Background
He was son of Hugh I, Count of Vermandois, and Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois and paternal grandson of Henry I of France and while his mother had been heiress to Herbert IV of Vermandois.
He was son of Hugh I, Count of Vermandois, and Adelaide, Countess of Vermandois and paternal grandson of Henry I of France and while his mother had been heiress to Herbert IV of Vermandois.
This led to a war with Theobald II of Champagne, who was the brother of Ralph"s first wife Eleonore. The war lasted two years (1142-1144) and ended with the occupation of Champagne by the royal army. Ralph and Petronilla were excommunicated by Pope Innocent II for a marriage deemed illegitimate, overriding three bishops who had already annulled Ralph"s prior marriage.
The excommunication was dropped and Ralph"s marriage sanctified a year later in 1143 by Pope Celestine II after Innocent died.