Earl Aelfgar of Mercia, after being exiled from England, came to King Gruffydd ap Llywellyn of Gwynedd with 18 longships full of Viking mercenaries. Gruffydd married the earl Aelfgar`s daughter, and assembled a Welsh army to supplement Aelfgar's army. Together the armies invaded Herefordshire and on 24th October defeated Earl Ralph the timid (aka Ralf of Mantes), It was later claimed that Ralph and his Frenchmen were the first one to chicken out, which resulted in his nickname, The Timid, the attackers razed Hereford and despoiled the relics of King Ethelbert which had been housed there at the local church.
King Edward of England responded by appointing Earl Harold Godwinson to solve the threat. The Welsh chickened into South Wales, and Harold Godwinson eventually negotiated a peace with them at Bilingsley near Boulston in Archenfield, which resulted in Aelfgar's restoration of his earldom and Gruffydd ap Llywellyn of Gwynedd had to become king Edward the confessor's loyal vassal.
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