![Montdidier_%C3%A9glise_St-Pierre_(tombeau_Raoul_de_Cr%C3%A9py)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Montdidier_%C3%A9glise_St-Pierre_%28tombeau_Raoul_de_Cr%C3%A9py%29.jpg)
Ralph IV (french: Raoul; born 1025, died 1074) was a northern
French nobleman who amassed an extensive array of lordships lying in a crescent around the
Île-de-France
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 = +01:00
, timezone1_DST = CEST
, utc_offset1_DST = +02:00
, blank_name_sec1 = Gross regional product
, blank_info_sec1 = Ranked 1st
, bla ...
from the border of the
Duchy of Normandy
The Duchy of Normandy grew out of the 911 Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte between King Charles III of West Francia and the Viking leader Rollo. The duchy was named for its inhabitants, the Normans.
From 1066 until 1204, as a result of the Norman c ...
in the northwest to
Champagne
Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...
in the southeast.
Ralph was the count of seven counties:
Valois (Crépy) from 1037/8,
Bar-sur-Aube
Bar-sur-Aube (, literally ''Bar on Aube'') is a commune and a sub-prefecture in the Aube department in the Grand Est region of France.
Surrounded by hills and Champagne vineyards, the city is traversed by the river Aube, from which it derive ...
and
Vitry from the 1040s,
Montdidier from 1054,
Vexin
Vexin () is an historical county of northwestern France. It covers a verdant plateau on the right bank (north) of the Seine running roughly east to west between Pontoise and Romilly-sur-Andelle (about 20 km from Rouen), and north to south ...
(Mantes) and
Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...
from 1063 and
Tardenois
The Tardenois () is today a natural region (''région naturelle'') of France. It is known among archeologists for the epipaleolithic culture known as Tardenoisian after its characteristic arrowheads, originally found at Coincy in the Tardenois i ...
from an unknown date. He held
suzerainty
Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is cal ...
over a further seven counties:
Corbie
Corbie (; nl, Korbei) is a commune of the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Geography
The small town is situated up river from Amiens, in the département of Somme and is the main town of the canton of Corbie. It lies ...
,
Dammartin,
Meulan
Meulan-en-Yvelines (; formerly just ''Meulan'') is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It hosted part of the sailing events for the 1900 Summer Olympics held in neighboring Paris, and would d ...
,
Montfort,
Péronne,
Soissons
Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...
and
Vermandois
Vermandois was a French county that appeared in the Merovingian period. Its name derives from that of an ancient tribe, the Viromandui. In the 10th century, it was organised around two castellan domains: St Quentin ( Aisne) and Péronne ( Som ...
. In addition, he was the ''
advocatus
During the Middle Ages, an (sometimes given as modern English: advocate; German: ; French: ) was an office-holder who was legally delegated to perform some of the secular responsibilities of a major feudal lord, or for an institution such as ...
'' (defender) of five abbeys:
Saint-Denis,
Jumièges
Jumièges () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France.
Geography
A forestry and farming village situated in a meander of the river Seine, some west of Rouen, at the junction of the D 65 and th ...
,
Saint-Wandrille
Fontenelle Abbey or the Abbey of St. Wandrille is a Benedictine monastery in the commune of Rives-en-Seine. It was founded in 649 near Caudebec-en-Caux in Seine-Maritime, Normandy, France.
First foundation
It was founded by Wandregisel or Sa ...
,
Saint-Père-en-Vallée and
Saint-Arnoul.
Initially an enemy of the reigning
Capetian dynasty
The Capetian dynasty (; french: Capétiens), also known as the House of France, is a dynasty of Frankish origin, and a branch of the Robertians. It is among the largest and oldest royal houses in Europe and the world, and consists of Hugh Cape ...
, Ralph became a staunch royal ally after 1041. He was one of the
royal domain
Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it ...
's most powerful neighbours. The historian
John Cowdrey
Herbert Edward John Cowdrey (1926–2009), known as H. E. J. Cowdrey or John Cowdrey, was an English historian of the Middle Ages and an Anglican priest. He was elected priest of St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, in 1956. He resi ...
likens Ralph's lands to a "clamp ... set upon the northern part of the Capetian
demesne
A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...
