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Birth:          1060 of St. Saveur, Normandy
Death:          15 Sep 1107 Egersham, Norfolk, England
Burial:         Thetford Abbey, Norfolk, England

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bigod_of_Norfolk
Roger Bigod (died 1107) was a Norman knight who travelled 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[edit]

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]
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I01837
Note:
The first of this great family that settled in England was Roger Bigod who, in the 
Conqueror's time, possessed six lordships in Essex and a hundred and seventeen in 
Suffolk, besides divers manors in Norfolk. This Roger, adhering to the party that took 
up arms against William Rufus in the 1st year of that monarch's reign, fortified the 
castle at Norwich and wasted the country around. At the accession of Henry I, being 
a witness of the king's laws and staunch in his interests, he obtained Framlingham in 
Suffolk as a gift from the crown. We find further of him that he founded in 1103, the 
abbey of Whetford, in Norfolk, and that he was buried there at his decease in four 
years after, leaving, by Adeliza his wife, dau. and co-heir of Hugh de Grentesmesnil, 
high steward of England, a son and heir, William Bigod, steward of the household of 
King Henry I. [Sir Bernard Burke, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages, 
Burke's Peerage, Ltd., London, 1883, p. 53, Bigod, Earls 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, but 
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. [Who's Who in Early Medieval England, Christopher Tyerman, Shepheard-
Walwyn, Ltd., London, 1996]

-----------

The following information was contained in a post-em by Curt Hofemann, 
curt_hofemann AT yahoo.com:

born ca 1060 St. Saveur (sic), Normandy [Ref: McBride] father: possibly Robert le 
Bigot, but seems unlikely on chronological grounds [Ref: CP IX:575], Robert le Bigot 
[Ref: Wurts p422] Parentage not certainly known [Ref: CP IX:575] Descended from 
Sveide The Viking, a Norse King who died 760 [Ref: Holloway p4]

Research note 1: McBride2 citing Burke's p53 indicates his parents were Wigot de St. 
Denis & a sister of Turstin Goz:
"According to Wace, the Bigot family originated in Maletot, near Caen, Canon 
(chanon) in the arrondissement of Lisieux and either Les Loges, near Aunay, or 
another commune of the same name, near Falaise. The original name of the family was 
Wiggott, Wigott, Bygod. The family of Bigot or Wigot, was descended from Wigort de 
St. Denis, one of the great nobles of Normandy, who made grants to Cerisy abbey in 
1042, and in 1050 witnessed a charter of Duke William at the head of the Norman 
barons. He married*, father of Richard d'Avranches, by whom his younger son, Roger 
Wigot or Bigot, was ingratiated into the good graces of Duke William of Normandy." (* 
Note: part of the citation seems to be missing. Since McBride did not indicate which 
publication of Burke’s he used, I am unable to look this up & complete the citation. 
But since Burke's is not considered reliable, especially about origins of lineages, 
what’s the point...Curt)

Research note 2: He was the son of Roger/Robert Bigod and .... Saint Saveur. [Ref: 
Utz 10 Jan 1999]
*****
died: 8 oder 15.IX 1107 (8 or 15 Sep 1107) [Ref: ES III:705] Sep 8 or 15 1107 [Ref: 
[Ref: DNBiography II:484, Keats-Rohan Belvoir p3, McBride2 citing Burke's p53], 
place: Earsham, Norfolk [Ref: CP IX:577, ES III:705]
Jim pls note: Earsham, Norfolk not Evesham, Suffolk… Curt)
*****
Buried: Abbey of Whetford, Norfolk, England [Ref: McBride2 citing Burke's p53, Wurts 
p42] Norwich Cathedral, Norwich (Norfk) [Ref: CP, ES] Research note: is the Abbey of 
Whetford in the Norwich Cathedral or are they separate places? Also Keats-Rohan 
calls it "priory of St. Mary at Thetford" ...Curt
*****
m1 Adeliza Grantmesnil names: [Ref: Holloway p14, McBride2 citing Burke's p53] 
Roger BIGOD & Adelaide (NN) [Ref: CP IX:577]

Research note: ...known marriage before ca 1090, and that was to a woman named 
Adelais who was perhaps the same as his "second" wife Adela de Tosny. If they were 
two different women, there is no firm evidence I'm aware of to ascribe the first to the 
Grandmesnil family. [Ref: Peter Stewart 17 Jun 2001]
*****
*****
Sheriff of Suffolk, founder the Priory of Thetford [Ref: Holloway p4]
Sheriff of Norfolk & Suffolk [Ref: CP]
1103: founded the Abbey of Thetford in Norfolk [Ref: CP IX p577, Wurts p42] in lieu 
(it is said) of making a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and before it was finished granted 
it to Cluny [Ref: CP IX:577]
of Earsham, Suffolk (held of Bishop Stigand), ca 1071; sheriff of Norfolk and possibly 
Suffolk, at time of Domesday Book, 1086 [Ref: John P. Ravilious 14 Aug 2003]

