General Notes

He was at DUKE WILLIAM's (RIN 798) court in 1050 and in 1054 he took
part in his victory over the French at Mortremer. He was sent by DUKE
WILLIAM to alarm KING HENRY I of France (RIN 1198) with the news.
About 1060 Ralph, along with HUGH DE GRANDMESNIL (RIN 1026) and
Ernald d'Echauffer, were banished and deprived of their lands by DUKE
WILLIAM. In revenge, Ralph and Ernald made incursions into Normandy
and burned the town of St. Evroul; but in 1063 THE DUKE recalled them
and restored their lands. Ralph was one of DUKE WILLIAM's inner council
at the time of the invasion of England and he faught at the Battle of
Hastings in 1066.
Cokayne, in his "Complete Peerage", states that Ralph's estates, given
to him by WILLIAM THE CONQUERER sometime between 1066 and the
Domesday survey of 1086, included holdings in the counties of Berks,
Essex, Gloucester, Hereford, Herts, Norfolk, and Worcester, with the
castle of Clifford. This would certainly seem to make him the
grandfather of MARGARET, who married WALTER DE CLIFFORD. The "caput"
of his barony was at Flamstead, Herts.
Following the death of KING WILLIAM in 1087, Ralph was one of the
Norman nobles who expelled the royal garrisons from their castles. In
1088 he served under Duke Robert in the war against Maine.
As the result of a feud between is wife, ISABEL, and ISABEL's sister-in
law, Hawise, Hawise's husband (ISABEL's brother), William Count of
Evreux, attacked Ralph. Ralph appealed in vain to the Duke of Normandy
for help. He then appealed directly to King William Rufus, who ordered
his adherents in Normandy to Ralph's aid. The Count of Evreux beseiged
Conches, but was defeated by Ralph's forces. After three years of
fighting a peace was concluded. When King William Rufus and his
brother, the Duke of Normandy finally made peace in 1091, Ralph's lands
were among those given from the Duke to the King. Thereafter, Ralph
was one of the king's staunchest supporters.
After the death of King William Rufus, in 1100, Ralph joined forces
with the Count of Evreux to invade the lands of ROBERT DE BEAUMONT,
COUNT OF MEULAN (RIN 1031). This was in revenge for previous political
back-stabbing.