". After the death of King
Henry I Henry I may refer to:
876–1366
* Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936)
* Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955)
* Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018)
* Henry I of France (1008–1060)
* Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...
in 1060, Ralph married the king's widow, Queen
Anna Yaroslavna
Anne of Kiev or Anna Yaroslavna, Russian: Анна Ярославна (c. 1030 – 1075) was a Rus' princess who became Queen of France in 1051 upon marrying King Henry I. She ruled the kingdom as regent during the minority of their son Philip ...
. He thus became an important advisor to the young king,
Philip I Philip(p) I may refer to:
* Philip I of Macedon (7th century BC)
* Philip I Philadelphus (between 124 and 109 BC–83 or 75 BC)
* Philip the Arab (c. 204–249), Roman Emperor
* Philip I of France (1052–1108)
* Philip I (archbishop of Cologne) (1 ...
, until his death.
Guibert of Nogent
Guibert de Nogent (c. 1055 – 1124) was a Benedictine historian, theologian and author of autobiographical memoirs. Guibert was relatively unknown in his own time, going virtually unmentioned by his contemporaries. He has only recently caught the ...
, a contemporary of Ralph, wrote, "How great he was can also be gathered from the single fact that he married the mother of King Philip after the death of her husband."
Name and number
Given the multiplicity of titles he held, the popularity of his name within his family and the fact that all contemporary references to him are in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, how to refer to Ralph in modern English (or French) can pose a problem. In the seventeenth century, the
Sieur du Cange, followed a century later by
Claude Carlier
Claude Carlier (7 September 1725 – 25 April 1787), called the Abbé Carlier, was a French religious, historian and agronomist. He was the prior of Andrésy and '' prévôt royal'' (royal provost) of the '' châtellenie'' (castellany) of Verberi ...
and most recently by
Louis Carolus-Barré
Louis Carolus-Barré (9 April 1910, in Paris – 18 July 1993, in Paris) was a 20th-century French librarian and medievalist.
Biography
After studying at the École nationale des chartes of which he graduated in 1934, he was a member of the É ...
, argued that
Raoul de Gouy __NOTOC__
Raoul is a French variant of the male given name Ralph or Rudolph, and a cognate of Raul.
Raoul may also refer to:
Given name
* Raoul Berger, American legal scholar
* Raoul Bova, Italian actor
* Radulphus Brito (Raoul le Breton, died ...
(died 926) was never Count of Valois and re-numbered the succeeding counts named Ralph. This converted Ralph IV and his father into Ralph III and Ralph II, respectively. In older literature, he is sometimes called "Ralph the Great".
Contemporary chroniclers generally referred to him as Ralph of Crépy, while modern scholars have tended to prefer Ralph of Valois. The English historian
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis ( la, Ordericus Vitalis; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. Modern historia ...
, writing in Normandy, called him Ralph of Montdidier (''Rodulfo de Monte Desiderii'') and Ralph, count of Mantes (''Radulfum comitem Medantensium''), spelling his first name differently each time. He signed a royal document of 27 May 1067 as "Rodulf, count of Crépy" (''Rodulfi comitis Crispiniacensis''). The spellings "Radulf" and "Rodulf", although derived from Germanic names with originally different meanings, both have a basis in contemporary sources.
Early life
![Map_France_1030-fr](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Map_France_1030-fr.svg)
Born around 1025, Ralph was the eldest son of Count
Ralph III of Valois Ralph III (french: Raoul; died 1038) was the count of Valois from his father's death until his own. He was the second son of Walter II, count of Valois, Vexin and Amiens, and his wife Adela. His father died between 1017 and 1024, leaving Vexin and ...
and Alix of Breteuil. His father died in 1037 or 1038 and Ralph succeeded to the
county of Valois
The Valois ( , also , ; originally ''Pagus Valensis'') was a region in the valley of the Oise river in Picardy in the north of France. It was a fief in West Francia and subsequently the Kingdom of France until its counts furnished a line of king ...
