Raoul II. De Tosny

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Raoul II. De Tosny (English Ralph de Tosny ) or Raoul II de Conches (* before 1040, † 1102 ) from the Tosny family was one of the great Anglo-Norman barons at the time of William the Conqueror . He was one of those who accompanied William during the conquest of England .

Standard bearer of the Duke of Normandy

Around 1040, when his father Roger I. de Tosny and his two older brothers were killed in action, Raoul was probably still a minor. His mother drew documents with him up to 1050, so that he was probably a little younger than his duke.

When two armies of royal French and Angevin soldiers devastated Normandy in 1054 and one of them was defeated at the Battle of Mortemer , William instructed his standard bearer Raoul II. DeTosny to convey the news to the other army. From a hill, the ducal herald proclaimed the defeat of Mortemer to the enemy, whereupon his commanders, King Henry I and Count Geoffroy II of Anjou , ordered the withdrawal.

Around 1061 Wilhelm expelled Raoul and other barons such as Arnaud d'Échauffour (from the house of Giroie ) and Hugues de Grandmesnil of the country. According to Ordericus Vitalis , the duke's decision seems to have been caused by the disputes these barons caused their neighbors, with Roger II de Montgommery and his wife Mabile de Bellême allegedly urging the duke to do so. In view of an imminent campaign against the County of Maine , however, they were recalled as early as 1063.

Raoul II and England

Although he was one of the most important barons in Normandy, Raoul II did not provide any ships for the conquest of England. But if he took part in the Battle of Hastings himself , the reward from the new King of England was very small. He received little real estate in England, which was located in six counties ( Berkshire , Hertfordshire , Herefordshire , Gloucestershire , Worcestershire and Norfolk ). The historian Judith A. Green even thinks that of the important advisers Wilhelm was the least rewarded.

The power of the Tosnys in England consisted primarily of the Barony of Flamstead . William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford , Raoul's brother-in-law, entrusted him with the new castle of Clifford (Herefordshire) . He was sure to count on Raoul's military experience in defending the border with Wales .

Quarrel with the Norman neighbors

Musset states that Raoul fought all his life through his noble neighbors without exception and with no real benefit. This is a fine example of sterile restlessness in which the central forces of the Norman aristocracy are now atrophied . These activities date mainly from the last years of Wilhelm's life and especially from the time after his death.

In 1078 Raoul supported Duke Robert II in his revolt against his father Wilhelm. They also fled Normandy together. Raoul's holdings in the duchy, Conches and Tosny in particular, were confiscated. The reconciliation between the king and his son gave Raoul his property back.

Wilhelm died in 1087 and Raoul profited from the situation to build several castles and to give his soldiers free hands. In 1090, under the pressure of his wife Isabelle de Montfort, he began a war against his neighbor and half-brother Wilhelm von Évreux . The land around Conches was devastated several times over the years, finally a peace was made after the nephew of the Count of Evreux, Guillaume de Breteuil , had captured Raoul. The peace turned into an alliance to which the land around Beaumont-le-Roger fell victim, which belonged to their neighbor Robert I of Meulan .

In the dispute between the sons of William the Conqueror after 1087, Raoul was initially on the side of the older, Duke Robert II. Together they set out in 1088 to punish Roger II. De Montgommery. But when Raoul got into a dispute with Wilhelm von Évreux again around 1090, Duke Robert did not intervene. Disappointed, Raoul turned to King William II of England , who was glad to have found a new ally in Normandy and responded positively to the call for help.

Raoul died in 1102. He was succeeded by his son Raoul III. de Tosny .

progeny

Raoul II. De Tosny married Élisabeth (or Isabelle) de Montfort, daughter of Simon I of Montfort . After the wedding, Simon gave his son-in-law the castle Nogent-le-Roi , which is not in Normandy.

The couple's children are

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See also: Companion of Wilhelm the Conqueror
  2. ^ Ordericus Vitalis: Histoire de Normandie. Volume II, éd. Guizot, pp. 75-76
  3. ↑ Judith A. Green divided Wilhelm's important advisors into four classes according to their property in England: Raoul II. De Tosny is the only one in the lowest class. Judith A. Green: The aristocracy of Norman England , Cambridge University Press, 2003, p. 28.
  4. ^ Apart from secondary lines, the Abstraction, which were wealthy in Stafford and Belvoir
  5. ↑ Lucien Musset : Aux origines d'une classe dirigeante. Les Tosny, grands barons normands du Xe au XIIe siècle. Reprint from Francia Research on West European History , Munich 1978, p. 59 Online perspectivia.net
  6. ^ Raoul fait la guerre à tous ses voisins notables sans exception et sans nul bénéfice réel. C'est un assez bel exemple des agitations stériles où vont se perdre maintenant l'essentiel des forces de l'aristocratie normande , Musset, ibid , p. 62 online perspectivia.net
  7. ^ Ordericus Vitalis: Histoire de Normandie. Volume III, éd. Guizot, pp. 302-307
  8. ^ Ordericus Vitalis: Histoire de Normandie. Volume IV, éd. Guizot, p. 102
  9. ^ André Rhein: La seigneurie de Montfort-en-Iveline depuis son origine jusqu'à son union avec le duché de Bretagne . Aubert, Versailles 1910, pp. 32-33
  10. ^ Pierre Bauduin : La Première Normandie, Xe-XIe siècle. Presses Universitaires de Caen, 2002, p. 336
personal data
SURNAME Raoul II. De Tosny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ralph de Tosny (English); Raoul II de Conches
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Anglo-Norman baron
DATE OF BIRTH before 1040
DATE OF DEATH 1102