Possessed six lordships in Essex and 117 in Suffolk beside many manors in Norfolk. In 
1103 he founded the Abbey of Whetford in Norfolk and was buried there four years 
later. [Ref: Utz 10 Jan 1999]

Roger Bigot, also called Roger the Sheriff. From Les Loges, Calvados. Daughter 
married Robert of Stafford. Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk in 1086. Ancestor of Bigot 
family, the earls of Norfolk. Large holdings in Essex, Norfolk and Suffolk. [Ref: 
Domesday Online] Note: I find no other source stating a dau married Robert of 
Stafford. His dau Gunnora m1 Robert fitzSuain/Sweyn de Essex, but was he "of 
Stafford"?... Curt

...Roger Bigod, born before 1050, seigneur of Les Loges & Savenay, sheriff of Norfolk 
1081-7 & 1092-1107, steward of the royal household 1092, lord of Framlingham, who 
died at Earsham, Suffolk 8/15 September 1107. [Ref: Peter Stewart 17 Jun 2001]

Roger Bigod is not traced in the English records before 1079, but by this time he may 
have been endowed with the forfeited estates of Ralph de Gauder, earl of Norlfolk, 
whose downfall took place in 1074. In Doomsday he appears as holding six lordships 
in Essex, and 117 in Suffolk. From Henry I he received the gift of Framlingham, which 
became the principal stronghold of him and his descendants. He likewise held the 
office of king's dapifer, or steward, under William Rufus and Henry I. He died in 1107, 
and was succeeded by his eldest son, William who, however, was drowned in the 
wreck of the White ship. [Ref: DNBiography II:484]

Roger Bigod was present at Senlac and received large grants for his services at the 
Conquest, comprising one hundred and twenty three (123) manors in Essex and 
Suffolk, only six being in the latter county, besides divers manors in Norfolk. Roger 
adhering to the party that took up arms against William Rufus, in the first year of that 
monarch's reign, fortified the castle at Norwich, and wasted the country around. At the 
accession of King Henry I. being a witness of the king's laws, and staunch in his 
interests, he obtained Framlingham in Suffolk, as a gift from the crown. He must have 
been a young man at that time, as he did not die until 1107, when he was buried in 
the Abbey of Whetford in Norfolk, which he had founded in 1103. Roger married 
Adeliza Grantesmesnil (sic), daughter and co-heir of Hugh de Grantesmesnil, High 
Steward of England. He and his wife had seven children [Ref: McBride2 citing Burke's 
p53] - Note: McBride citing Burke's does not show a second marriage & indicates the 
mother of all of Roger's children was Adeliza Grantmesnil ...Curt

Roger Bigod tenant-in-chief in Norfolk, holding the manor of Thetford in demesne.
… founded the priory of St. Mary at Thetford
Seigneur of Les Loges and Savenay in Normandy, dépt.. Calvados, under the bishop 
of Bayeux (Red Book 646), Sheriff of Norfolk for most of William 1's reign, and from 
1100 until his death in 1107; during the 1070s and 1080s alternated with Robert Malet 
as sheriff of Suffolk. Father of William (d. 1120) by his first wife. His second wife, 
mother of his heir Hugh, was Alice daughter and eventual coheiress of Robert de 
Tosny of Belvoir. His brother William is mentioned in Domesday Book; he was probably 
also a brother of Hugh Bigot, who occurs in DB Suffolk. His sister Matilda was married 
to his tenant Hugh de Hosdenc (q.v.). He was doubtless also related to Earl Hugh of 
Chester's tenant Bigot of Loges, and to Robert Bigot, son of Norman, lord of Pirou and 
Cerisy in the Cotentin, benefactor in the 1090s of Sées (Arch. Orne 62b-63 no. cxxxix). 
This Robert, husband of Emma and father of Richard and Robert, was perhaps the 
same as the Robert Bigot, kinsman of Richard of Avranches (father of Earl Hugh), 
mentioned by Ord. Vit. in his interpolations of William of Jumiéges ed. van Houts, ii 
126-7). Roger founded the priory of the EVM at Thetford, 1103-4; colonized by monks 
from the Warenne foundation at Lewes, it was a dependency of Cluny. He died in 
1107. [Ref: http://www.linacre.ox.ac.uk/research/prosop/dbase.stm]