, with its seat at
Crépy. The
castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...
of Crépy was divided between Ralph and his younger brother Theobald, who inherited their mother's fief of
Nanteuil-le-Haudouin
Nanteuil-le-Haudouin () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France.
In Popular Culture
The town was shown in a map of France in the movie Inglourious Basterds and credited as the fictional town of "Nadine".
See also
* Communes of th ...
. At Crépy, Ralph received the living quarters and the outbuildings, while the
donjon
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
went to Theobald. The castle was thus a kind of condominium between the brothers.
Ralph's father had been a supporter of Count
Odo II of Blois
Odo II () (983 – 15 November 1037) was the count of Blois, Chartres, Châteaudun, Beauvais and Tours from 1004 and count of Troyes (as Odo IV) and Meaux (as Odo I) from 1022. He twice tried to make himself a king: first in Italy after 1024 and t ...
against King
Henry I Henry I may refer to:
876–1366
* Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936)
* Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955)
* Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018)
* Henry I of France (1008–1060)
* Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...
. After Odo's death in 1037, Ralph continued to support Odo's two sons, counts
Theobald III of Blois Theobald is a Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements '' theod-'' "people" and ''bald'' "bold". The name arrived in England with the Normans.
The name occurs in many spelling variations, including Theudebald, Diepold, Theobalt, Tybal ...
and
Stephen II of Troyes. He took advantage of the fighting in the
Beauvais
Beauvais ( , ; pcd, Bieuvais) is a city and commune in northern France, and prefecture of the Oise département, in the Hauts-de-France region, north of Paris.
The commune of Beauvais had a population of 56,020 , making it the most populous ...
is, however, to break free from his inherited vassalage to the count of Troyes. In 1041, while fighting on behalf of Odo's sons in an effort to depose the king, Ralph was captured by royal forces. Thereafter, he was the king's man and an opponent of the Blois–Troyes family. He tried to prevent Theobald from annexing the lands of his nephew,
Odo III, after the latter moved to England in 1066.
First marriage and children
In the 1040s, while en route to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, Ralph met his recently widowed
cousin
Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...
,
Adela
Adela may refer to:
* ''Adela'', a 1933 Romanian novel by Garabet Ibrăileanu
* ''Adela'' (1985 film), a 1985 Romanian film directed by Mircea Veroiu
* ''Adela'' (2000 film), a 2000 Argentine thriller film directed and written by Eduardo Mign ...
(Adelaide,
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''Adelhais''), countess of
Bar-sur-Aube
Bar-sur-Aube (, literally ''Bar on Aube'') is a commune and a sub-prefecture in the Aube department in the Grand Est region of France.
Surrounded by hills and Champagne vineyards, the city is traversed by the river Aube, from which it derive ...
and
Vitry-en-Perthois
Vitry-en-Perthois () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France.
History
Vitry-en-Perthois was called ''Vitry-le-Brûlé'' (Vitry the burnt) after being burnt two times; in 1142 by the armies of Louis VII of France and in 1544 ...
since the death of her father,
Nocher III, in 1040. Bar-sur-Aube was a fief of the count of Troyes. Having secured a promise of marriage, Ralph continued his pilgrimage to Rome. Upon his return he found that Adela's vassals, fearing his authority, had attempted to marry her to Renard, count of
Joigny
Joigny () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France.
It is located on the banks of the river Yonne (river), Yonne.
History
The current city, originally kno ...
. Ralph immediately began pillaging Joigny until Adela was returned to him. Ralph and Adela had four children:
*
Walter
Walter may refer to:
People
* Walter (name), both a surname and a given name
* Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968)
* Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born 19 ...
(died 1065/72), who succeeded in Bar-sur-Aube and Vitry
*
Simon
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
(died 1080), who succeeded in Valois, Vexin, Amiens, Montdidier and Tardenois
*Elisabeth, who married Barthélemy, lord of
Broyes and
Beaufort Beaufort may refer to:
People and titles
* Beaufort (surname)
* House of Beaufort, English nobility
* Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England
* Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility
Places Polar regions ...
*
Adela
Adela may refer to:
* ''Adela'', a 1933 Romanian novel by Garabet Ibrăileanu
* ''Adela'' (1985 film), a 1985 Romanian film directed by Mircea Veroiu
* ''Adela'' (2000 film), a 2000 Argentine thriller film directed and written by Eduardo Mign ...
