Bigod, Roger, 4th earl of Norfolk

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Bigod, Roger, 4th earl of Norfolk (c.1212–70). Bigod's grandfather had been one of the barons who enforced Magna Carta on John. He succeeded his father in 1225 at the age of 12 or so, having been brought up at the Scottish court of Alexander II, whose sister he married. In 1246 he succeeded as hereditary earl marshal. He fought in campaigns in Wales and France on behalf of Henry III, but in 1258 became a leader of the baronial opposition to restrain the king. In the ensuing conflict he seems to have steered a careful course, siding with de Montfort when he was in power, but making his peace with the king after Evesham.

J. A. Cannon

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