Gerbod the Fleming, 1st Earl of Chester

[4] His family held the lordships of Oosterzele and Scheldewindeke, the overlordship of Arques and territorial rights in Saint-Omer.

[7] His brother, Frederic, was a tenant-in-chief in East Anglia and his sister Gundred married William I de Warenne, later 1st Earl of Surrey, whose caput was Castle Acre in Norfolk.

Orderic Vitalis reports that Gerbod was harassed by both English and Welsh in his new position and he may have been glad to return to Flanders later that same year.

[11] According to Orderic Vitalis, he fought in the battle of Cassel in February 1071 in Flanders where he fell into the hands of his enemies and was held captive.

[13] However, an English and a Norman source both state that Gerbod was not imprisoned following Cassel,[9] Instead he fled to Rome to seek forgiveness for the sin of killing Arnulf III, Count of Flanders, his liege lord during the battle.