Roger Bigod (died 1107) was a Norman knight who travelled to England in the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...
. He held great power in
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
, and five of his descendants were
earls of Norfolk. He was also known as Roger Bigot, appearing as such as a witness to the
Charter of Liberties
The Charter of Liberties, also called the Coronation Charter, or Statutes of the Realm, was a written proclamation by Henry I of England, issued upon his accession to the throne in 1100. It sought to bind the King to certain laws regarding the ...
of
Henry I of England
Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...
.
Biography
Roger came from a fairly obscure family of poor knights in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. Robert le Bigot, certainly a relation of Roger's, possibly his father, acquired an important position in the household of William, Duke of Normandy (later
William I of England
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...
), due, the story goes, to his disclosure to the duke of a plot by the duke's cousin
William Werlenc
The County of Mortain was a medieval county in France centered on the town of Mortain. A choice landholding, usually either kept within the family of the duke of Normandy (or the king of France) or granted to a noble in return for service and fav ...
.
Both Roger and Robert were rewarded with a substantial estate in
East Anglia
East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
following the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conq ...
of England. The
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
lists Roger as holding six lordships in
Essex
Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...
, 117 in
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...
and 187 in
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 Nor ...
.
Bigod's (Bigot) base was in
Thetford
Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24, ...
,
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 Nor ...
, then the see of the bishop, where he founded a priory later donated to the abbey at Cluny. In 1101 he further consolidated his power when Henry I granted him licence to build
a castle at
Framlingham
Framlingham is a market town and civil parish in Suffolk, England. Of Anglo-Saxon origin, it appears in the 1086 Domesday Book. The parish had a population of 3,342 at the 2011 Census and an estimated 4,016 in 2019. Nearby villages include ...
, which became the family seat of power until their downfall in 1307. Another of his castles was
Bungay Castle
Bungay Castle is a Grade I listed building in the town of Bungay, Suffolk.[Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include ...]
.
In 1069 he,
Robert Malet
Robert Malet (c. 1050 – by 1130) was a Norman- English baron and a close advisor of Henry I.
Early life
Malet was the son of William Malet, and inherited his father's great honour of Eye in 1071. This made him one of the dozen or so gr ...
and
Ralph de Gael
Ralph de Gaël (otherwise Ralph de Guader, Ralph Wader or Radulf Waders or Ralf Waiet or Rodulfo de Waiet; before 1042c. 1100) was the Earl of East Anglia (Norfolk and Suffolk) and Lord of Gaël and Montfort (''Seigneur de Gaël et Montfort'') ...
(then Earl of Norfolk), defeated
Sweyn Estrithson (Sweyn II) of Denmark near
Ipswich
Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...
. After Ralph de Gael's fall in 1074, Roger was appointed
sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk
This is a list of Sheriffs of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Sheriff (since 1974 called High Sheriff) is the oldest secular office under the Crown and is appointed annually by the Crown. He was originally the principal law enforcement officer in the c ...
, and acquired many of the dispossessed earl's estates. For this reason he is sometimes counted as Earl of Norfolk, but he probably was never actually created earl. (His son Hugh acquired the title earl of Norfolk in 1141.) He acquired further estates through his influence in local law courts as sheriff and great lord of the region.
In the
Rebellion of 1088
The Rebellion of 1088 occurred after the death of William the Conqueror and concerned the division of lands in the Kingdom of England and the Duchy of Normandy between his two sons William Rufus and Robert Curthose. Hostilities lasted from 3 ...
he joined other barons in England against
William II, whom they hoped to depose in favour of
Robert Curthose
Robert Curthose, or Robert II of Normandy ( 1051 – 3 February 1134, french: Robert Courteheuse / Robert II de Normandie), was the eldest son of William the Conqueror and succeeded his father as Duke of Normandy in 1087, reigning until 1106. ...
, Duke of Normandy. He seems to have lost his lands after the rebellion had failed, but regained them after reconciling with the king.
