The bishopric of Dol had been raised to the rank of an archbishopric during the 10th century by Nomenoe, king of Brittany, but this step had been objected to by the archbishops of Tours.
Crusaders themselves kept diaries or itineraria; while home-keeping ecclesiastics in the West - monks like Robert of Reims, abbots like Guibert of Nogent, archbishops like Balderich of Dol - found a fertile subject for their pens in the history of the Crusades.
The antelopes include the beisa oryx, fairly common and widely distributed; the greater and lesser kudu (the greater kudu is not found on the Ogaden plateau); the Somali hartebeest (Bubalis Swaynei), found only in the Haud and Ogo districts; waterbuck, rare except along the Webi Shebeli and the Nogal; the dol or Somali bushbuck; the dibatag or Clarke's gazelle; the giraffe-like gerenuk or Waller's gazelle, very common; the aoul or Soemmering's gazelle, widely distributed; the dero (Gazella Speki); and the small dikdik or sakaro antelope, found in almost every thicket.
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.
Having failed to secure the bishopric of Orleans in 1097, he became archbishop of Dol in 1107, and went to Rome for his pallium in 1108.