Sir Francis Bigod (4 October 1507 – 2 June 1537) was an English nobleman who was the leader of
Bigod's Rebellion.
Family
Francis Bigod was descended from the
Bigod Bigod is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Francis Bigod (1507–1537), British noble
* Hugh Bigod (disambiguation), multiple people
* Roger Bigod (disambiguation), multiple people
*William Bigod (died 1120), English heir
*Bigod ...
Earls of Norfolk
Earl of Norfolk is a title which has been created several times in the Peerage of England. Created in 1070, the first major dynasty to hold the title was the 12th and 13th century Bigod family, and it then was later held by the Mowbrays, who we ...
and from the Barons Mauley of
Mulgrave Castle
Mulgrave Castle refers to one of three structures on the same property in Lythe, near Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. One of these, known as the "old" or "ancient" castle, was by legend founded by Wada, a 6th-century ruler of Hälsingland. T ...
near
Whitby
Whitby is a seaside town, port and civil parish in the Scarborough borough of North Yorkshire, England. Situated on the east coast of Yorkshire at the mouth of the River Esk, Whitby has a maritime, mineral and tourist heritage. Its East Clif ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. Born 4 October 1507 at Seaton Manor in
Hinderwell
Hinderwell is a village and civil parish in the Scarborough (borough), Scarborough district of North Yorkshire, England which lies within the North York Moors National Park, about a mile from the coast on the A174 road between the towns of Loft ...
, Yorkshire, Francis was the eldest son of Sir John Bigod and Joan Strangways, the daughter of Sir James Strangways. His father was killed by the Scots in 1513, perhaps at the
Battle of Flodden
The Battle of Flodden, Flodden Field, or occasionally Branxton, (Brainston Moor) was a battle fought on 9 September 1513 during the War of the League of Cambrai between the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland, resulting in an English ...
. His paternal grandfather, Sir Ralph Bigod, died two years later in 1515, leaving Francis, then seven years of age, as his heir. After the death of Francis' father, his mother, Joan, married Sir William Maleverer.
Career
On 9 May 1515, Francis' wardship was granted to
Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figure ...
, and he may have grown up in Wolsey's household. He attended
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, but left without taking a degree, though his letters show that he was a scholar.
In 1527, he was in Wolsey's service. He proved his age on 23 September 1529, and was soon afterwards knighted. According to Hicks, it was likely Wolsey who chose Katherine Conyers (d. 1566), the daughter of
William Conyers, 1st Baron Conyers
William Conyers, 1st Baron Conyers (21 December 1468 – 14 April 1524), also known as William Conyers of Hornby, was an English baron and aristocrat.
Personal life
Conyers was the second, but only surviving son of Sir John Conyers, Jr. (d.146 ...
, as Francis' wife, and it was likely Wolsey to whom her marriage portion was paid.
In his youth he became "a committed Protestant with scholarly theological interests", hearing several sermons daily and corresponding with reformers, including
Thomas Garret
Thomas Gerard (1500?–1540) (Gerrard, also Garret or Garrard) was an English Protestant reformer. In 1540, he was burnt to death for heresy, along with William Jerome and Robert Barnes.
Life
He matriculated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, o ...
. At one point he considered taking orders. Under
Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...
, Wolsey's successor, he was engaged in advancing in
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
Henry VIII's ecclesiastical reforms.
Unlike Cromwell, however, he wished the monasteries to be reformed, not dissolved, and in some cases personally undertook their reformation. He assisted in the compilation of the
Valor Ecclesiasticus
The ''Valor Ecclesiasticus'' (Latin: "church valuation") was a survey of the finances of the church in England, Wales and English controlled parts of Ireland made in 1535 on the orders of Henry VIII. It was colloquially called the Kings books, a s ...
. In 1533–36, in a ''Treatise Concernyng Impropriations of Benefices'', he argued that tithes should be transferred from the monasteries to the support of preachers. He served as a
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace (JP) is a judicial officer of a lower or ''puisne'' court, elected or appointed by means of a commission ( letters patent) to keep the peace. In past centuries the term commissioner of the peace was often used with the sa ...
from 1532 on, and was a
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
in 1529 and 1536, although his constituency is unknown.
According to Hicks, Bigod initially opposed the 1535 Catholic uprising (the "
Pilgrimage of Grace
The Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular revolt beginning in Yorkshire in October 1536, before spreading to other parts of Northern England including Cumberland, Northumberland, and north Lancashire, under the leadership of Robert Aske. The "most ...
"), as an ardent Protestant. He fled by sea from
Mulgrave Castle
Mulgrave Castle refers to one of three structures on the same property in Lythe, near Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. One of these, known as the "old" or "ancient" castle, was by legend founded by Wada, a 6th-century ruler of Hälsingland. T ...
, but his ship was forced to land at
Hartlepool
Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...
, where he narrowly escaped lynching by the commons. He returned to Mulgrave, was captured, and, for a time, participated reluctantly in the rising.
At some point, however, Bigod came to realize that his own opposition to the King's
erastian
Thomas Erastus (original surname Lüber, Lieber, or Liebler; 7 September 152431 December 1583) was a Swiss physician and Calvinist theologian. He wrote 100 theses (later reduced to 75) in which he argued that the sins committed by Christians shou ...
intervention in religion was shared by those participating in the Pilgrimage of Grace. Thus, when those involved in the Pilgrimage, under the leadership of
Robert Aske, were pardoned and agreed to disperse on 8 December 1536, Bigod, fearing repression by the King, launched an uprising of his own on 16 January 1537, in concert with his tenant, John Hallam, a yeoman of
Watton.