In 1100, Robert Bigod (Bigot) was one of the witnesses recorded on the
Charter of Liberties
The Charter of Liberties, also called the Coronation Charter, or Statutes of the Realm, was a written proclamation by Henry I of England, issued upon his accession to the throne in 1100. It sought to bind the King to certain laws regarding the ...
, King
Henry I Henry I may refer to:
876–1366
* Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936)
* Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955)
* Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018)
* Henry I of France (1008–1060)
* Henry I the Long, Margrave of the N ...
's coronation promises later to influence the
Magna Carta
(Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by t ...
of 1215.
In 1101 there was another attempt to bring in
Robert of Normandy by removing
King Henry
There have been many monarchs adopting the name "Henry". Years shown below are the regnal years.
{{tocright
Byzantine Empire
* Henry of Flanders (1205–1216) ( Latin Empire)
Castile
* Henry I of Castile
* Henry II of Castile
* Henry III of ...
, but this time Roger Bigod stayed loyal to the king.
He died on 9 September 1107 and is buried in
Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the Episcopal see, See of ...
. Upon his death there was a dispute over his burial place between the
Bishop of Norwich
The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher.
The see is in t ...
,
Herbert Losinga and the monks at
Thetford Priory
Thetford Priory is a Cluniac monastic house in Thetford, Norfolk, England. Founded in 1103 by Roger Bigod of Norfolk, Thetford was one of the most important monasteries of East Anglia.
It should not be confused with the Dominican Friary of Blac ...
, founded by Bigod. The monks claimed Roger's body, along with those of his family and successors, had been left to them by Roger for burial in the priory in Roger's foundation charter (as was common practice at the time). The bishop of Norwich stole the body in the middle of the night and had him buried in the new cathedral he had built in Norwich.
For some time he was thought to have two wives, Adelaide/Adeliza and Alice/Adeliza de Tosny. It is now believed these were the same woman, Adeliza (Alice) de Tosny (Toeni, Toeny). She was the sister and coheiress of William de Tosny, Lord of
Belvoir. Their father was
Robert de Todeni
Robert de Todeni was a Norman nobleman who held lands in England after the Norman Conquest.
Background
Robert held lands in Guerny and Vesly in Normandy.Keats-Rohan ''Domesday People'' pp. 380–381 The family was probably a branch of the Tosny ...
.
He was succeeded by his eldest son,
William Bigod
William Bigod (died 25 November 1120), the heir to the Norfolk earldom, drowned in the disaster of the ''White Ship'' as she set sail from Normandy in 1120. The ship also carried the son of the Henry I of England, King of England Henry I, William ...
, and, after William drowned in the sinking of the
''White Ship'', by his second son,
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 eld ...
. He also had three daughters: Gunnor, who married Robert fitz Swein of Essex, Lord of Rayleigh; Cecily, who married
William d'Aubigny "Brito"; and Maud, who married
William d'Aubigny "Pincerna", and was mother to
William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel
William d'Aubigny (c. 110912 October 1176), also known as William d'Albini, William de Albini and William de Albini II, was an English nobleman. He was son of William d'Aubigny and Maud Bigod, daughter of Roger Bigod of Norfolk.
William fought ...
.
[Cokayne, ''The Complete Peerage of England'', vol. 9.]
See also
*
House of Tosny
The House of Tosny was an important noble family in 10th and 11th century Normandy, though it did not include any comtes or vicomtes. Its founder was Raoul I of Tosny (died after 1024).
Origin
The earliest account of the origin of the Tosny fam ...
*
Ida de Tosny
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 ...
(wife of
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 ...
)
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigod, Roger
11th-century births
1107 deaths
11th-century Normans
12th-century Normans
11th-century English landowners
12th-century English landowners
Anglo-Normans
Norman warriors
Roger
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
High Sheriffs of Norfolk
High Sheriffs of Suffolk
Year of birth unknown
People from Thetford
Burials at Norwich Cathedral
William II of England