Biography of Roger Bigod 2nd Earl Norfolk 1144-1221

Chronicle of Roger de Hoveden. 17 Apr 1194. On the seventeenth day of April, a Sunday within the Octave of Easter, a great assembly gathered in the Church of St. Swithun [Map]. Present were: Hubert (age 34), Archbishop of Canterbury, John (age 44), Archbishop of Dublin, Hugh (age 69), Bishop of Durham, Hugh of Lincoln, Richard of London, Gilbert of Rochester, William of Ely, Seffrid of Chichester, Henry of Exeter, William of Hereford, the Bishop of Worcester, the Bishop of St. David's, and the Bishop of Bangor, together with many abbots, clergy, and laypeople. Richard, King of England, clothed in royal garments and wearing a golden crown on his head, came forth from his chamber already crowned. He held in his right hand the royal sceptre, topped with the sign of the cross, and in his left hand a golden rod, topped with the figure of a dove. On his right walked William, Bishop of Ely, his chancellor, and on his left, Richard, Bishop of London. Preceding them in ordered procession were the archbishops, bishops, abbots, monks, and clerics. Following the king were earls, barons, knights, and a great multitude of common people.

And a silken canopy, supported by four lances, was carried above the king [King Richard "Lionheart" I of England (age 36)] by four earls: Roger Bigod (age 50), Earl of Norfolk, William, Earl of the Isle of Wight, the [his illegitimate step-son] Earl of Salisbury (age 18), the Earl of Ferrers (age 26).Three swords taken from the royal treasury were carried before the king: one sword was carried by William (age 51), King of Scotland. another was borne by Hamelin (age 65), Earl of Warenne. The third was carried by Ranulf (age 24), Earl of Chester. Among them, the King of Scotland walked in the middle, with the Earl of Warenne at his right and the Earl of Chester at his left.

Septima decima die mensis Aprilis, die Dominica in octavis Paschæ, convenientibus in unum in ecclesia Sancti Swithuni Huberto Cantuariensi, et Johanne Dublinensi archiepiscopis; et Hugone Dunelmensi, et Hugone Lincolniensi, et Ricardo Londoniensi, et Gilberto Roffensi, et Willelmo Eliensi, et Sefrido Cicestrensi, et Henrico Exoniensi, et¹ .... Willelmo Herefordensi, et Wigornensi, et de S. David, et¹ .... Pangorensi episcopis; et abbatibus multis, et clero et populo; Ricardus rex Angliæ vestimentis regalibus indutus, coronam auream habens in capite,² processit de thalamo suo coronatus, gestans in manu sua dextra sceptrum regale, cujus sum mitate habetur signum crucis, et in manu sinistra virgam auream, in cujus summitate habetur species columbz et a dextris ejus ibat Willelmus Eliensis episcopus, cancellarius suus, et a sinistris Ricardus Londoniensis episcopus. Præcedebat quoque eos ordinata processio archiepiscoporum et episcoporum, et abbatum, et monachorum et clericorum. Comites vero, et barones, et milites, et magna plebis multitudo, sequebantur regem.

Et pannus sericus quatuor lanceis superpositus ferebatur supra regem a quatuor comitibus: videlicet, Rogero Bigot comite de Norfolchia, et Willelmo comite de Insula Vectæ et—comite Salesbiriensi, et—comite de Ferreres. Et tres gladii de thesauro regis sumpti gestabantur ante regem; quorum unum gestabat Willelmus rex Scottorum, et alterum portabat Hamelinus comes de Warenna, et tertium gestabat Ranulfus comes Cestriæ: medius autem illorum ibat rex Scottorum, et comes Warennæ a dextris ejus, et comes Cestriæ a sinistris ejus.

Note 1. blanks for names of the bishops of Worcester and Bangor.

Note 2. coronam auream habens in capite. It is worthwhile remarking that notwithstanding the political significance given to this second coronation of Richard, it was a ceremony different in kind from the first, and far more in itself analogous to the great crown-wearing days of the earlier Norman kings. The king receives the crown from the archbishop privately (Gerv. l.?S7), and presents himself to the people already crowned and in his royal robes. It is not so much a renewal of his "inauguration" after an eclipse of dignity or even a loss of it, as an assertion that that dignity has undergone no diminution. The day and place recall the Easter crown-wearing of William the Conqueror at Winchester. Gervase was reminded by them of the Canterbury crowning of king Stephen, c. 1588.

On 15 Jun 1215 King John of England (age 48) met with his Baron's at Runnymede [Map] where he agreed to the terms of the Magna Carta which attempted to reduce the King's authority through political reform. Those who signed as surety included:

Roger Bigod 2nd Earl Norfolk (age 71)

his son [his son] Hugh Bigod 3rd Earl Norfolk (age 33)

Henry Bohun 1st Earl Hereford (age 39)

Richard Clare 3rd Earl Hertford (age 62)

his son Gilbert Clare 5th Earl Gloucester 4th Earl Hertford (age 35)

William "The Younger" Marshal 2nd Earl Pembroke (age 25)

William Mowbray 6th Baron Thirsk (age 42)

Saer Quincy 1st Earl Winchester (age 45)

Robert Ros (age 43), Richard Percy 5th Baron Percy Topcliffe (age 45)

Robert de Vere 3rd Earl of Oxford (age 50)

Eustace Vesci (age 46)

John Fitzrobert 3rd Baron Warkworth (age 25)

John Lacy Earl Lincoln (age 23).

William D'Aubigny (age 64), Geoffrey Mandeville 2nd Earl Essex (age 24)

Robert Clare Fitzwalter

William Forz 3rd Earl Albemarle

William Hardell

William Huntingfield

William Llanvallei

William Malet 1st Baron Curry Mallet

Roger Montbegon, Richard Montfichet

Geoffrey Saye (age 60) signed as surety the Magna Carta.

Ranulf de Blondeville Gernon 6th Earl Chester 1st Earl Lincoln (age 45) witnessed.