Raoul de Gaël, 1er seigneur de Gaël, Earl of Suffolk and Norfolk

Also called Ralph Waher and Ralph de Guarder. Born in England, son of Ralph the Staller, Earl of Hereford, and Agatha. First Earl of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridge. Responsible for beginning work on Norwich castle, which involved destroying many houses and 2 churches. Rebelled with Earl Roger of Breteuil and Hereford 1075 over the king's refusal to sanction his marriage to Roger's sister; subsequently his title and land were taken from him and the castle was taken over by the Crown. Domesday records his lost land as 'forfeited'. Ralph took refuge in Brittany with his wife, Emma, daughter of Earl William FitzOsbern; had three children, Amicia de Waher, Ralph de Gael de Montford and William de Breteuil. Died with his wife while travelling on the first Crusade.

(from Thomas Hinde, The Domesday Book, 1985)

Ralph was also called Ralph "Gauder"; he was 1st Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk.

Ralph was Breton on his mother's side, and English on his father's (at least his father was born in England).

Ralph was recorded as living before 1066 in Brittany.

He fought on William the Conqueror's side at Hastings, in the company of Nigel of the Cotentin, on 14 October 1066.

Ralph succeeded his father, Ralph the Staller, to the earldom of East Anglia circa 1069. He was also Lord of Gaël (Guader) in Brittany. Ralph was created Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk by William the Conqueror in 1073.

Ralph married Emma of Hereford, daughter of William FitzOsbern, seigner de Bréteuil, Earl of Hereford and Adelise de Tosny, in 1075, in Exning, Suffolk.

Ralph entered into a conspiracy against King William with his brother-in-law, Roger, 2nd Earl of Hereford, in 1075. The conspiracy failed, and Ralph forfeited his titles in 1078. He escaped to Brittany circa 1078. He died in 1099 at Outremer in the Holy Land during the First Crusade.

See "My Lines"

( http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cousin/html/p355.htm#i7114 )

from Compiler: R. B. Stewart, Evans, GA

( http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cousin/html/index.htm )