Flambard, RANNULF or RALPH, justiciar of England under William II., was a Norman of obscure birth. Although he entered the church, and in 1099 obtained the bishopric of Durham, he did not scruple to make himself the king's man, ministering to his vices and extravagances by cruel and oppressive extortion of the king's subjects. He it was who taught the king to apply the usages of feudalism to the estates belonging to the church. He died 5th September 1128.
Flambard, RANNULF or RALPH
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 4: Dionysius to Friction, p. 666
Source scan(s): p. 0683