The Violent Life and Times of Roger Bigod – A Medieval Player of the Game of Thrones?
For almost 250 years, from the time of the Norman Conquest of England in AD 1066, one of the most important families in the Eastern Counties were the Bigods. In later years they would become the Earls of Norfolk and so powerful they could defy the Kings of England, running their territory like the bosses of old-style Mafia crime family.
Despite the fact these were members of a family who lived and died nearly a thousand years ago, in many respects they were a thoroughly modern bunch of ruthless back-stabbers, liars, and rogues who always had an eye on the main prize and didn’t care who they had to trample over or betray to achieve it. In an era of fickle monarchs, when a favorite could fall from power overnight and the following morning might find his head nodding on a pike staring sightlessly into the rising sun, the Bigods were masters of playing this real-life Game of Thrones – and of keeping their heads while those all around were losing theirs!
But where did they spring from?
The first Bigod to make his bloody mark on the pages on English history was Roger Bigod. The month was March. The year, 1067.
Photo of a stone head found at Thetford Priory and believed to be from Roger Bigod’s original tomb. (Public Domain)
Death and Conspiracy
Although Duke William of Normandy – better known as William the Conqueror (although he was also called William the Bastard) – had been crowned King of England on Christmas Day 1066, many parts of England were still resisting Norman rule. This included East Anglia, where one of the leading churchmen – Abbot Aelfwald (or Ethelwold) – had been put in command of the naval and military defense of the East Coast by Harold Godwinson, the last Saxon King of England.
King William I, 'The Conqueror'. (Public Domain)
