f h " " Ln m m I t e. Cams um ov m o x g h ) C O N Q U E EN C O MP A N I S O N S . 9 Q q 3 6 8 W m ] c 3 0 x 9 “ J Rs? LAN O . HE , pl s mn lg' H A o ne r ER LD . W e find but few historians of all ag es wh o hav e been dilig ent in their ea c for t u It is t ei c ommon m et s r h r th. h r hod to tak e on tru st e dls tu b ute to th e P u blic b w ic mea a fal e oo o c e ec eiv e f om m od , y h h ns s h d n r d r a ” — t a itio al to o te it . DR YDEN C h a racter P ol bius. r d n p s r y , Qf y IN T W O VO L ME U S . VOL . II . g V <1; TINSLEY BROTHERS 8 CATHERINE S S ND , , TREET, TRA . C ONTENTS . CH AP TE R I. PAGE ’ ou de e of o o — u d Av ranch es E of Ra l Ga l , Earl N rf lk H gh , arl — e te eof e de Mowbra o of ou ce —Ro e Ch s r G fr y _ y, Bish p C tan s g r de Mowbray (his brother) CH A PT E R II. — — Richard de Bienfaite Baldwi n de Meu les Richard de Redv ers — — Gilbert de Montfich et Roger lo Bigod H A T C P E R III . — ' H umphrey de B ohun Henry de Ferret s - Geoffrey de Mande — — vflle H ugh do Grentm esnil Richard de C onr ci C H AP T E R IV. — — \Villiam de Albini William Mal et William de Vieuxp ont — — Raoul Taisson William de Mou lins H ugh de Gou rnay C H A PT E R V. v i CONTE NTS . CH APTE R VII. — R obert Fitz E rn eis William Patr y de la L an dc H A E R VIII C PT . — — ’ — William Crispin Av enel de Biarz Fu lk d A ulnay B ern ard de ’ ’ t e —R o e t d Oile —J e d Iv ri S . Val ri b r y an E I C H AP T R X . — — Raou l de Fou geres Errand de Harcou rt William Pain 9 1 ’ — ’ — Walter d Ain c ou rt Sam son (l A n sn ev ille Ham o de Orev o — coeu r Picot (16 Say CH APT E R X . — R obert Bertram u g h de Port VVilliam de Colombieres ’ ' — Robert d E stou ten lle William Pev erel H C APTE R XI. om n o of th e o u e o u e t fie or of W o e e o C pa i ns C nq r r nid n i d , h s p rs nal history nothing has hitherto b een discov ered IN D E X THE C ONQUEROR AND HIS A I C OMP N ONS . HAPTE C R I . RAO U L D E GAE L E ARL O F NORFOLK , . ’ HUGH D A R A H E S E ARL E CHE STE R V N O O . , G E O FFRE D E B AY BISHO P CO TA C E S Y MOW R O F U N . , ROGE R D E MOW BRAY H IS BROTHE R ( ). E E RAOU L D GA L , E ARL OF NORF OLK . J o e 1a om e de ee st C pagni N l , ” C h al h ev c a Raou l de Gael . R oman d ow e R , 1. H E RE is another mysterious companion , respecting whom much labour and speculation have been our expended in vain . All historians are agreed upon THE CONQUE ROR AND HIS COMPANIONS . ferentl Guader W ah er Gw der y designated , , y , Gael , ' W Vaca et aite , Ware , and even j , so that it is almost diflicult to believe the writers are all Of them really speaking Of the same individual . one Of This Raoul , however, who was the principal leaders of the Bretons in the great expedition of m w e h is Willia , and received , as are told , in reward of f ff d services the earldoms of Nor olk and Su olk, marrie , some say with the consent, others in positive defiance z Of, his sovereign , Emma, daughter Of William Fit O sbern h is , the great Earl Of Hereford , and sister Of s on son and succes or , Roger de Breteuil , and his very wedding- day joined with his brother -in- law and W alth eof , Earl Of Northumberland , in a plot against w King William , hich might speedily have terminated not W alth eof the reignOf the Conqueror had , repent th e c on ing almost in the same breath , denounced s irators to of p , first Lanfranc , Archbishop Canterbury , and then , by his advice , to the King himself, who was of at that time in Normandy . Roger, Earl Hereford , w as w out seized and thro n into prison , Of which he O f never came alive ;but Raoul , Earl Norfolk , for tunatel to o y escaped Denmark . His wife her ically defended the Castle Of Norwich until she could make RAO L DE GAE L U . 0 inroad with some forces hastily raised in Denmark , w rotec retired to Brittany , here he found refuge and p f V. O 107 5 tion with Hoel , Count Brittany, and in , ’ ] on King William s laying siege to Do , threw himself w Fer ant a m into the place ith Alain g , th so and suc cessor Of Hoel , and defended it valiantly against the R w v royal forces . Eventually aoul , ith his bra e and m m faithful Countess , ade a pilgri age to the Holy m bOth to Land , in which the ortal career Of is said m have ter inated . These few facts , stated in as few words , are to be w in our found ith little variation all English annalists, s or s occa ionally accompanied by a note a parenthesi , containing an assertion or a suggestion respecting the parentage Of this traitorous and ungrateful nobleman . Th e w Saxon Chronicle , hich has been followed by 107 5 some Of the early historians , says , under date , av e E R u This, year King William g arl alph the da ghter rn h Of William Fitz O sbe to wife . The said Ralp ’ w as Br ttisc on y (British) his mother s side , and his an a father was Englishman named R lph , and born in rf h is son No olk . The King, therefore , g ave the earl d of and ff wh o W e oms Norfolk Su olk , then brought his if a THE CONQUE ROR AND HIS COMPANIONS . It was Earl Roger and Earl Ralph who w ere wh o authors Of that plot, and enticed the Britons Br ttens ( y ) to them , and sent each to Denmark after a ” f &c leet to assist them , . h In contradiction to the above statement, t at the King g av e to Earl Ralph the daughter of Fitz O sbern w to ife , the majority Of the Norman historians contend that the match was for unknown reasons strictly pro h ibited by the King ;and in as positive Opposition to the assertion that Earl Ralph was British on his ’ m oth er s lVilliam O f h im side , Malmesbury , who calls ’ VVah er on ath er s Ralph de , says he was a Briton his f side Brito ex-patre and Of a disposition foreign to anything good . Matthew Paris and Matthew Of VVest h im not minster both call , and his father, an English ’ and moth er s of man born in Norfolk, by his side “ s British parentage , which , ays Dugdale , they understand -to be Welsh ;but others say he was of Brittany in France , which is the more likely in regard was th e of e he owner Of the Castle Gu der , in that ’ 7 province . Here we begin to approximate the truth , u J umié es in for G illaume de g , describing the issue Of O sbern one of William Fitz , says that his daughters Radulf lVaiet named Emma is married to de , g enere AO L DE GAE L R U . Raol w as Neel rode de Gael . He himself a Breton and led Bretons . He served for the land he had , but r he had it a short time enough , for he fo feited it as ” they say . In the paper I read at the Norwich Congress of the a 1 8 5 7 I British Arch eological Association in , gave my reasons for believing Raoul de Gael to be a son of w Ralf, Earl Of Hereford , in the reign Of Ed ard the I O f w Confessor , who is , think , unfairly accused co ardice in of of consequence the flight his troops , raw levies , to on to hastily raised , and compelled fight horseback , w w hich they ere unaccustomed , against the combined ' W son of Irish and elsh forces under Algar , Leofric , 105 5 I to in .