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 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.
Read more about this topic: Ralph De Gael
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