Emma (FitzOsbern) de Breteuil (abt. 1059 - aft. 1095)

Born about 1059 in Breteuil, Normandy, France

Ancestors

Descendants

Died after 1095 after about age 36 in Holy Lands

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Biography

Emma was the daughter of William FitzOsborne, earl of Hereford, and in 1075 she married Ralf de Gaël, Earl of Norfolk and Suffolk. This get together was apparently the cause of the so-called revolt of the Earls, which involved Emma's brother and husband, together with a third Earl, Waltheof.

When the revolt failed, Emma was left holding the fortified city of Norwich, her husband having left the country to seek support. She negotiated and was allowed to leave England and join him. They ruled over Ralph's large lordship of Gaël, Montford and Montauban, west of Rennes.

In 1096 Ralph and his wife went to the holy land as part of the First Crusade, together with the new Duke of Normandy, Robert Curthose. Ralf was one of the Breton leaders at the siege of Nicaea. Both Ralph and his wife died on the crusade.^[1]

Ralph and Emma are known to have had 3 sons:^[1]

• William. Succeeded his father and on the death of his maternal uncle, William de Breteuil, claimed his fief without success, dying shortly afterwards (Orderic, vol. iv, p. I86).
• Ralph III. Succeeded his brother and in 1119 obtained the honour of Breteuil. His daughter Amice carried Breteuil to her husband, Robert, 2nd Earl of Leicester. Complete Peerage reports: "The Breton estates remained vested in the male descendants of Ralph III, who at the beginning of the 15th century acquired the great baronies."
• Alan, who went on Crusade with his father (Orderic, vol. iii, p. 507).

Research Notes

• There seems to be no reason to call her Avice. There is a theory about his son's unknown wife which calls the latter Avice.
• Of interest may be an historical fiction, in which she, her husband, and father, are central characters (The Siege of Norwich Castle: A Story of the last struggle against the Conqueror) [1]

False Gaither Pedigree

This profile was previously linked to an additional child Walter de Gader, supposedly born in Brittany in 1076. The child was part of a false pedigree which is shown in its entirety at False Gaither Pedigree. No documentation has been found for such a son, and he has been de-linked.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Cockayne et al. Complete Peerage, 2nd ed., volume 9, p.574 (under NORFOLK).

Other websites

• The Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG), GUILLAUME FitzOsbern [2].
• The Foundation for Medieval Genealogy (FMG), RALPH (before 1040-on crusade after 1096) [3].
• Wikipedia contributors, "Ralph de Gael," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, [4] (accessed March 21, 2016).
• Wikipedia contributors, "Emma de Guader, Countess of Norfolk," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, [5] (accessed March 21, 2016).