Everything about Ralph The Timid totally explained
Ralph the Timid (also known as
Ralf of Mantes) was the
Earl of Hereford from 1052 until his death in 1057.
Lineage
He was the son of
Drogo of Mantes, Count of the
Vexin, and
Goda, daughter of King
Ethelred the Unready of
England and
Emma of Normandy. Thus, he was a nephew of the
English Saxon King
Edward the Confessor, who placed him in command of the Earldom of
Herefordshire. He himself married a woman named Gytha.
Early Norman castles
He placed
Normans in positions of authority beneath him in his county and these men immediately began constructing
castles, a new
architectural feature in the English landscape.
Edward the Confessor's protection
When Godwin returned from exile in 1052, there was almost war between the English Saxons and the Normans, but it was prevented and many Normans had to flee the country.
Edward the Confessor intervened on Ralph's behalf, for he loved him dearly. Godwin made peace with his underling Ralph, but died on September 14, 1053.
In that year, Ralph became Earl for certain in his own right and held the counties of
Gloucestershire and
Oxfordshire as well.
Welsh attacks
In 1055,
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn,
King of Gwynedd (and later all
Wales), invaded Ralph's lands in Hereford along with the exiled Earl
Ælfgār. Arming all his men as Norman knights, they sallied forth from his seat at
Hereford Castle and were soundly defeated on October 24, 1055.
Disgrace
Gruffydd ap Llywelyn took
Hereford and destroyed the new
castle. Ralph was disgraced and he died two years later in 1057, never having recovered from the shock of loss or the ignominy of his defeat: he was ever after called
the Timid, less for actual cowardice as for his trust in armoured cavalry over the traditional
Anglo-Saxon war form.
After the death of Ralph, Herefordshire was added to
Harold Godwinson's
Earldom of Wessex.
Further Information
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