Individual Details

Roger le Bigod Earl of East Anglia, Sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk

(1060 - 8 Sep 1107)

    Roger is also believed to have servedon the Field ofHastings although there is no mention of him in English records before1079. He was endowed with the forfieted estates of the Earl of Norfolk,Ralph de Guader who's downfall took place in 1074.
    In the Domesday Book Roger appearsas holding six lordships in Essex, and 117 in Suffolk. In 1101 he was giventhe estates of Framlingham by Henry I which were to become the principalstronghold of the Bigods for more than 200 years. Roger de Bigod died in1107, and was suceeded by his eldest son, William Bigod. He drowned inthe wreck of the White ship on 26th November 1120 and Roger's second son,Hugh Bigod inherited all and took possession of the estates.

Events

Birth1060St. Sauveur, Manche, Basse-Normandie, France
MarriageBef 1095Leicester, Leicestershire, England - Adeliz (Alice) de Toeni (de Tosny)
Burial1107Abbey of Whetford, Norfolk, England
Death8 Sep 1107drowning in the sinking of the White Ship - Thetford, Norfolkshire, England

Families

Notes

Birth

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.