General Notes

REFN: 6701AN
RAOUL DE TOENI
The Conqueror and His Companions
by J.R. Planché, Somerset Her ald. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1874.
Raoul (Ralph) De Toeni, Seigneur De Conch es, second of that name, was the
son or grandson (for it is not quite clear w hich) of that turbulent Roger
De Toeni, who was one of the first to dispute t he succession of the
base-born William to the ducal throne of Normandy, and w ho, with his two
sons Halbert and Elinance, was slain in a conflict with Roge r de
Beaumont. You have beard of him before as the messenger of the Duke to
the French King with the disastrous tidings of the battle of Mortemer.
The ho nourable office of gonfanonier (standardbearer) of Normandy was
hereditary in their family, collateral descendants of its dukes from
Mahaluc, uncle of Rol f or Rollo, but on whom it was first conferred has
not transpired.
Previous to the battle at Senlac, Wace tells us the Duke ordered the
consecrated gonfa non, which the Pope had sent to him, to be brought forth
and unfurled. Then t aking and raising it, he called to him Raoul de
Conches, and said, "Bear my g onfanon, for I would not but do you right.
By right and by ancestry your fami ly are gonfanoniers of Normandy, and
very good knights have they all been." " Many thanks to you," answered
Raoul, "for the recognition of our right, but b y my faith the gonfanon
shall not be borne by me this day. To-day I claim qui ttance of that
service, for I would serve you in another guise. I will go wit h you into
the battle and fight the English as long as I have life to do so, and be
assured that my hand will be worth more than those of twenty such men! "
There can be no doubt that he was as good as his word, although no
especia l act of gallantry has been recorded of him, for we find him
rewarded by the gift of thirty-seven lordships, nineteen being in
Norfolk, and making Flamste ad, in Hertfordshire, his principal residence
in England.
Orderic tells us t hat this Raoul gained great glory in the wars, and was
renowned among the fir st of the Norman nobles for honour and wealth,
serving bravely in the armies of King William and Duke Robert, his son,
for nearly sixty years. Of course h e must mean alternately, for he was
one of the nobles who took part with Robe rt Court-heuse on his first
outbreak, in consequence of the insult of his bro thers, William and
Henry, who threw water on him from a gallery in a house wh ere they were
playing at dice. Raoul was banished, and his domains seized by the King,
but through the intercession of friends obtained his pardon and the
restoration of his estates.
In 1077, he married Elizabeth, or Isabel, daugh ter of Simon De Montfort
l'Amauri, whose hand he obtained by the audacious ac t of carrying off by
night Agnes, daughter of Richard, Comte d'Evreux, who wa s his
half-sister, and marrying her to the said Simon. Orderic gives an amusi ng
account of this Isabel and her sister-in-law Havise, daughter of William,
Comte De Nevers, the wife of her brother Willliam, Comte d'Evreux. The
Coun tess Havise took offence, it appears, at some taunts of the Lady of
Conches, and used all her influence with her husband and his barons to
have recourse t o arms, in which mischievous attempt she unfortunately
succeeded. "Both these ladies," the chronicler tells us, "were great
talkers, and spirited as well as handsome; they ruled their husbands,
oppressed their vassals, and inspired terror in various ways: but still
their characters were very different. Havi se had wit and eloquence, but
she was cruel and avaricious; Isabel, on the co ntrary, was generous,
enterprising, and lively, so that she was beloved and e steemed by those
immediately about her. She roDe in knightly armour when the vassals took
the field, and exhibited as much daring amongst belted knights a nd
men-at-arms as Camilla, the renowned Virgin of Italy, among the squadrons
of Tevenus."
By turns the people of Evreux and