Hugh Bigod II

• General Notes
  • Hugh Bigod (1186-1225) of Thetford, was the eldest son of Roger, Earl of Norfolk, and for a short time the 3rd Earl of Norfolk, Earl Marshall of England, and one of the 25 surites of Magna Carta of King John. He succeeded to his father s estates circa 1220, during the 5th year of the reign of King Henry III. (Richard Thomson: An Historical Essay on Magna Charta, London, 1829; Page 311.) Hugh Bigod, the 3rd Earl of Norfolk, was one of the eight Barons who resisted the King's autocratic maladministration of the economy in what later became known as the barons war which was led by Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, and brother-in-law to Henry III. The revolt now represents the most important demand for parliamentary democracy in England, called for by peers of the realm, after the events that led King John to sign Magna Charta.
    
    Simon de Montfort was one of the 12 signitories of the 'April Confederacy', which represented the inception of the revolutionary movement, and one of the 24 authors of the 'Provisions of Oxford'. He was one of the 15 members of the privy council, along with Hugh Bigod and the earls of Gloucester and Hereford, Roger Mortimer, John fitz Geoffrey, Peter de Montfort, (not related to Simon), and the Bishop of Worcester. These barons thought fit to stand against the King and signed an oath to form a commune 'in which they swore to look after each others interests'. Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester, and Roger, then the Earl of Norfolk (Hugh Bigod's father), and Peter of Savoy signed the oath.
    
    The conservative faction, led by Richard, Earl of Gloucester, supported the Provisions of Oxford and the Ordinance of the Sheriffs, but opposed the Provisions of Westminster. They wanted control over the king and his officials, but rejected a similar control over themselves and their agents. While many of the barons joined this alliance, Hugh Bigod, the justiciar, and Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, remained neutral.
    
    King Henry III's foreign advisors were compelled to leave the country, for fear of their lives, following the disruption that followed these events, but were met at the castle of the Bishop of Winchester, Aymer of Valance, one of the foreign advisors employed by Henry, and were besieged by the Barons. The Barons confederaton, lead by Hugh Bigod, banished the French from the country, confiscating their castles issuing a stern warning not to return.
    
    De Montfort had the support of the Earl of Gloucester, the 'Cinque Ports', and the citizens of London, besides most of the lesser nobility, and controlled the south of the country. In May 1264, Leicester discovered the king was camped at Lewes, and on 14th, attacked and won the Battle of Lewes, capturing Henry, his brother the Prince Edward, Richard of Cornwall and Henry of Almain.
    
    Simon De Montfort later was killed at the Battle of Evesham, but the revolt continued until July of 1267 with small pockets of resistance remaining in different parts of the country.
    
    Hugh Bigod's family conections to the king of Scotland
    The 3rd Earl Norfolk had married in 1207 to Maude Marshall (1192-1248), daughter of Sir William Marshal, Earl of Pembroke, at Pembroke in Pembrokeshire.
    
    Hugh and Maud had the following children:
    Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk, born in 1212.
    
    Hugh Bigod, Justiciar of England.
    
    Isabel de Bigod (married first to Gilbert de Lacy)
    
    Sir Ralph Bigod.
    
    William Bigod.
    
    

Click here for details of Hugh's family with Countess of Norfolk Maud Matilda Marshall

¹ http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jdp-fam&id=I8475
² http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jdp-fam&id=I6583
Sources/Citations http://wc.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jdp-fam&id=I8475, The Royal Descents of 500 Immigrants

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