Emma de Breteuil, Countess of Norfolk

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_de_Guader,_Countess_of_Norfolk

She was the wife of Ralph de Guader and the daughter of William FitzOsbern, Lord of Breteuil and later first Earl of Hereford, who was a cousin and close adviser of William the Conqueror. William's opposition to their marriage led to the unsuccessful Revolt of the Earls.

Born around 1059 in Breteuil in Normandy, Emma was born to William Fitz-Osbern and his wife Adeliza, the daughter of Roger I of Tosny and his wife Adelaide (the daughter of Ermesinde of Carcassonne, regent-countess of Barcelona).

In 1075 at Exning, Cambridgeshire, she married Ralph de Gaël, Earl of East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk) and Lord of Gaël and Montfort. William I of England [William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy] refused to sanction this marriage between two powerful families which caused a revolt. The leaders were her husband, Ralph, her brother Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford, and Waltheof, 1st Earl of Northumberland. The revolt was plagued by disaster. Her husband encountered a much superior force under the warrior bishops Odo of Bayeux and Geoffrey de Montbray (the latter ordered that all rebels should have their right foot cut off) near Cambridge and retreated hurriedly to Norwich, hotly pursued by the royal army. Leaving her to defend Norwich Castle, he sailed for Denmark in search of help, and eventually returned to England with a fleet of 200 ships under Cnut and Hakon, which failed to do anything effective.

In 1075, Emma, Countess of Norfolk defended Norwich Castle when it was under siege. She eventually negotiated safe passage for herself and her troops in exchange for her castle. She retired to her estate in Brittany, where she was rejoined by her husband. Ralph was deprived of all his lands and of his Earldom in England. They retired to her Breton lands. The two joined Robert, Duke of Normandy, on the First Crusade. Emma died some time after 1096 on the road to the Holy Land, and Ralph died circa 1101 in the course of the crusade.

They had three children who lived to adulthood:

1. William de Gael, succeeded his father as Seigneur de Gael. He claimed Breteuil after the death of his uncle William de Breteuil, but died shortly thereafter, according to Orderic Vitalis.

2. Raoul II de Gael, seigneur of Gael and Montfort. By 1119, he had obtained the honour of Breteuil in Normandy (his uncle William de Breteuil died 1103 without any legitimate issue). The Complete Peerage claims that his descendants in the male line continued to hold his estates in Brittany, acquiring Laval and Vitré in the 15th century with the marriage of the heiress of Montmorency-Laval, but such a male-line descent hasn't been traced. He had only one child by his wife, Amice (Amicia) (d. c. 31 August 1168) was initially betrothed to Richard, illegitimate son of Henry I and his mistress Ansfrida, but her betrothed died on the White Ship disaster in November 1120. She was then married to the King's ward Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester, second (twin) son of Robert de Beaumont, Count of Meulan.

3. Alain de Gael, who went with his parents on the First Crusade and died in the Holy Land

Emma married Ralph de Gaël, Earl of East Anglia, Lord of Gaël and Montfort . Ralph was born Bef 1042, Hereford, Herefordshire, England; died ca 1101, Holy Land. [Group Sheet]

1. Raoul II de Montfort

Notes:

Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_FitzOsbern,_1st_Earl_of_Hereford

Lord of Breteuil, in Normandy, William was a relative and close counselor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England. He was created Earl of Hereford before 22 February 1067, one of the first peerage titles in the English peerage. He is one of the very few proven Companions of William the Conqueror known to have fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. His chief residence was Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, one of many English castles he built.

William FitzOsbern was the son of Osbern the Steward, a nephew of Duchess Gunnor, the wife of Duke Richard I of Normandy. Osbern was the steward of his cousin Duke Robert I of Normandy. When Robert left the Duchy to his young son William, Osbern became one of Duke William's guardians. Osbern married Emma, a daughter of Count Rodolf of Ivry, who was a half-brother of Duke Richard I of Normandy. Through her he inherited a large property in central Normandy, including the honours of Pacy and Breteuil.

William FitzOsbern was probably raised at the court of his cousin William Duke of Normandy, and like his father, became one of the ducal stewards. He was one of the earliest and most vigorous advocates of the invasion of England, and tradition holds that he convinced the doubters amongst the Norman barons of the feasibility of the invasion.

As Duke William took control of England as William the Conqueror, FitzOsbern was given charge of the Isle of Wight, and then before 22 February 1067 he was created Earl of Hereford as well as Earl of Gloucester, Earl of Worcester and Earl of Oxfordshire. That western part of England was not yet fully under Norman control; the understanding must have been that FitzOsbern was to take charge of the conquest of these regions when he was able.

The King was back in England in 1068 and FitzOsbern accompanied him in the subjugation of southwest England. Anglo-Saxon resistance in the West Midlands was crushed later in 1069, and it is likely FitzOsbern played a major part in this, although the details are not certain. During this time FitzOsbern and his followers pushed on westwards into Wales.

As part of the assertion of Norman control over England and Wales, FitzOsbern was one of the major Norman castle builders. Early castles attributed to him include Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight, Chepstow Castle (Striguil) in South Wales, Wigmore Castle and Clifford Castle in Herefordshire, Berkeley Castle in Gloucestershire and Monmouth Castle in Wales. FitzOsbern also created or improved fortifications in the towns of Hereford and Shrewsbury.

In 1070 trouble arose in Flanders, where King William's brother-in-law Count Baldwin VI of Flanders had died, leaving his county and his young sons in the hands of his widow Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut. Her control of Flanders was challenged by the brother of her late husband, Robert the Frisian. Looking for help, she offered herself in marriage to FitzOsbern. He could not resist the chance to become also Count of this rich Principality, close to Normandy and hurried there with his army, where he was defeated by the Count of Flanders, and killed in the Battle of Cassel on 22 February 1071.

FitzOsbern married twice:

First to Adeliza de Tosny, daughter of Roger I of Tosny, by whom he had three children:

1. William of Breteuil, who succeeded his father in Normandy. He was held captive and tortured by Ascelin Gouel de Perceval 'Lupus', Sire d'Yvry, until he finally granted his daughter Isabella de Breteuil in marriage to him.

2. Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford, who succeeded his father in England and Wales;

3. Emma de Breteuil, wife of Ralph de Gael, 1st Earl of Norfolk

Secondly it must be assumed that he also married Richilde, Countess of Mons and Hainaut shortly before the Battle of Cassel in 1071.

William married Adeliza de Tosny. [Group Sheet]