Jane Bigod

Family/Spouse: Richard. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Roger fitz Richard was born in of Warkworth, Northumberland, England; died before 31 Dec 1177.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1050
• Alternate death: 10 Sep 1107, Earsham, Norfolk, England
• Alternate death: 15 Sep 1107, Earsham, Norfolk, England
• Alternate death: Bef Aug 1221

Notes:

Earl of Norfolk.

"Roger Bigod was one of the tight-knit group of second-rank Norman nobles who did well out of the conquest of England. Prominent in the Calvados region before 1064 as an under-tenant of Odo of Bayeux, he rose in ducal and royal service to become, by 1086, one of the leading barons in East Anglia, holding wide estates to which he added Belvoir by marriage and Framlingham by grant of Henry I. His territorial fortune was based on his service in the royal household, where he was a close adviser and agent for the first three Norman kings, and the propitious circumstances of post-Conquest politics. Much of his honour in East Anglia was carved out of lands previously belonging to the dispossessed Archbishop Stigand, his brother Aethelmar of Elham, and the disgraced Earl Ralph of Norfolk and Suffolk. Under Rufus -- if not before -- Roger was one of the king's stewards. Usually in attendance on the king, he regularly witnessed writs but was also sent out to the provinces as a justice or commissioner. Apart from a flirtation with the cause of Robert Curthose in 1088, he remained conspicuously loyal to Rufus and Henry I, for whom he continued to act as steward and to witness charters. The adherence of such men was vital to the Norman kings. Through them central business could be conducted and localities controlled. Small wonder they were well rewarded. Roger established a dynasty which dominated East Anglia from the 1140s, as earls of Norfolk, until 1306. Roger's byname and the subsequent family name was derived from a word (bigot) meaning double-headed instrument such as a pickaxe: a tribute, perhaps to Roger's effectiveness as a royal servant; certainly an apt image of one who worked hard both for his masters and for himself." [Christopher Tyerman, Who's Who in Early Medieval England, 1996]

Roger married Adeliza de Tosny. Adeliza (daughter of Robert de Tosny and Adelaise) died after 1136. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Aft 1130

Notes:

"Keats-Rohan [...] suggests that Roger had only one wife. She also refers to a charter of of the time of Henry I (therefore 1100 or later) of Roger and Adelisa for Rochester Priory, attested by their children William, Humphrey, Gunnor and Matilda; on the hypothesis of the Complete Peerage, this would imply that the first wife survived at least until 1100, despite the suggested birth date of around 1095 for Hugh, seen as a son of the second marriage." [Chris Phillips, Some Corrections and Additions to The Complete Peerage]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: 1088

Notes:

Also called Robert de Toesni; Robert de Toeni; Robert de Todeni.

The location of Belvoir Priory was originally in Lincolnshire, but is now in Leicestershire. "Belvoir" is pronounced "beaver."

Robert married Adelaise. Adelaise died before 1093; was buried in Belvoir Priory, Belvoir, Leicestershire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Seigneur de Tosny.