Research notes re: who was the mother of Roger's children:
It is probable that Roger was married only once, although he is usually credited with 
two wives of the same name on the inconclusive evidence of a pro anama clause in a 
charter of his son William.[11] Roger and his wife Adelisa gave charter for Rochester 
priory which referred to their sons and daughters and was attested by their children 
William, Humphrey, Gunnor and Matilda.[12] This charter tellingly refers to King Henry, 
making it highly unlikely that Roger acquired a second wife and second family before 
his death in 1107.
[11] Mon. Ang. iii, 330-1.
[12] BL Cotton Domitian A x, fol. 201v-2r. [Ref: PROSOPON 9 Belvoir: The Heirs of 
Robert and Berengar de Tosny by K.S.B. Keats-Rohan 
http://www.linacre.ox.ac.uk/research/prosop/PRSPN9.stm]

On 2 Dec 1997, Todd A. Farmerie wrote an article on the subject "Aubigny," in which 
he states that Maud and Cecily Bigod were full sisters, but daughters of Roger Bigod's 
first wife, Adelaide, not daughters of Alice de Todeni. The reference which Todd gives 
which is most pertinent to this identification of parentage, I take it, is to Andrew 
Wareham, "The motives and politics of the Bigod family, c. 1066-1177," Anglo-Norman 
Studies XVII: Proceedings of the Battle Conference, 1994, pp. 223-242.
Wareham does indeed, first on a charted family tree on p. 230, clearly assign all three 
daughters, Gunner, Cecily, and Matilda to Adelaide, the first wife of Roger Bigod. He 
thereafter refers to these three sisters as step-daughters of Alice de Tosny, or as 
half-sisters of Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk.
Although his essay densely cites primary or near-primary sources, Wareham does not 
explicitly point out any document which would confirm his assignment of parentage. It 
is as though his family tree were the "received wisdom." Indeed one finds no clue, 
when reading his essay, that anyone had ever thought that Cecily Bigod, for example, 
was a daughter of Alice de Tosny. None of the sources which I quoted above are 
referred to.
On p. 231 Wareham says: ". . .By 1130 Roger's widow Alice de Tosny still owed a 
relief of [pounds] 198 for the inheritance of her father's estates, but the Tosny fees in 
Leicester [presumably Belvoir] which formed the dowry of Alice's step-daughter Cecily 
Bigod were under the control of the latter's husband, William d'Albini Brito.. . . ." 
Wareham argues that King Henry I effectively disinherited Alice de Tosny after Roger 
Bigod's death and before his children came of age, but, perhaps because he did not 
consider it problematical, he does not make it clear in the text that his sources specify 
that Cecily was a step-daughter rather than a full daughter. The parentage of these 
Bigod sisters is not, of course, the primary topic of Wareham's essay.
On page 234 Wareham says: "Hugh Bigod's loss of ten knights fees to the husband of 
his half-sister may have cut very deep, and the only record of a gift passing the other 
way was that of three hides and forty acres which William I d'Albini granted to 
Thetford Priory. This was barely a token in comparison to Matilda Bigod's dowry.[69] 
In nine (sic: none?) of Hugh Bigod's charters does he make provision for the souls of 
his half-sisters and their descendants, but a charter drawn up for William I d'Albini 
records how at the death of Matilda Bigod her husband was weeping and bewailing his 
loss.[70] . . ."
Footnote 69 reads: "Monasticon v. 142."
Footnote 70 reads: "BL ms Landsdowne 229 fo. 148, Vitelius F iv, fos 159v and 176 
(Bigod); and BL ms Titus C viii, fos 18-18b (d'Albini)." [Ref: Utz 10 Jan 1999]


It is now thought that Roger Bigod had just one wife, Adelaide de Todeny, and she 
was mother of both Maud, wife of William d'Aubigny Pincerna, and Cecily, wife of 
William d'Aubigny Brito. [Ref: TAF 31 Oct 2002]

Sorry for the length of this. Perhaps it should be cut to the most salient genealogical 
data/conclusions only, but I like to keep the background arguments in my database to 
see why I chose the data I chose, especially when it differs from previously accepted 
pedigrees in major sources.
Regards,
Curt

Parents
BIGOD Robert (Roger) (ABT 1035 - 1071)
DE ST. SAVEUR ----- (daughter of Neil IV) (ABT 1036 - )

Siblings
BIGOD Roger (1060 - 15 Sep 1107)

Marriage To DE TOSNY Adeliza (ABT 1070 - 1135)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
DE TOSNY Robert (ABT 1030 - Aug 1088)
DI SAVONA Adeliza (ABT 1052 - BEF 1075)

Children by DE TOSNY Adeliza ABT 1070 - 1135
BIGOD Maud (Mary) (ABT 1085 - )
BIGOD Cecily (ABT 1090 - )
BIGOD Jane (ABT 1093 - )
BIGOD Hugh (ABT 1095 - 1177)
BIGOD Gunnora (ABT 1096 - )

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