As with several Norman families, the Tosnys gained power through the recovery of church goods. According to Lucien Musset, Hugues, archbishop of Rouen (942-989) split off lands from his cathedral's lands and gave them to his brother Raoul I of Tosny. They also received grants of land from the dukes of Normandy, notably Richard II. The house of Tosny probably acquired part of its fortune from foreign adventures. Raoul I, who in 991 witnessed an accord between Duke Richard I and the Anglo-Saxon king Ethelred II, fought in the County of Apulia as part of the Norman conquest of southern Italy, while the chroniclers report the somewhat legendary exploits of Roger I in Hispania during the first quarter of the 11th century. His wife, "Godehildis/Gotelina", was linked to a miracle at Sainte-Foy de Conques.