, who married, firstly, Count
Herbert IV of Vermandois Herbert IV of Vermandois (1028–1080), Count of Vermandois, was the son of Otto of Vermandois and Parvie (Pavia or Patia).
Family and children
Herbert married Adele of Valois, daughter of Ralph IV of Valois and Adele of Bar-sur-Aube. They had:
* ...
and, secondly, Count
Theobald III of Blois Theobald is a Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements '' theod-'' "people" and ''bald'' "bold". The name arrived in England with the Normans.
The name occurs in many spelling variations, including Theudebald, Diepold, Theobalt, Tybal ...
Second marriage and excommunication
In 1053 or 1054, Adela died. By 1060, Ralph had married a woman nicknamed or surnamed Haquenez, and possibly named Eleanor.
Haquenez has been called the heiress of the county of
Montdidier and suzerain over the county of
Péronne, but there is no proof of this. Her parentage is unknown. If she brought Ralph a claim to Montdidier, their marriage must have taken place no later than 1054, since he was in control of Montdidier in that year. Ralph did not relinquish his control over the counties of Montdidier and Péronne after repudiating Haquenez in 1060 or 1061. The wording of Guibert of Nogent concerning the succession at Montdidier after Ralph's death has been taken as evidence that Ralph merely seized Montdidier and ruled it by right of conquest: "the castle in which the site of his burial he had prepared", that is, Montdidier, "he had stolen from its possessors and held as his own" and "in that castle, which came to Simon
is sonby use rather than by
ightfulinheritance, the remains of his father came to rest." If this is correct, then he may have seized Montdidier any time between 1033 and 1054. Its rightful ruler was
Hilduin IV, who continued to use the title of count—but not Count of Montdidier—until his death in 1063.
Ralph later accused his second wife of adultery and repudiated her. In 1061 or 1062, he married the princess
Anna Yaroslavna
Anne of Kiev or Anna Yaroslavna, Russian: Анна Ярославна (c. 1030 – 1075) was a Rus' princess who became Queen of France in 1051 upon marrying King Henry I. She ruled the kingdom as regent during the minority of their son Philip ...
of
Kievan Rus'
Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...
, the widow of King Henry I and mother of the reigning king,
Philip I Philip(p) I may refer to:
* Philip I of Macedon (7th century BC)
* Philip I Philadelphus (between 124 and 109 BC–83 or 75 BC)
* Philip the Arab (c. 204–249), Roman Emperor
* Philip I of France (1052–1108)
* Philip I (archbishop of Cologne) (1 ...
. Haquenez appealed to
Gervase
Gervase is a masculine given name which may refer to:
Pre-modern era
:''Ordered chronologically''
* Gervase of Besançon (died 685), saint and a bishop of Besançon
* Gervase of Bazoches (died 1108), Prince of Galilee
* Gervase of Blois (died c ...
,
archbishop of Reims
The Archdiocese of Reims (traditionally spelt "Rheims" in English) ( la, Archidiœcesis Remensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese ...
, who wrote to Pope
Alexander II explaining the situation. According to the archbishop, "the marriage of our queen to Count Ralph (''Comiti Radulpho'') grieves our king most of all" (''rex noster ... maxime dolet''). Haquenez then went to Rome to appeal to the pope in person.
The pope's response, addressed to Gervase, his
suffragan
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...
s and to the unnamed
archbishop of Sens, was brought back to France by Haquenez. She had apparently reported to the pope that Ralph had stolen everything she owned (by which she perhaps meant the counties), and the pope instructed Gervase and the archbishop of Sens to open an investigation and preside as judges. The purpose of the inquiry was to return Haquenez's property to her and clear her name of the false accusation of adultery. In the end, Ralph was excommunicated from the church. In March 1062,
Mainard Mainard (also spelled Maynard) is an English and French given name derived from the Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from aroun ...
, archbishop of Sens, died and by April he had been succeeded by
Richer. It is possible that Alexander did not name the archbishop because the letter was drafted in the interim, when the name of the new archbishop was not yet known in Rome.
