage[edit]

He married, in 1075 at Exning, Cambridgeshire, Emma, only daughter of William 
FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford and his first wife Alice or Adelise (or Adelissa), 
daughter of Roger I of Tosny. Their offspring were:
1.William de Gael, succeeded his father as Seigneur de Gael. He claimed Breteuil 
after the death of his uncle William de Breteuil, but died shortly thereafter, according 
to Orderic Vitalis.[2][3]
2.Raoul II de Gael, seigneur of Gael and Montfort. By 1119, he had obtained the 
honour of Breteuil in Normandy (his uncle William de Breteuil died 1103 without any 
legitimate issue).[2][3] The Complete Peerage claims that his descendants in the male 
line continued to hold his estates in Brittany, acquiring Laval and Vitré in the 15th 
century with the marriage of the heiress of Montmorency-Laval, but such a male-line 
descent hasn't been traced. He had only one child by his wife, whose name is 
unknown. 1.Amice (Amicia) (d. c. 31 August 1168) was initially betrothed to Richard, 
illegitimate son of Henry I and his mistress Ansfrida, but her betrothed died on the 
White Ship disaster in November 1120. She was then married to the King's ward 
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, second (twin) son of Robert de Beaumont, 
Count of Meulan.

3.Alain de Gael, who went with his parents on the First Crusade and died in the Holy 
Land

Revolt of the Earls[edit]

Main article: Revolt of the Earls

In 1075 the king's refusal to sanction this marriage between two powerful families 
caused a revolt in his absence. The leaders were Ralph, his new brother-in-law Roger 
de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford, and Waltheof, 1st Earl of Northumberland. The 
revolt was plagued by disaster. Waltheof lost heart and confessed the conspiracy to 
Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who urged Earl Roger to return to his 
allegiance, and finally excommunicated him and his adherents- Waltheof was later 
executed by William. Ralph encountered a much superior force under the warrior 
bishops Odo of Bayeux and Geoffrey de Montbray (the latter ordered that all rebels 
should have their right foot cut off) near Cambridge and retreated hurriedly to Norwich, 
hotly pursued by the royal army. Leaving his wife to defend Norwich Castle, he sailed 
for Denmark in search of help, and eventually returned to England with a fleet of 200 
ships under Cnut and Hakon, which failed to do anything effective.

Meanwhile, the Countess held out in Norwich until she obtained terms for herself and 
her followers, who were deprived of their lands, but allowed forty days to leave the 
realm. Thereupon the Countess retired to her estate in Brittany, where she was 
rejoined by her husband. Ralph was deprived of all his lands and of his Earldom. At 
the time of his revolt, he was a land-holder in Whaddon, Cambridgeshire. This is 
according to the Domesday Book, which uses the name of Radulf[us] Waders.

Ralph, formerly Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk (East Anglia) and his Countess Emma 
retired to her Breton lands. They left for the Holy Land, joining Robert, Duke of 
Normandy, on the First Crusade, and died circa 1101.

Baron of Brittany[edit]

For the rest of his life he remained a great baron of Brittany, with no interests in 
England. In 1076, having plotted against Hoel II, Duke of Brittany, he was besieged at 
Dol, and the Conqueror came to Hoel's aid; but Ralph finally made his peace.

In 1089 he attested the judgment in a dispute between the monks of Redon Abbey 
and the chaplains of the Duke of Brittany. He also attested a charter of Alan IV, Duke 
of Brittany, in favour of St.Georges at Rennes (1084-1096). The Conqueror being 
dead, Ralph appears in Normandy c.1093 as a witness in the record of a suit between 
the abbots of Lonlay and St.Florent. There is, however, no record of religious 
benefactions by him in Brittany.

Crusade[edit]

In 1096, accompanied by his wife and in the army of Robert Corthose, he went on the 
First Crusade. He was one of the Breton leaders who took part in the siege of Nicaea, 
after which he joined Bohemund I of Antioch’s division of the army.

Both Ralph and his wife Emma died on the road to Palestine in the course of the 
Crusade.

Parents
____ Ralph "the Staller" (BEF 1011 - AFT Feb 1068)
----- ----- ()

Siblings
DE GAEL Ralph (BEF 1040 - ABT 1096)

Marriage To FITZ OSBORNE Emma (ABT 1059 - ABT 1096)
    m. 1075 Exning, Cambridgeshire, England

Notes

Parents
FITZ OSBORNE William (ABT 1025 - 22 Feb 1071)
DE TOSNY Alice (Adelise) (ABT 1035 - )

Children by FITZ OSBORNE Emma ABT 1059 - ABT 1096
DE MONTFORT Raoul (Ralph) II (ABT 1078 - )

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