ABSTRACT
Ralph d'Escures was the son of a noble family from near Seez in southern Normandy near the border with Maine. His parents were Seffrid and Rascendis, and it has been suggested that they were related to the Montgomery family, the counts of Belleme. Rochester had a unique relationship with Canterbury for the bishop there was the archbishop's special deputy and assistant. William of Malmesbury reported that the defenders of the castle sent the keys to the king by the hand of Abbot Ralph, but Orderic Vitalis stated that Robert of Belleme surrendered the keys to the king in person. Abbot Faritius was enough of a theologian to participate in a learned exchange over the necessity of baptism by water for salvation with Theobald of Etampes, a secular cleric then teaching at Oxford. Ralph took Thurstan at his word and suggested to the king that he appoint someone else to the position who would not oppose the royal will.
