Misc. Notes
From Foundation for Medieval Genealogy,
http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISH NOBILITY MEDIEVAL.htm
ROGER Bigod (-1107, bur Thetford
[918]). Domesday Book records “Roger Bigod” holding numerous properties in Norfolk and Suffolk
[919]. "…Rogerus Bigotus…" subscribed a charter dated Sep 1101 under which Bishop Herbert donated property to Norwich priory
[920]. "…Rogeri de Bigot…" subscribed a charter dated 14 Sep 1101 under which Henry I King of England donated property to Bath St Peter
[921]. “Rogerus Bygot” founded Thetford Priory, with the advice of “…uxoris meæ Adeliciæ”, by undated charter dated to the reign of King Henry I
[922]. The Annals of Bermondsey which record the death in 1107 of “Rogerus Bigod, principalis fundator monasterii Beatæ Mariæ Thetfordiæ”
[923]. [
m firstly ADELAIS, daughter of ---. The Liber Vitæ of Durham lists (in order) "Rodgerus Bigodus, Atheles uxor eius, Willelmus filius eorum"
[924]. “Willielmus Bigot, dapifer regis Anglorum” donated property to Thetford Priory, for the souls of “patris mei Rogerii Bigoti et matris meæ Adelidis” and for the salvation of “fratris mei Hugonis et sororum mearum”, by undated charter dated to the reign of King Henry I
[925]. The Complete Peerage
[926] states that the wording of this charter shows that Adelais, mother of William, was deceased at the time, and must therefore have been a different person from Adelise de Tosny, Roger Bigod's [second] wife, who was recorded as alive in 1136. However, the question is open to debate as “pro anima” clauses are often difficult to interpret accurately.]
m [
secondly] (before [1100])
ADELISE de Tosny, daughter of ROBERT de Tosny Lord of Belvoir & his wife Adelais --- (-after 1136
[927]). Her parentage is indicated by the 1130 Pipe Roll which records "Adeliz uxor Rogi Big…tra patris sui de Belueder" in Lincolnshire
[928], which also indicates that Adelise succeeded her sister Albreda in the Belvoir estates of their father. It is also indicated by the charter dated 23 Apr [1430] under which her descendant “Thomas dominus de Ros, de Hamelake, de Trussebout et de Beavoir” confirmed the possessions of Belvoir priory, Lincolnshire made by "antecessores nostros…Robertum de Toteneio, Willielmum de Toteneyo filium suum, Agnetem de Toteneio filiam dicti Roberti de Toteneyo, Henricum de Rya filium Huberto de Rya, Agnetem de Toteneyo, Willielmum de Albeneio primum, Willielmum de Albeneio secundum, Willielmum de Albeneio tertium, Willielmum de Albeneio quartum, Ywynum de Albeneyo, Heliam de Albeneyo et uxores eorundem, Isabellam filiam domini Willielmi de Albeneio quæ fuit uxor domini de Ros, domini de Beauvoire et de Hamelake"
[929], the connection between Robert de Tosny Lord of Belvoir, father of Alice, being established through the marriage of her daughter Cecilia to William de Albini Brito. "Rogerius Bigot…et uxoris mee Adalicie" donated the church of Thetford to Cluny dated [1100]
[930]. “Rogerus Bygot” founded Thetford Priory, with the advice of “…uxoris meæ Adeliciæ”, by undated charter dated to the reign of King Henry I
[931].
From Wikipedia, “Roger Bigod of Norfolk”:
Roger Bigod (died 1107) was a Norman knight who came to England in the
Norman Conquest. He held great power in
East Anglia, 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 of
Henry I of England.
Biography
Roger came from a fairly obscure family of poor knights in
Normandy. 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), due, the story goes, to his disclosure to the duke of a plot by the duke's cousin
William Werlenc.
[1]Both Roger and Robert may have fought at the
Battle of Hastings, and afterwards they were rewarded with a substantial estate in
East Anglia. The
Domesday Book lists Roger as holding six lordships in
Essex, 117 in
Suffolk and 187 in
Norfolk.
Bigod's (Bigot) base was in
Thetford,
Norfolk, 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, which became the family seat of power until their downfall in 1307. Another of his castles was
Bungay Castle, also in
Suffolk.
In 1069 he,
Robert Malet and
Ralph de Gael (then Earl of Norfolk), defeated
Sweyn Estrithson (Sweyn II) of Denmark near
Ipswich. After Ralph de Gael's fall in 1074, Roger was appointed
sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, 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 he joined other barons in England against
William II, whom they hoped to depose in favour of
Robert Curthose, 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, King
Henry I's coronation promises later to influence the
Magna Carta of 1215.
In 1101 there was another attempt to bring in
Robert of Normandy by removing
King Henry, but this time Roger Bigod stayed loyal to the king.
He died on 9 September 1107 and is buried in
Norwich. Upon his death there was a dispute over his burial place between the
Bishop of Norwich,
Herbert Losinga, and the monks at
Thetford Priory, 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.
He was succeeded by his eldest son, William Bigod, and, after William drowned in the sinking of the
White Ship, by his second son,
Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk. 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.
[2]See also
• House of Tosny • Ida de Tosny (wife of
Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk)
Notes
1. mentioned by
William of Jumièges in
Gesta Normannorum Ducum.
2. Cokayne, The Complete Peerage of England, vol. 9.