'Roger Bigod' (died December
1306), was 5th
Earl of Norfolk.
He was the son of
Hugh Bigod (Justiciar), and succeeded his uncle,
Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk as earl in
1270.
This earl is the hero of a famous altercation with
Edward I in
1297, which arose out of the king's command that Bigod should serve against the king of
France in
Gascony, while he went to
Flanders. The earl asserted that by the tenure of his lands he was only compelled to serve across the seas in the company of the king himself, whereupon Edward said, "By God, earl, you shall either go or hang," to which Bigod replied, "By the same oath, O king, I will neither go nor hang."
The earl gained his point, and after Edward had left for France he and
Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hereford, prevented the collection of an aid for the war and forced Edward to confirm the charters in this year and again in
1301.
William Stubbs says Bigod and Bohun "are but degenerate sons of mighty fathers; greater in their opportunities than in their patriotism."
Roger married first Alina Basset, daughter of the justiciar Philip Basset, and secondly Alice d'Avesnes, daughter of
John II d'Avesnes,
count of Hainaut.
The earl died without issue in December 1306, when his title became extinct, and his estates reverted to the crown, and were eventually bestowed on
Thomas of Brotherton, 1st Earl of Norfolk.
Reference
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