Ralph de Gael
Ralph de Gaël de Montfort, called de Guader or English. Wader ( Raoul, Randolf, Randulf, Ranulf, * before 1040; † around 1097 ), Lord of Gaël and Montfort ( -sur -Meu ) was, as well as 2nd Earl of East Anglia from the noble Montfort- Laval.
Origin
Ralph de Gaël is Anglo- Breton origin. He was probably born shortly before 1040 in Hereford. His father was Ralph Stalre ( Ralph the equerry ) ( † 1069), Lord of Gaël, a faithful adviser to the English king Edward the Confessor, after whose death he Wilhelm joined the Conqueror. He was married to Agatha, the sister of a landowner in Norfolk. " Ralph Stalre " is mentioned as " Radulfus Anglus " in several ducal documents of the Dukes of Brittany from the first half of the 11th century. William the Conqueror in 1067 made him the first Earl of East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk ), ie, in the immediate aftermath of the conquest of England.
Heritage
When his father died he inherited in Brittany, the great barony of Gaël, which consisted of more than 40 parishes. In England he inherited (or received by concessions from the crown) large estates in Norfolk, but also in Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire and probably still other counties. No doubt he got some of these goods from his father, but it is doubtful whether he got transferred the title of count immediately after his death.
Before 1075
Marriage and revolt
He married Emma of Hereford, daughter of the late William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford († 1071 ), without having the consent of the king to do so. In 1075 he took with his brother Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford, and Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria, in the rebellion of the Earls in part, to the rapidly collapsed. Ralph was deposed and dispossessed, fled to Denmark, where he sought the assistance of Knut of Denmark, the king's son Sven Estridsson. He returned to England with 200 ships to determine that the revolt has long ended, whereupon he again left the country and retired into Brittany. His wife, who had held the castle of Norwich for three months, until her and her supporters promised safe conduct on condition that they leave the country within 40 days, also went to Brittany.
From its Brittany possessions of Ralph led, together with his allies Gottfried Cranon, a son of Duke Alain III. of Brittany, the fight against William in the Norman duchy continued. Wilhelm allied him return with Duke Hoël II of Brittany of which Ralph was included in 1076 in the castle of Dol. Despite the siege Arts William succeeded Ralph repel all attacks on the castle, until finally a relief force arrived IV under King Philip I of France and Count Fulk of Anjou. Under high losses Wilhelm had to break the siege and hastily retreat to Normandy, which it was his first defeat ever inflicted. Ralph had indeed lost his English possessions, but in Brittany he remained one of the most powerful feudal lords.
Between 1086 and 1091 was Ralph build the castle of Montfort. A few years later he and his wife joined to the Duke Robert II of Normandy to the First Crusade. He participated in the siege of Nicaea in part, then died but a little later on the way to Palestine, as well as his wife.
Progeny
- Guillaume de Gaël († 1102), who succeeded his father as Lord of Gaël.
- Raoul de Gaël, successor to his brother; Mr. de Montfort, Lord of Breteuil in 1099.
- Alain de Gaël, Mr. Le Largez; accompanied his parents to the First Crusade, where he died unmarried 1101.