Editing Ranulf Flambard (section)

==Early life==
[[File:Domesday Book - Warwickshire.png|thumb|right|A page from [[Domesday Book]], which Ranulf was involved with]]
Ranulf was a Norman<ref name=Poole170>Poole ''Domesday Book to Magna Carta'' pp. 170–171</ref> and the son of Thurstin, a parish priest in the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux|diocese of Bayeux]]. Ranulf was probably born about 1060, as he was close to 70 when he died in 1128.<ref name=Rufus193>Barlow ''William Rufus'' pp. 193–205</ref> Originally he worked for [[Odo of Bayeux]], but he soon entered the [[Chancery (medieval office)|chancery]] of King William I, Odo's half-brother. He stood out amongst the other clerks for his intelligence and his good looks.<ref name=Feudal150>Barlow ''Feudal Kingdom of England'' pp. 150–151</ref> His nickname, Flambard, means torch-bearer, incendiary or devouring flame; and may have been given to him for his high-spirited personality.<ref name=Mason75>Mason ''William II'' p. 75</ref> [[Orderic Vitalis]], a medieval chronicler, records that [[Robert Despenser|Robert fitzThurstin]] gave the nickname to Ranulf, because Robert resented the fact that Ranulf, though of low birth, ordered the nobility around.<ref name=Rufus141>Barlow ''William Rufus'' p. 141</ref> Archbishop [[Anselm of Canterbury]] told the pope that the nickname came from Ranulf's cruelty, which Anselm likened to a consuming flame.<ref name=Rufus193/> Orderic went on to claim that Ranulf was "educated from boyhood with base parasites among the hangers-on of the court".<ref name=Turner107>Quoted in Turner "Changing Perceptions" ''Journal of British Studies'' p. 107</ref>

Ranulf acquired the reputation of an able financier and administrator and helped to increase the royal revenues.<ref name=Chibnall115>Chibnall ''Anglo-Norman England'' p. 115</ref> He appears to have played an important part in the compilation of the Domesday survey,<ref name=Chibnall114>Chibnall ''Anglo-Norman England'' p. 114</ref> perhaps even the main orchestrator of the project.<ref name=Mason75/><ref name=Mason85>Mason ''William II'' pp. 85–86</ref> Domesday Book gives his profession as a clerk and records him holding land in a number of counties.<ref name=Poole170/> Before the death of the old king he became chaplain to [[Maurice (Archdeacon of Le Mans)|Maurice]], [[Bishop of London]], whom he had formerly served in the chancery. Some sources call him "almost illiterate", but this probably meant he was not formally educated in the liberal arts.<ref name=Chibnall127>Chibnall ''Anglo-Norman England'' p. 127</ref> His work in the chancery and as an administrator would have required knowledge of Latin.<ref name=Rufus193/> He also served as the keeper of the king's seal from about 1085. Once, while he was travelling in the [[River Thames|Thames]] estuary with the seal, he was captured by pirates. He prevented the capture of the seal by throwing it into the sea.<ref name=Chibnall133>Chibnall ''Anglo-Norman England'' p. 133</ref> Although he served William the Conqueror, he does not attest a single genuine charter or writ of William's, which implies he was not a leading servant.<ref name=DNB>Mason "Flambard, Ranulf" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref> When King William died and his lands were split between his elder son Robert Curthose, who received Normandy, and the third son, William Rufus,{{efn|The second son, Richard, had died about 1075 without children.<ref name=Mason36>Mason ''William II'' p. 36</ref>}} who received England, Ranulf chose to serve Rufus in England.<ref name=Feudal150/>