Ida de Tosny, Countess of Norfolk (died after 1181), was a Norman royal mistress. Named after her grandmother Ida de Hainaut, she was the daughter of Ralph IV de Tosny (died 1162) and his wife Margaret (born 1125 and living in 1185), a daughter of

Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester (1104 – 5 April 1168) was Justiciar of England 1155–1168. The surname "de Beaumont" was given to him by genealogists. The only known contemporary surname applied to him is "Robert son of Count Robe ...

.Morris, Marc, ''The Bigod Earls of Norfolk in the Thirteenth Century''. Woodbridge, Suffolk; Boydell Press, 2005, p. 2

Relationship to King Henry II

Ida de Tosny was a royal ward and mistress of

Henry II, King of England Henry II (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189), also known as Henry Curtmantle (french: link=no, Court-manteau), Henry FitzEmpress, or Henry Plantagenet, was King of England from 1154 until his death in 1189, and as such, was the first Angevin king ...

, by whom she was mother of one of his illegitimate sons,

William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury (born in or before 11677 March 1226) ("Long Sword", Latinised to ''de Longa Spatha'') was an Anglo-Norman nobleman, primarily remembered for his command of the English forces at the Battle of Damme an ...

, (''c.'' 1176 – 7 March 1226), as demonstrated by the discovery of a charter of William mentioning "''Comitissa Ida, mater mea''" (Countess Ida, my mother).Bradenstoke Cartulary, 1979 Ida was not the first English royal ward to be taken as a royal mistress. Isabel de Beaumont (Elizabeth de Beaumont), was the ward of King Henry I and the mistress of one of his sons.

Marriage

Around Christmas 1181, Ida de Tosny was given by Henry II in marriage to

Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk Roger Bigod ( – 1221) was the son of Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk and his first wife, Juliana de Vere. Although his father died 1176 or 1177, Roger did not succeed to the earldom of Norfolk until 1189 for his claim had been disputed by hi ...

, together with the manors of

Acle Acle ( ) is a market town on the River Bure on the Norfolk Broads in Norfolk, located halfway between Norwich and Great Yarmouth. It has the only bridge across the River Bure between Wroxham and Great Yarmouth.Ordnance Survey (2005). ''OS Explorer ...

Halvergate Halvergate is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, north of Reedham, Norfolk, Reedham, between the Rivers River Bure, Bure and River Yare, Yare, within The Broads. To the east of the village is t ...

and

South Walsham South Walsham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 738 in 303 households at the 2001 census. increasing to 845 living in 345 households at the 2011 Census. For the purpo ...

, which had been confiscated from Roger's inheritance after the death of his father

Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk (1095–1177) was the second son of Roger Bigod (also known as Roger Bigot) (died 1107), sheriff of Norfolk and royal advisor, and Adeliza, daughter of Robert de Todeni. Early years After the death of his elde ...

. Ida and Roger had a number of children, including: *

Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk Hugh Bigod ( – 18 February 1225) was a member of the powerful early Norman Bigod family and was for a short time the 3rd Earl of Norfolk. Origins He was born c. 1182, the eldest son of Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk by his wife Ida de To ...

, who in 1206 or 1207 married

Maud Marshal Maud Marshal, Countess of Norfolk, Countess of Surrey (1192 – 27 March 1248) was an Anglo-Norman noblewoman and a wealthy co-heiress of her father William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and her mother Isabel de Clare ''suo jure'' 4th Countess ...

, a daughter of

William Marshal William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1146 or 1147 – 14 May 1219), also called William the Marshal (Norman French: ', French: '), was an Anglo-Norman soldier and statesman. He served five English kings— Henry II, his sons the "Young King" ...

* William Bigod * Roger Bigod * John Bigod * Ralph Bigod * Mary Bigod, who married Ralph fitz Robert * Margery Bigod, who married William de Hastings * Ida Bigod Many historians have speculated that the couple had a third daughter, Alice, who married

Aubrey de Vere IV Aubrey de Vere, 2nd Earl of Oxford (c. 1163 – 1214), hereditary Master Chamberlain of England,. served in military campaigns under King Richard and King John. He was succeeded in the earldom by his brother, Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford ...

, 2nd Earl of Oxford, as his second wife.

Ida de Tosney in fiction

Ida de Tosny and her husband Roger are the main characters in

Elizabeth Chadwick Elizabeth Chadwick (born 1957) is an author of historical fiction. She is a member of Regia Anglorum, a medieval reenactment organisation. Biography Elizabeth Chadwick was born in Bury, Lancashire in 1957. She moved with her family to Scotlan ...

's ''The Time of Singing'' (Sphere, 2008), published in the US as ''For the King's Favor''. They appear as minor characters in other of her books set at the same time, notably ''To Defy a King'', which concerns the marriage of their son

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

to Maud, a daughter of

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tosny, Ida de Anglo-Norman women

Ida Ida or IDA may refer to: Astronomy * Ida Facula, a mountain on Amalthea, a moon of Jupiter *243 Ida, an asteroid *International Docking Adapter, a docking adapter for the International Space Station Computing *Intel Dynamic Acceleration, a techn ...

Mistresses of Henry II of England Year of birth unknown 12th-century English women 12th-century English people

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...