Page:EB1911 - Volume 22.djvu/889

Rh  and of the liberties of the English church. He claimed authority in Wales and Scotland, and he refused to consecrate Thurstan as archbishop of York because the latter prelate declined to profess obedience to the archbishop of Canterbury. This step involved him in a quarrel with the Papacy, and he visited Rome, but was unable to obtain an interview with pope Paschal II., who had left the city. In spite of peremptory orders from Paschal's successors, Gelasius II. and Calixtus II., the archbishop still refused to consecrate Thurstan, and the dispute was unsettled when he died on the 20th of October 1122.

 RALPH DE GUADER, earl of Norfolk (fl. 1070), was the son of a Norman who had held high positions in East Anglia, perhaps that of earl, in the reign of Edward the Confessor (c. 1055). His son Ralph fought on the Norman side at Hastings, and was made earl of Norfolk by William the Conqueror. In 1075 the king's refusal to sanction his marriage with the sister of Roger, earl of Hereford, caused the two earls to revolt. They were easily defeated, though Ralph sent to Denmark for ships and went there himself to fetch them. Ralph forfeited his English lands, and took refuge in Brittany on his wife's estate. In 1076, having plotted against Duke Hoel of Brittany, he was besieged at Dol, and the Conqueror came to Hoel's aid; but Ralph finally made his peace. Both he and his wife took part in the first crusade (1099), and died on the road to Palestine.

RALPH OF COGGESHALL (d. after 1227), English chronicler, was at first a monk and afterwards sixth abbot (1207-1218) of Coggeshall, an Essex foundation of the Cistercian order. Ralph himself tells us these facts; and that his resignation of the abbacy was made against the wishes of the brethren, in consequence of his bad health. He took up and continued a Chronicon Anglicanum belonging to his house; the original work begins at 1066, his own share at 1187. He hoped to reach the year 1227, but his autograph copy breaks off three years earlier. Ralph makes no pretensions to be a literary artist. Where he had' a written authority before him he was content to reproduce even the phraseology of his original. At other times he strings together in chronological order, without any links of Connexion, the anecdotes which he gathered from chance visitors. Unlike "Benedictus” and Roger of Hoveden, he makes little use of documents; only three letters are quoted in his work. On the other hand, the corrections and erasures of the autograph show that he took pains to verify his details; and his informants are sometimes worthy of exceptional confidence. Thus he vouches Richard's chaplain Anselm for the story of the king's capture by Leopold of Austria. The tone of the chronicle is usually dispassionate; but the original text contained some personal strictures upon Prince John, which are reproduced in Roger of Wendover. The admiration with which Ralph regarded Henry II. is attested by his edition of Ralph Niger's chronicle; here, under the year 1161, he replies to the intemperate criticisms of the original author. On Richard I. the abbot passes a judicious verdict, admitting the great qualities of that king, but arguing that his character degenerated. Towards John alone Ralph is uniformly hostile; as a Cistercian and an adherent of the Mandeville family he could hardly be otherwise. Ralph refers in the Chronicon (s.a. 1091) to a book of visions and miracles which he had compiled, but this is no longer extant. He also wrote a continuation of Niger's chronicle, extending from 1162 to 1178 (printed in R. Anstruther's edition of Niger, London, 1851), and short annals from 1066 to 1223.

(H. W. C. D.)

RAM, PIERRE FRANÇOIS XAVIER DE (1504-1865), Belgian churchman and historian, was born at Louvain in 1804. He took orders early, and was appointed professor of poetry at the seminary of Malines, and archivist of the diocese. During the years immediately before the revolution of 1830, Ram, who was much influenced by Lamennais, was active in bringing about a coalition of Liberals and Catholics against the Dutch government established by the Powers on the fall of Napoleon, and in endeavouring to give a democratic character to the policy of his church. He declined to stand as a member of the Belgian assembly, and applied himself wholly to teaching and to editing or composing historical books. As professor of philosophy at Malines he succeeded in bringing about the foundation of the Catholic university, which was transferred to Louvain in 1834. He was rector of the university till his death in 1865.

The best known of his publications is the Documents relatifs aux troubles du pays de Liege 1455-1505, published by the Commission royale de l'Histoire de Belgique (Brussels, 1844). A Notice sur la vie et les travaux de M gr P. F. X. de Ram, by J. J. Thonissen, will be found in the Annuaire de l'Académie royale de Belgique (Brussels, 1866).

RAM, a male sheep, one kept for breeding purposes in domestication and not castrated, as opposed to the castrated “ wether ” (see ). For the ram as one of the signs of the zodiac, see. The word may be connected with O. Nor. ramme, strong, or with Sansk. ram, to sport. The butting propensities of the ram have given rise to the many transferred senses of the word, chief and earliest of which is that of a battering implement used before the days of cannon for beating in the gates and breaching the walls of fortified places (see ). Many technical uses of the term have been developed from this, e.g. the weight of a pile-driving machine, the piston of a hydraulic press and other machines or portions of machines worked by water power (see ). The ancient war vessels were fitted with a beak (Lat. rostrum, Gr. €rcBo}o1/), projecting from the bows, and used to ram or crush in the sides of an opposing vessel; for the development of this in the modern battleship, see.

RAMADAN, the month of the Mahommedan year in which absolute fasting from dawn to sunset is required. The law is laid down in Koran 179-184, and is as follows: A fast had always been a part of religion. In Islam it was to fall in this month because in it the Koran was revealed, and it was holier than the others. It was to begin when the new moon was actually seen, and last until sight of the next new moon; to extend each day from the time when a white thread could be distinguished from a black one and until nightfall; to be absolute in that time as to food, drink, women. The daytime should be passed, by preference, in retreat (i 'tikdj') in the mosque in pious exercises; during the night all otherwise lawful things to be lawful. The sick and those on a journey might be excused, but should fast thereafter an equivalent number of days. Unexcused breaking of the fast might be atoned for by feeding of the poor. The last ten days of the month are regarded as especially sacred; these Mahomet himself used to pass in retreat. In the course of them falls the “ Night of Decree, ” or “ of Power ” (Koran xc. 1), but its exact date is not known. On it intercourse between heaven and earth is peculiarly open, and many wonders take place. Fasting in Ramadan is reckoned one of the five pillars, or absolute requirements, of Islam. It is followed by the Lesser Festival, the first three days of the month Shauwal (see BAIRAM). Naturally, during it all the activities of life are reduced to a minimum, and those who can afford it turn night into day as much as possible.

For details see Hughes, Dictionary of Islam, 535 ff.; Sell, Faith of Islam, 279 ff.; Sprenger, Leben Mohammads, iii. 56 ff.; Snouck Hurgronje, Mekka, 51, 77 ff.; Meakin, The Moors, 247 ff.; Juynboll, De Mohammedaansche Wet, 108 ff. (D. B. M.)

RAMBAUD, ALFRED NICOLAS (1842-1905), French historian, was born at Besancon on the 2nd of July 1842. After studying at the Ecole normale supérieure, he completed his studies in Germany. He was one of that band of young scholars, among whom were also Ernest Lavisse, Gabriel Monod and Gaston Paris, whose enthusiasm was aroused by