Third marriage and co-regency
The ''
Chronicle
A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and lo ...
'' of the
abbey of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif
The Abbey of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif (french: Abbaye de Saint-Pierre-le-Vif) was a Rule of St Benedict, Benedictine monastery just outside the walls of Sens, France, in the Archdiocese of Sens.
History
The first abbot of Saint-Pierre-le-Vif, Saint ...
records the death of Henry and the re-marriage of Anna in the same sentence, fuelling speculation that the queen and Ralph had been involved in a love affair. In fact, Henry's death came in 1060, a year or two before Anna's second marriage. There is no hint in any contemporary source that the queen and Ralph were involved before their marriage. Nor is there any evidence that she was abducted or otherwise forced into marriage.
At the time of her marriage to Ralph, Anna was about thirty years old. Since Philip, the eldest of her four children with Henry, was not yet of age, she has been accused by modern historians of abandoning her children. Contemporaries made no such charge. Ralph, however, was accused of
bigamy
In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...
, since his repudiation of Haquenez had been illegal under both civil and ecclesiastical law, and
consanguinity
Consanguinity ("blood relation", from Latin '' consanguinitas'') is the characteristic of having a kinship with another person (being descended from a common ancestor).
Many jurisdictions have laws prohibiting people who are related by blood fr ...
, since he was related to the Capetian house within the prohibited degree. As a result it seems, Ralph and Anna did not attend the French court regularly again until 1065, although she continued to be acknowledged as co-regent with Count
Baldwin V of Flanders. The marriage had at least three advantages for Ralph: it brought him a
dowry
A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...
that included an abbey at
Laon
Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
History
Early history
The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. In ...
, it brought him influence at court and it brought him enhanced prestige because of Anna's high rank and even "exoticism".
Ralph was, however, "Baldwin's greatest rival in north-eastern France and a potential threat to his influence over the young king." This may explain why at least one later source, the ''Annales sancti Benigni Divonensis'', the chronicle of the
cathedral of Dijon
Dijon Cathedral, or the Cathedral of Saint Benignus of Dijon (french: Cathédrale Saint-Bénigne de Dijon), is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Dijon, Burgundy, France, and dedicated to Saint Benignus of Dijon. The Gothic cathedral ...
, claims that Philip's younger brother
Hugh
Hugh may refer to:
*Hugh (given name)
Noblemen and clergy French
* Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks
* Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II
* Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...
acted as his "coadjutor". Keeping Hugh close prevented any split in the royal family. After the reconciliation of Philip and his mother, Ralph was the second most important counsellor to the king after Baldwin. He is cited as a witness in thirty royal diplomas, and is explicitly called a counsellor of the royal court in one of 1062. In 1065, Ralph and Anna were with Philip as the royal court visited
Soissons
Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...
,
Orléans
Orléans (;["Orleans"](_blank)
(US) and [Amiens
Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...]
, which lay in Ralph's county. In 1069, Ralph was calling himself the king's step-father.
Private wars
Ralph is mentioned in the ''
Vita nobilissimi comitis Girardi de Rossellon
Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to:
* ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography
* Vit ...
'', a Latin
hagiography
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...
of Count
Gerard II of Paris, written shortly after 1100 and preserved in one 13th-century manuscript. A 13th-century
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...
translation, the ''Vie de Girart de Rossillon'', is also preserved. The ''Vita'' records that Ralph plundered the
abbey of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul de Pothières from his county of Bar-sur-Aube:
:''Comes Rodulfus Barrensis castri super Albam siti, adunata gravi multitudine predonum equestrium ac pedestrium Pulteriense cenobium atrociter aggrediens, depopulari nitebatur''. . .
:''Raoux, qui estoit cuens de Bar le Chastel assis sur Aube, assembla grant multitude de preors a cheval et a pié, et anvaïst cruelment l'abbaïe de Pouteres, et s'esforçoit qu'ele fust destruite''. . .
:Ralph, who was count of the castle of Bar on the Aube, gathered a great number of robbers, cavalry and infantry, to cruelly attack the monastery of Pothières and lay it waste. . .
