History |
Roger Bigod came from a 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, possibly due to his disclosure to the duke of a plot against him. Both Roger and Robert may have fought at the Battle of Hastings; 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.
In 1069 Roger, along with Robert Malet and Ralph de Gael (the then earl of Norfolk), defeated Svend IV Estridsen, king in 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. He acquired further estates through his influence in local law courts.
In the rebellion of 1088 he joined other Anglo-Norman barons against William II Rufus who, it was hoped, would be deposed in favour of his brother Robert Curthose, duke of Normandy. He seems to have lost his lands after the rebellion had failed, though they were later reinstated. In 1101 there was another attempt to bring in Robert of Normandy by unseating Henry I, but Roger stayed loyal to Henry. Roger\'s base was in Thetford, Norfolk where he founded a priory later donated to the monastery 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\'s seat of power until their downfall in 1307. Another of his castles was Bungay, also in Suffolk. Both these were improved by successive generations.
Roger\'s first wife was Adelaide/Adelidis. With his second wife Alice/Adelicia de Tosny, dame de Belvoir, daughter of Robert de Tosny, sire de Belvoir, he had at least five children of whom his son Hugh and daughter Maud would have progeny. Alice was the sister and co-heiress of William de Tosny, lord of Belvoir.
Roger died on 9 September 1107 at Earsham in Norfolk, close to the border of Suffolk. Upon his death there was a dispute between the first bishop of Norwich, Herbert de Losinga, and the monks at Thetford Priory. The monks claimed that Roger\'s body, along with those of his family and successors, was due to them as part of the foundation charter of the priory (as was common practice at the time). The issue was apparently resolved when Herbert stole the body during the night and took it back to Norwich.
Roger was succeeded by his eldest son William, and after he drowned in the sinking of the White Ship, by his second son Hugh, who became the first earl of Norfolk. [1] |