Ralph the Staller, earl of East Anglia

Events

Date of Birth: perhaps about 1010.

The suggested date is given by Williams (ODNB). Keats-Rohan (2016, p. 62) estimates between 1000 and 1010.

Place of Birth: Norfolk, England.

The place is given by Keats-Rohan (pp.62-3), noting his ethnonym "anglicus" and evidence from the Anglo-Saxon chronicle.

Date of Death: between 1068 and 1070.

The date is given by Williams (ODNB). Keats-Rohan (2016, p. 62) states that Ralph probably died at the end of 1069 or the beginning of 1070.

Relationships

Father: unknown.

Williams (ODNB) states that he was a Breton of the Montfort-Gael line. Van Houts (p. 260) argues that although the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (D) states that Ralph was English and born in Norfolk, Ralph's name suggests that he was French.

Mother: unknown.

Williams (ODNB) states that she may have been English. Van Houts (p. 260) suggests that she was an English woman from Norfolk.

Brother: Godwine (living 1069).

This relationship is given by Williams (ODNB) and by van Houts (p. 262), who states that Godwine was Ralph's probable brother.

Spouse: a Breton.

This relationship is given by Williams (ODNB) and by van Houts (p. 262). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives evidence (see below).

Children:

Ralph de Gael married Emma, daughter of William fitz Osbern, in 1075.

Hardouin.

Evidence

from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle D, s.a. 1076 [E is similar, but under 1075]:

On þissan geare Wyllelm cyngc geaf Raulfe eorle Wyllelmes dohtor, Osbarnes sunu, 7 se ylca Raulf wæs Bryttisc on his modor healfe, 7 Rawulf his fæder wæs Englisc, 7 wæs geboren on Norðfolce, 7 se kyngc geaf for þi his suna þær þone eorldom, 7 Suðfolc eac. He þa lædde þæt wif to Norðwic, þær wæs þæt brydealo, þæt wæs manegra manna bealo.

References

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (online transcription by Tony Jebson, accessed 15 April 2018).

Keats-Rohan, Katharine S. B. Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents 1106 - 1166. (Woodbridge: 2002).

Keats-Rohan, Katharine. “Raoul l’Anglais et Raoul de Gaël: un réexamen des donnes anglaises et bretonnes” in Mémoires de la Société d’Histoire et d’Archéologie de Bretagne 94 (2016), pp. 61-93.

Van Houts, Elisabeth. “Intermarriage in Eleventh-Century England” in Normandy and Its Neighbours, 900-1250 (Belgium: Brepols, 2011), pp. 237-270.

Williams, Ann.”Ralph, earl (d. 1097 x9)” in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004).

Williams, Ann.”Ralph the Staller, earl of East Anglia (d. 1068x70)” in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004).