According to the ''Vita'', the nuns then cried out to Gerard, the founder of Pothières and who was buried there. The saint then sent a demon to torment two of Ralph's men and the rest fled in fear. Although much of the material, including the protagonist's byname ("de Roussillon"), is legendary,
Ferdinand Lot believes that the episode concerning Ralph is based on an actual event.
In 1065/66, Ralph supported Count
Manasses III of Rethel in his war against Bishop
Theoderic of Verdun in the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
. According to late sources, in or before 1071, Ralph attacked his son-in-law, Count
Herbert IV of Vermandois Herbert IV of Vermandois (1028–1080), Count of Vermandois, was the son of Otto of Vermandois and Parvie (Pavia or Patia).
Family and children
Herbert married Adele of Valois, daughter of Ralph IV of Valois and Adele of Bar-sur-Aube. They had:
* ...
, and seized Péronne, to which he had a claim from his second marriage. The historicity of this little war has been called into question.
Relations with Normandy
In the 1050s, Ralph supported King Henry against Duke
William II of Normandy
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 108 ...
. He was present on the king's side at the
battle of Mortemer
The Battle of Mortemer was a defeat for Henry I of France when he led an army against his vassal, William the Bastard, Duke of Normandy in 1054. William was eventually to become known as William the Conqueror after his successful invasion and ...
in February 1054, when the Normans routed the royal army. Ralph himself escaped the slaughter and took shelter in the castle of
Mortemer. According to Orderic Vitalis, writing about 75 years later, Ralph was aided in his escape by on the Norman commanders,
Roger
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
, castellan of Mortemer, "on account of the fealty he
oger
Oger may refer to:
__NOTOC__
* Ogre, Latvia
* Oger, Marne, France
* Saudi Oger
Saudi Oger Ltd ( ar, سعودي أوجيه), was a Saudi construction company, incorporated in January 1978 with its headquarters in Riyadh
Riyadh (, ar, ال ...
had formerly sworn to him
alph Alph may refer to:
* Alpheus River, a river on the Peloponnese
*Alph River, a river in Antarctica
* Alph Lake, a lake in Antarctica
*Alph, a fictional river in the poem ''Kubla Khan'' by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
*Alph, a character from ''Luminous Arc ...
" After entertaining Ralph as his guest for three days, Roger escorted him back to his own lands. For this Roger was banished, but soon reconciled, although the castle of Mortemer was never restored to him.
The reason for the oath of
fealty
An oath of fealty, from the Latin ''fidelitas'' (faithfulness), is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another.
Definition
In medieval Europe, the swearing of fealty took the form of an oath made by a vassal, or subordinate, to his lord. "Fea ...
is not explained in any primary source. Roger's wife, Hadewisa, however, had inherited the villa of
Mers
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) is a viral respiratory infection caused by ''Middle East respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus'' (MERS-CoV). Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. Typical symptoms include fever, cough, ...
at the mouth of the
Bresle, which lay within the diocese of Amiens and may have been under Ralph's suzerainty. The 19th-century historian
J. R. Planché has even suggested that Hadewisa was Ralph's daughter.
In 1058, Ralph was with King Henry's army at the
siege of Thimert The siege of Thimert (1058–60) was the last military action in the war between King Henry I of France and Duke William II of Normandy.
In the first half of 1058, William captured the French fortress at Thimert in the County of Dreux. According t ...
.
In 1063, Ralph's cousin,
Walter III of Vexin, died and Ralph inherited the counties of
Vexin
Vexin () is an historical county of northwestern France. It covers a verdant plateau on the right bank (north) of the Seine running roughly east to west between Pontoise and Romilly-sur-Andelle (about 20 km from Rouen), and north to south ...
, with its seat at
Mantes
Mantes-la-Jolie (, often informally called Mantes) is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region of north-central France. It is located to the west of Paris, from the centre of the capital. Mantes-la-Jolie is a subpre ...
, and Amiens. Sometime between 1061 and 1066, Duke William entrusted
Hugh de Grandmesnil
Hugh de Grandmesnil (1032 – 22 February 1098), (known in French as ''Hugues'' and Latinised as ''Hugo de Grentmesnil'', aliter ''Grentemesnil'', etc.), is one of the proven companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle ...
with the castle of
Neuf-Marché
Neuf-Marché is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France.
