Ralph the Timid (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Ralph the Timid, also known as Ralf of Mantes, was probably brought to England as part of the Confessor's entourage in 1041. He was created the Earl of Hereford in 1051/52 until his death in 1057. He was the son of Drogo of Mantes, Count of the Vexin, and Goda of England, 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. He placed Normans in positions of authority beneath him in Hereford and these men immediately began constructing castles, a new architectural feature in the English landscape.