Hugh I le Bigod

Notes:

Earl of Norfolk. Died on pilgrimage to Jerusalem.

Edward Maunde Thompson, in the Dictionary of National Biography (1886):

At the time of his father's death, whom he survived some seventy years, Hugh must have been quite a young child. Little is heard of him at first, no doubt on account of his youth, but he appears as king's dapifer in 1123, and before that date he was constable of Norwich Castle and governor of the city down to 1122, when it obtained a charter from the crown. Passing the best years of his manhood in the distractions of the civil wars of Stephen and Matilda, when men's oaths of fealty sat lightly on their consciences, he appears to have surpassed his fellows in acts of desertion and treachery, and to have been never more in his element than when in rebellion. His first prominent action in history was on the death of Henry I in 1135, when he is said to have hastened to England, and to have sworn to Archbishop William Corbois that the dying king, on some quarrel with his daughter Matilda, had disinherited her, and named Stephen of Blois his successor. Stephen's prompt arrival in England settled the matter, and the wavering prelate placed the crown on his head. Hugh's reward was the earldom of Norfolk. The new king's energy at first kept his followers together, but before Whitsuntide in the next year Stephen was stricken with sickness, a lethargy fastened on him, and the report of his death was quickly spread abroad. A rising of turbulent barons necessarily followed, and Bigod was the first to take up arms. He seized and held Norwich; but Stephen, quickly recovering, laid siege to the city, and Hugh was compelled to surrender. Acting with unusual clemency, Stephen spared the traitor, who for a short time remained faithful. But in 1140 he is said to have declared for the empress, and to have stood a siege in his castle of Bungay; yet in the next year he is in the ranks of Stephen's army which fought the disastrous battle of Lincoln. In the few years which followed, while the war dragged on, and Stephen's time was fully occupied in subduing the so-called adherents of the empress, who were really fighting for their own hand, the Earl of Norfolk probably remained within his own domains, consolidating his power, and fortifying his castles, although in 1143-4 he is reported to have been concerned in the rising of Geoffrey de Mandeville. The quarrel between the king and Archbishop Theobald in 1148 gave the next occasion for Hugh to come forward; he this time sided with the archbishop, and received him in his castle of Framlingham, but joined with others in effecting a reconciliation. Five years later, in 1153, when Henry of Anjou landed to assert his claim to the throne, Bigod threw in his lot with the rising power, and held out in Ipswich against Stephen's forces, while Henry, on the other side, laid siege to Stamford. Both places fell, but in the critical state of his fortunes Stephen was in no position to punish the rebel. Negotiations were also going on between the two parties, and Hugh again escaped.

On Henry's accession in December 1154, Bigod at once received a confirmation of his earldom and stewardship by charter issued apparently in January of the next year. The first years of the new reign were spent in restoring order to the shattered kingdom, and in breaking the power of the independent barons. It was scarcely to be expected that Hugh should rest quiet. He showed signs of resistance, but was at once put down. In 1157 Henry marched into the eastern counties and received the earl's submission. After this Hugh appears but little in the chronicles for some time; only in 1169 he is named among those who had been excommunicated by Becket. This, however, was in consequence of his retention of lands belonging to the monastery of Pentney in Norfolk. In 1173 the revolt of the young crowned prince Henry against his father, and the league of the English barons with the kings of France and Scotland in his favour, gave the Earl of Norfolk another opportunity for rebellion. He at once became a moving spirit in the cause, eager to revive the feudal power which Henry had curtailed. The honour of Eye and the custody of Norwich Castle were promised by the young prince as his reward. But the king's energy and good fortune were equal to the occasion. While he held in check his rebel vassals in France, the loyal barons in England defeated his enemies here. Robert de Beaumont, earl of Leicester (d. 1190), landing at Walton, in Suffolk, on 29 Sept. 1173, had marched to Framlingham and joined forces with Hugh. Together they besieged and took, 13 Oct., the castle of Hagenet in Suffolk, held by Randal de Broc for the crown. But Leicester, setting out from Framlingham, was defeated and taken prisoner at Fornham St. Geneviève, near Bury, by the justiciar, Richard de Lucy, and other barons, who then turned their arms against Earl Hugh. Not strong enough to fight, he opened negotiations with his assailants, and, it is said, bought them off, at the same time securing for the Flemings in his service a safe passage home. In the next year, however, he was again in the field, with the aid of the troops of Philip of Flanders, and laid siege to Norwich, which he took by assault and burned. But Henry returned to England in the summer, and straightway marched into the eastern counties; and when Hugh heard that the king had already destroyed his castle of Walton, and was approaching Framlingham, he hastened to make his submission at Laleham on 25 July, surrendering his castles, which were afterwards dismantled, and paying a fine. After these events Hugh Bigod ceases to appear in history. His death is briefly recorded under the year 1177, and is generally mentioned as occurring in the Holy Land, whither he had accompanied Philip of Flanders on a pilgrimage. It is to be observed, however, that on 1 March of that year his son Roger appealed to the king on a dispute with his stepmother, Hugh being then dead, and that the date of his death is fixed 'ante caput jejunii,' i.e. before 9 March. If then, he died in Palestine, his death must have taken place in the preceding year, 1176, to allow time for the arrival of the news in England. Henry took advantage of Roger's appeal to seize upon the late earl's treasure. Besides the vast estates which he inherited, Hugh Bigod was in receipt of the third penny levied in the county of Norfolk.