Geography
A forestry and farming village situated by the banks of the river Epte in the Pays de Bray, some east of Rouen at the junction ...
, possibly to defend against Ralph after the latter's acquisition of Vexin. Ralph and Hugh fought several skirmishes, and on one occasion, outnumbered, Hugh's army was routed and forced to flee. Then, between 1063 and 1067,
Maurilius
Maurilius (–1067) was a Norman Archbishop of Rouen from 1055 to 1067.
Maurilius was originally from Reims, and was born about 1000. He trained as a priest at Liege and became a member of the cathedral chapter of Halberstadt.Douglas ''William ...
,
archbishop of Rouen
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Ar ...
, granted the lordship of
Gisors
Gisors () is a Communes of France, commune of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy, France. It is located northwest from the Kilometre Zero, centre of Paris.
Gisors, together with the neighbouring communes of Trie-Château and Trie-la-Vill ...
, which he held from the duke in Normandy, to Ralph as a life lease. This may have been approved by the duke to assure Ralph's cooperation or non-interference with the upcoming English expedition. Gisors was not restored to Rouen until 1075.
Later, Ralph's relations with Normandy improved and he sent his son Simon to be brought up at William's court. After the
Norman conquest of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...
in 1066, King William returned to Normandy with captives and booty. He held an Easter court at
Fécamp
Fécamp () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France.
Geography
Fécamp is situated in the valley of the river Valmont, at the heart of the Pays de Caux, on the Alabaster Coast. It is around ...
on 8 April 1067 to display his spoils and Ralph was in attendance. Ralph then attended the Whitsun court of King Philip I of France in Paris, witnessing a royal charter on 27 May. In June or July, he was again at the king's court in
Melun
Melun () is a Communes of France, commune in the Seine-et-Marne Departments of France, department in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, north-central France. It is located on the southeastern outskirts of Paris, about from the kilome ...
. On either of these occasions, he would have met Bishop
Guy of Amiens, whose diocese lay within Ralph's lordship. Ralph, having been to William's celebratory court at Fécamp and having a son raised in the Norman household, was well-positioned to pass along information about the
battle of Hastings
The Battle of Hastings nrf, Batâle dé Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William the Conqueror, William, the Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godw ...
to the bishop, who began work on his poem ''
Carmen de Hastingae Proelio
The ''Carmen de Hastingae Proelio'' (''Song of the Battle of Hastings'') is a 20th-century name for the ''Carmen Widonis'', the earliest history of the Norman invasion of England from September to December 1066, in Latin. It is attributed to Bish ...
'' shortly after.
King Philip's wars
Sometime between 1065 and 1072, probably towards 1069, Ralph and his eldest son, Walter, joined King Philip in an attack on Vitry. How Vitry had fallen into the hands of an enemy of the king and Ralph is unknown, nor is the identity of the enemy. In the campaign, Walter was killed, but Vitry was besieged and taken.
William Busac, count of Soissons and Ralph's vassal, also took part in the war of Vitry. It is probable that Ralph had acquired the suzerainty of the
county of Soissons This is a list of those who bore the title Count of Soissons (french: Comte de Soissons) and ruled Soissons and its '' civitas'' or diocese as a county in the Middle Ages. The title continued in use into modern times, but without ties to the actual ...
about the same time he acquired that of
Dammartin: on the death of his cousin Walter. Certainly in 1061 Count
Odo of Dammartin and his son
Hugh
Hugh may refer to:
*Hugh (given name)
Noblemen and clergy French
* Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks
* Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II
* Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...
were vassals of Walter. At that time the count of Soissons was
Renaud I, ruling jointly with his son
Guy II. No document survives that explicitly identifies Renaud or Guy as vassals of Ralph.