His efforts to promulgate his platform attracted little support, either from the aristocracy or the commons. His plan to have George Lumley (father of
John Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley
John Lumley, 1st Baron Lumley, KB (c. 1533 – 1609) was an English aristocrat, who is remembered as one of the greatest collectors of art and books of his age.
Early life
John Lumley, born about 1533, was the grandson and heir of John, ...
) seize
Scarborough Castle
Scarborough Castle is a former medieval Royal fortress situated on a rocky promontory overlooking the North Sea and Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. The site of the castle, encompassing the Iron Age settlement, Roman signal station, an Ang ...
and
Hallam Hall Hallam may refer to:
Places
* Hallam, Victoria, Australia
** Hallam railway station
UK
* Hallamshire, an area in South Yorkshire, England, UK
** Royal Hallamshire Hospital
** Sheffield Hallam (UK Parliament constituency)
** Sheffield Hallam Univer ...
on 16 January failed utterly, and his own assault on
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...
on 19 January was forestalled by the capture of almost his entire force in a dawn raid at
Beverley, Yorkshire
Beverley is a market town, market and minster (church), minster town and a civil parishes in England, civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre ...
. He escaped to Mulgrave, and from thence to
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...
, where he was captured on 10 February, and sent to
Carlisle Castle
Carlisle Castle is a medieval stone keep castle that stands within the English city of Carlisle near the ruins of Hadrian's Wall. First built during the reign of William II in 1093 and rebuilt in stone under Henry I in 1122, the castle is over ...
. He was hanged for treason at
Tyburn
Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone.
The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern Ox ...
on 2 June 1537, and buried at the
Greyfriars in London.
According to Hicks, Bigod's uprising "enabled Henry VIII to wreak revenge on those implicated in the 1536 revolt, very few of whom rose in 1537".
By his wife Katharine he left a son, Ralph, who was restored in blood by Act of Parliament in 1549/50, but died without issue, and a daughter, Dorothy, his eventual heir, through whom the estates came, through her marriage, into the hands of the Radcliffe family.
Rastell (the chronicler) in a letter to Cromwell, 17 Aug.
534
__NOTOC__
Year 534 ( DXXXIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Iustinianus and Paulinus (or, less frequently, year 128 ...
(Cal. Of State Papers Hen. VIII, vol. viii. No. 1070), calls Bigod wise and well learned; and Bale describes him as ('a man of natural splendor, noble and educated and a lover of evangelical truth').
His letters to Cromwell, many of which are preserved in the
Public Record Office
The Public Record Office (abbreviated as PRO, pronounced as three letters and referred to as ''the'' PRO), Chancery Lane in the City of London, was the guardian of the national archives of the United Kingdom from 1838 until 2003, when it was m ...
, show him to have been deeply in debt. He wrote a treatise on 'Impropriations', against the impropriation of parsonages by the monasteries (London, by Tho. Godfray cum privilegio regali, small 8vo). It appears to have been written after the birth of
Elizabeth
Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to:
People
* Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name)
* Elizabeth (biblical figure), mother of John the Baptist
Ships
* HMS ''Elizabeth'', several ships
* ''Elisabeth'' (sch ...
and before
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn (; 1501 or 1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536, as the second wife of King Henry VIII. The circumstances of her marriage and of her execution by beheading for treason and other charges made her a key ...
's disgrace, i.e. between September 1533 and April 1536. Copies are in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
and in
Lambeth Palace Library
Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposite ...
, and the preface is reprinted at the end of
Sir Henry Spelman
Sir Henry Spelman (c. 1562 – October 1641) was an English antiquary, noted for his detailed collections of medieval records, in particular of church councils.
Life
Spelman was born in Congham, Norfolk, the eldest son of Henry Spelman (d. 1581 ...
's 'Larger work of Tithes' (1647 edition). Bigod also translated some Latin works, and, during the insurrection, wrote against the royal supremacy.
He owned two residences in Yorkshire,
Settrington
Settrington is a village and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England, about 3 miles (5 km) east of Malton. It was historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire until 1974.
History
Sir Francis Bigod of Settringt ...
and
Mulgrave Castle
Mulgrave Castle refers to one of three structures on the same property in Lythe, near Whitby, North Yorkshire, England. One of these, known as the "old" or "ancient" castle, was by legend founded by Wada, a 6th-century ruler of Hälsingland. T ...
.
[p. 67, Linda Porter, '' Katherine the Queen'']
Notes
References
*
*
*
Attribution
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bigod, Francis
1507 births
1537 deaths
English knights
People from Scarborough, North Yorkshire
English translators
16th-century English writers
16th-century male writers
People executed under Henry VIII
People executed at Tyburn
Executed people from North Yorkshire
English rebels
Francis
Francis may refer to:
People
*Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome
*Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
*Francis (surname)
Places
* Rural M ...
People executed by Tudor England by decapitation
People executed under the Tudors for treason against England
English politicians convicted of crimes
Knights Bachelor
English justices of the peace
English MPs 1529–1536
English MPs 1536