[PNH: To that last point, note that the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says that "Hugh Bigod retained his earldom and Bungay Castle, as well as the four royal manors first granted to him in 1153, but he may have lost the right to collect the earl's third penny."]

Family/Spouse: Juliana de Vere. Juliana (daughter of Aubrey de Vere and Alice de Clare) died after 1185. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Framlingham, Suffolk, England
• Alternate birth: Abt 1150

Notes:

Earl of Norfolk. Hereditary Steward of the Household; Privy Councillor; Keeper of Hertford Castle 1191; Judge in the King's Court 1195, 1196, 1199, 1202; Chief Judge in the King's Court 1197; Warden of Romford Forest 1200.

Magna Carta surety.

Edward Maunde Thompson, in the Dictionary of National Biography (1886):

BIGOD, ROGER (d. 1221), second Earl of Norfolk, was son of Hugh, first earl [q. v.] On the death of his father in 1176, he and his stepmother, Gundreda, appealed to the king on a dispute touching the inheritance, the countess pressing the claims of her own son. Henry thereupon seized the treasures of Earl Hugh into his own hands, and it seems that during the remainder of this reign Roger had small power, even if his succession was allowed. His position, however, was not entirely overlooked. He appears as a witness to Henry's award between the kings of Navarre and Castile on 16 March 1177, and in 1186 he did his feudal service as steward in the court held at Guildford.

On Richard's succession to the throne, 3 Sept. 1189, Bigod was taken into favour. By charter of 27 Nov. the new king confirmed him in all his honours, in the earldom of Norfolk, and in the stewardship of the royal household, as freely as Roger, his grandfather, and Hugh, his father, had held it. He was next appointed one of the ambassadors to Philip of France to arrange for the crusade, and during Richard's absence from England on that expedition he supported the king's authority against the designs of Prince John. On the pacification of the quarrel between the prince and the chancellor, William Longchamp, bishop of Ely, on 28 July 1191, Bigod was put into possession of the castle of Hereford, one of the strongholds surrendered by John, and was one of the chancellor's sureties in the agreement. In April 1193 he was summoned with certain other barons and prelates to attend the chancellor into Germany, where negotiations were being carried on to effect Richard's release from captivity; and in 1194, after the surrender of Nottingham to the king, he was present in that city at the great council held on 30 March. At Richard's re-coronation, 17 April, he assisted in bearing the canopy. In July or August of the same year he appears as one of the commissioners sent to York to settle a quarrel between the archbishop and the canons.

