Hugh Bigod (abt. 1215 - bef. 1266)

Born about 1215 in England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died before 7 May 1266 before about age 51 in England

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Biography

Birth and Parents

Hugh was the son of Hugh le Bigod and Maud Marshal.^[1][2] He was born about 1215.^[3][4] His parents had properties in a number of counties and his birth place is not known.

Marriage and Children

Before 5 February 1243/4 Hugh married Joan de Stuteville, daughter and heir of Nicholas de Stuteville and Devorguille FitzUchtred, and widow of Hugh Wake.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} They had the following children:

• Roger, who became Earl of Norfolk^[1][3][4][6]
• Ralph^[3][4]
• John^[3][4]
• Richard^[3][4]
• Elizabeth^[3][4]
• Rohese^[3][4]
• Maud^[3][4]
• Joan, who married Philip de Kyme,^[3][4] of whom Hugh had the wardship^[2][7]

Lands

Hugh held lands in Sussex and Yorkshire. His marriage brought him properties in Cumberland Leicestershire and Yorkshire, including the lands associated with the baronies of Liddel Strength, Cumberland and Cottingham, Yorkshire.^[3][4][8] During the minority of Baldwin Wake, his wife's son by her first husband, he had control of Baldwin's inheritance.^[2]

Life

In 1252 Hugh was one of the Barons who acted as sureties for payments due to Simon de Montfort for the administration of Gascony. Soon after he was granted temporary custody of Pickering, Yorkshire.^[2] Hugh was also for as time custodian of castles at Dover in Kent, and Scarborough in Yorkshire.^[3][4]

In 1257 Hugh was sent on an embassy to Galicia.Afterwards he helped to negotiate an accord between Henry III and Louis IX of France. By then he was a member of the royal Council.^[2]

In 1258 he was one of twelve barons were charged with overseeing the reform of royal administration. He appears to have been representing the interests of Henry III as he was subsequently chosen by the king's supporters to be one of four barons able to nominate members of a new royal Council. Soon after, he was made Justiciar of England, a position he held until October 1260. From the middle of November 1259 to April 1260 he acted as Henry III's regent in England while the monarch was abroad.^[2][3][4] Hugh is addressed as Justiciar in letters from Henry III of January and February 1260.^[9]

In May 1261 Hugh declined to surrender the castles of Pickering and Scarborough without the agreement of the royal Council, which was dominated by opponents of Henry III, but he seems to have remained a supporter of Henry. He fought for the king in the 1264 Battle of Lewes, but fled from the battle, excepting to France with his half-brother John de Warenne.^[2][3][4] After rebels were defeated in the 1265 Battle of Evesham, Hugh was again a close adviser of the king.^[2]

Death

Hugh died a little before 7 May 1266.^[2] His wife survived him.^[3][4]

Research Notes

Collins's Peerage

The 1779 edition of Collins's Peerage states that Helen, daughter of Sir Richard de Harcourt and Alice Noel, married Hugh.^[10] The 1812 edition says that Alice Noel married William de Harcourt, and names Helen their daughter and as wife of Hugh Bigod.^[11] No good evidence has been found for a marriage of Helen to Hugh Bigod.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2} G E Cokayne. Complete Peerage, revised edition, Vol. IX, St Cartherine Press, 1936, pp. 590, footnote c, and 593, Familyseaerch
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9} Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, entry by Paul Brand for Bigod, Hugh(b. in or befo re 1220, d. 1266)', print and online 2004, revised online 2008
3. ↑ ^{3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14} Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 4 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham, 2nd edition (Salt Lake City: the author, 2011), Vol. I, pp. 203-205, BIGOD 3, Google Books
4. ↑ ^{4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14} Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols, ed. Kimball G. Everingham (Salt Lake City: the author, 2013), Vol. I, pp. 366-369
5. ↑ J W Clay. The extinct and Dormant Peerages of the Northern Counties of England, James Nisbet and Co, 1913, p. 228, In tenet Archive
6. ↑ 'Inquisitions Post Mortem, Henry III, File 38', in Calendar of Inquisitions Post Mortem: Volume 1, Henry III, ed. J E E S Sharp (London, 1904), pp. 231-242, British History Online (entry 744), accessed 15 May 2023
7. ↑ Year Books of Edward II, Vol. II, Selden Society, 1904, p. 157, Hathi Trust
8. ↑ I J Sanders. English Baronies, a Study of their Origin and Descent 1086-1327, Oxford University Press, 1960, pp. 37 and 129
9. ↑ E W Shirley. Royal and other historical letters illustrative of the reign of Henry III, Vol II, Longmans, Green, Longman, and Roberts, 1866, pp.148-153, Internet Archive
10. ↑ Arthur Collins. The Peerage of England, 5th edition, 1779, Vol. V, p. 264, Google Books
11. ↑ Collins's Peerage of England, greatly augmented and continued to the present time, Vol. III, 1812, pp. 433-434, Internet Archive

See also:

• Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Vol. 5, p. 24, entry for 'BIGOD, HUGH (d. 1266), Wikisource
• Marsh, John Fitchett. Annals of Chepstow Castle, William Pollard, 1883, pp. 117-118, Internet Archive
• Wikipedia: Hugh Bigod (Justiciar)

Acknowledgements

Magna Carta Project

This profile was re-reviewed for the Magna Carta Project by Michael Cayley on 15 May 2023.

Hugh Bigod appears in a trail, identified and badged by the Magna Carta Project in 2015, between Gateway Ancestor Katherine Hamby and Magna Carta Surety Barons Hugh le Bigod and Roger le Bigod. This trail is outlined in the Magna Carta Trails section of Robert Hamby's profile.

See Base Camp for more information about identified Magna Carta trails and their status. See the project's glossary for project-specific terms, such as a "badged trail".