Noble family Bigod family Grandchildren Isabel Bigod Spouse Ida de Tosny (m. 1181) | Name Roger 2nd Mother Juliana de Vere | |
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Father Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk Died 1221, Thetford, United Kingdom Parents Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk Children Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk Similar People William Longespee - 3rd Earl o, William Marshal - 1st Earl of, Isabel de Clare - 4th Countess, Henry II of England | ||
Roger Bigod (c. 1144/1150 – 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 his stepmother for her sons by Earl Hugh in the reign of Henry II. Richard I confirmed him in his earldom and other honours, and also sent him as an ambassador to France in the same year. Roger inherited his father's office as royal steward. He took part in the negotiations for the release of Richard from prison, and after the king's return to England became a justiciar.
During the Revolt of 1173–74, Roger remained loyal to the king while his father sided with the king's rebellious sons. Roger fought at the Battle of Fornham on 17 October 1173, where the royalist force defeated a rebel force led by Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester.
In most of the years of the reign of King John, the earl was frequently with the king or on royal business. Yet Roger was to be one of the leaders of the baronial party which obtained John's assent to Magna Carta, and his name and that of his son and heir Hugh II appear among the twenty-five barons who were to ensure the king's adherence to the terms of that document. The pair were excommunicated by the pope in December 1215, and did not make peace with the regents of John's son Henry III until 1217.
Around Christmas 1181, Roger married Ida, apparently Ida de Tosny (or Ida de Toesny), and by her had a number of children including:
- Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk who married in 1206/ 1207, Maud, a daughter of William Marshal
- William Bigod
- Ralph Bigod
- Roger Bigod
- Margery, married William de Hastings
- Mary Bigod, married Ralph fitz Robert
Many historians, including Marc Morris have speculated that the couple had a third daughter, Alice, who married Aubrey de Vere IV, Earl of Oxford as his second wife. If so, the marriage would have been well within the bounds of consanguinity, for the couple would have been quite closely related, a daughter of the second earl of Norfolk being first cousin once removed to the second earl of Oxford.
Roger Bigod in fiction
Roger Bigod and his wife Ida de Tosny are the main characters in Elizabeth Chadwick's The Time of Singing (Sphere, 2008), published in the USA 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 to Maud, a daughter of William Marshal