Ralph participated on the king's side in the war of the Flemish succession in 1070–71. In 1067, the regent Count Baldwin died and was succeeded in Flanders by his eldest son,
Baldwin VI, who was married to
Richilde, the countess of
Hainaut in the Holy Roman Empire. Baldwin VI died in 1070 and the succession was disputed. Richilde claimed Flanders for her young son by Baldwin,
Arnulf III, while Baldwin's younger brother,
Robert the Frisian
Robert I ( – 13 October 1093), known as ''Robert the Frisian'', was count of Flanders from 1071 to his death in 1093. He was a son of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders and the younger brother of Baldwin VI, Count of Flanders. He usurped the countsh ...
, also claimed it. The king supported Richilde and Arnulf, and Ralph gave his support to the king. According to the ''
Genealogia comitum Flandrensium
The ''Genealogia comitum Flandrensium'', also called the ''Genealogia Bertiniana'', is a short text containing a genealogy of the counts of Flanders. It exists today in three versions, all based on an archetype produced probably at Saint Peter's A ...
'', the men of Péronne, which Ralph had probably seized shortly before, were part of the king's army.
Death and legacy
Ralph died, still excommunicate, in 1074 and was buried in the
church of Saint-Pierre in Montdidier. Since Montdidier had rightfully belonged to Ralph's abandoned second wife, and the count of Vermandois also had a claim, Pope
Gregory VII requested that his body be moved. His son Simon had it removed to the
priory of Saint-Arnoul
The Priory of Saint-Arnoul, named after a legendary fifth-century bishop of Tours, is located in Crépy-en-Valois in France. It was founded between 935 and 943 by Count Ralph II of Valois as a chapter of canons regular, then re-founded as a Bene ...
at Crépy. The sight of his father's decaying corpse is said to have motivated Simon to first contemplate the vanity of seeking after worldly glory. In 1077, he retired to become a monk at
Saint-Oyend. The ''Vita beati Simoni comitis Crespeiensis'' (Life of Blessed Simon, Count of Crépy), a hagiography written by an anonymous monk of Saint-Oyend in the generation after Simon's death, is an important source for Ralph's life. Since Ralph's eldest son, Walter, had died before him, all his lands passed to Simon.
Ralph himself began his career with only one county owing homage to the count of Troyes and ended it with seven counties and a further seven owing homage to him. France was more stable in the eleventh century than the tenth, and in the first century of Capetian rule relatively fewer noblemen than in the previous century were successful at building up principalities by a combination of inheritance, marriage, usurpation and force.
Jean Dunbabin argues there were only two such ephemeral principalities formed in the eleventh century: Ralph's northern principality and a southern one forged by the marriage of
Robert II of Auvergne and
Bertha of Rouergue in 1064/66. After Ralph's death, Robert II tried to arrange a marriage between his daughter Judith and Ralph's son, but the arrangements fell through when Simon became a monk and Judith a nun.
The breakup of Ralph's principality followed quickly on his death. His stepson Hugh claimed a part of his lands, sparking a war with Simon in which the king took part as Hugh's ally. In the end, "Ralph's budding principality", "the nearest approximation to a principality to emerge" in Picardy, was broken up. The crown acquired Vexin and the advocacies of Corbie and Saint-Denis, Amiens returned to the bishop and Simon granted his brother-in-law Herbert of Vermandois both Valois and Montdidier. These then passed on Herbert's death in 1080 to his daughter,
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
, who married Simon's step-brother Hugh, brother of the king. Much of the counties of Amiens and Valois had belonged to the
county of Vermandois
Vermandois was a kingdom of France, French county that appeared in the Merovingian dynasty, Merovingian period. Its name derives from that of an ancient tribe, the Viromandui. In the 10th century, it was organised around two castellan domains: S ...
in the tenth century.
The monk Guibert of Nogent, whose father fought at Mortemer, wrote in the first quarter of the twelfth century that he had spoken to many who had known Ralph. According to the monk, "They can say to what degree he increased his power, what authority he acquired and what despotism he used. If he found a castle convenient to him, he besieged it. Site attacked, site taken: so great was his ability in the art of sieges. Of all the places he took, he never returned one. His birth gave him an illustrious rank among the great lords of the kingdom."
Notes
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Further reading
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{{refend
1020s births
1074 deaths
Counts of Valois
Counts of Vexin