After Richard's return home, Bigod's name is found on the records as a justiciar, fines being levied before him in the fifth year of that king's reign, and from the seventh onwards. He also appears as a justice itinerant in Norfolk. After Richard's death, Bigod succeeded in gaining John's favour, and in the first years of his reign continued to act as a judge. In October 1200 he was one of the envoys sent to summon William of Scotland to do homage at Lincoln, and was a witness at the ceremony on 22 Nov. following; but at a later period he appears to have fallen into disgrace, and was imprisoned in 1213. In the course of the same year, however, he was released and apparently restored to favour, as he accompanied the king to Poitou in February 1214, and about the same time compounded by a fine of 2,000 marks for the service of 120 knights and all arrears off scutages. Next year he joined the confederate barons in the movement which resulted in the grant of Magna Charta on 15 June 1215, and was one of the twenty-five executors, or trustees, of its provisions. He was consequently included in the sentence of excommunication which Innocent III soon afterwards declared against the king's opponents, and his lands were cruelly harried by John's troops in their incursions into the eastern counties.

After the accession of Henry III, Bigod returned to his allegiance, and his hereditary right to the stewardship of the royal household was finally recognised at the council of Oxford on 1 May 1221. But before the following August he died. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Hugh, as third earl, who, however, survived him only four years.

Roger married Ida de Tony about 25 Dec 1181. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: William de Hastings. William (son of William de Hastings and Maud Banastre) was born in of Ashill, Norfolk, England; died in 1224. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate death: Bef 18 Feb 1225

Notes:

Earl of Norfolk. Hereditary Steward of the Household; Hereditary Warden of Romford.

Magna Carta surety.

Hugh married Maud Marshal, Marshal Of England in 1207. Maud (daughter of William Marshal and Isabel de Clare) was born in 1192; died on 27 Mar 1248; was buried in Tintern Abbey, Monmouthshire, Wales. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Ranulph fitz Robert. Ranulph (son of Robert fitz Ralph and Hawise de Glanville) was born about 1185 in of Middleham, Yorkshire, England; died before 7 Dec 1252; was buried in Coverham Abbey, Yorkshire, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Gilbert Pecche. Gilbert (son of Hamon Pecche and Eve) was born in of Great Thurlow, Suffolk, England; died on 25 May 1291. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: Abt 1205, of Ashill, Norfolk, England

Notes:

Dapifer of Bury St. Edmunds. Taken prisoner at the battle of Sainte, 22 Jul 1242, and exchanged not long after.

Henry married Ada of Huntingdon after 1224. Ada (daughter of David of Scotland and Maud of Chester) died after 2 Nov 1241. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Gilbert de Lacy. Gilbert (son of Walter de Lacy and Margaret de Briouze) was born in of Ewyas Lacy, Herefordshire, England; died between 12 Aug 1230 and 15 Dec 1230. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Isabel married John fitz Geoffrey before 12 Apr 1234. John (son of Geoffrey fitz Peter and Aveline de Clare) was born about 1205 in of Shere, Surrey, England; died on 23 Nov 1258. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Ralph married Bertha de Ferrers after 1240. Bertha (daughter of William de Ferrers and Agnes of Chester) died after 10 Feb 1267; was buried in Grey Friars, Dunwich, Suffolk, England. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Justiciar of England, 22 Jun 1257-1260.

"In 1258 the Provisions of Oxford established a baronial government of which Hugh's elder brother Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk was a leading member, and Hugh was appointed Chief Justiciar. He also had wardship of the Tower of London, and, briefly, of Dover Castle. But at the end of 1260 or in early 1261 he resigned these offices, apparently due to dissatisfaction with the new government. Thus in 1263 he joined the royalists, and was present on that side at the Battle of Lewes. That battle took place by a village called Fletching, north of Lewes. Hugh escaped but the King and his son, Prince Edward, were taken prisoner." [Wikipedia]

Hugh married Joanne de Stuteville before 5 Feb 1244. Joanne (daughter of Nicholas II de Stuteville and Devorguilla of Galloway) died before 5 Apr 1276. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Alternate birth: of Middleham, Yorkshire, England

Family/Spouse: Anastasia de Percy. Anastasia (daughter of William de Percy and Joan Briwerre) died before 28 Apr 1272. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Lord of Spennithorne.

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