Isabel le Bigod

Female Abt 1212 - 1250  (~ 38 years)


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  • Name Isabel le Bigod  [1, 2
    Born Abt 1212  Thetford, Norfolk, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [2
    Gender Female 
    Died 1250  [2
    Notes 
    • She was the daughter of Hugh le Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk and Matilda Marshal. She married, firstly, Gilbert de Lacy, son of Walter de Lacy, Lord of Meath and Margaret de Braose, in 1225. She married, secondly, John fitz Geoffrey, Lord of Shere, son of Geoffrey fitz Piers, 3rd Earl of Essex and Aveline de Clare, before 12 April 1234. She died in 1250.2

      Isabel Bigod, Lady of Shere (c. 1212-1250) was an English noblewoman, the only daughter of Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk. She was the wife of Gilbert de Lacy, of Ewyas Lacy, and John FitzGeoffrey, Lord of Shere.

      Family

      Isabel was born in Thetford, Norfolk in about 1212, the only daughter of Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk, a Magna Carta surety, and Maud Marshal (1192 - 27 March 1248). Her paternal grandparents were Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk and Ida de Tosny, a former mistress of King Henry II of England. Her maternal grandparents were William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke and Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke. She had four brothers including Roger Bigod, 4th Earl of Norfolk and Hugh Bigod. She also had two younger half-siblings John de Warenne, 6th Earl of Surrey and Isabelle de Warenne, by her mother's second marriage to William de Warenne, 5th Earl of Surrey. Isabel's father had died in 1225.

      Marriages and issue

      In 1225, the year of her father's death, Isabel married her first husband, Gilbert de Lacy, of Ewyas Lacy (c. 1202 - 25 December 1230). He was the son of Walter de Lacy, Lord of Trim Castle and Ludlow Castle, and Margaret de Braose. Gilbert and Isabel's chief residence was Ewyas Lacy in Herefordshire; however, they spent the last two years of their marriage on his father's estates in Ireland, where their youngest child, Maud was born, and Gilbert would shortly afterwards die. Together they had three children:

      Walter de Lacy (died early 1241)
      Margery de Lacy (1228, Ewyas Lacy, Herefordshire- 1256), married before 14 May 1244 John de Verdun, Lord of Westmeath by whom she had issue.
      Maud de Lacy (1230, Dublin, Ireland[3]- 11 April 1304 Trim Castle, Ireland), married firstly Pierre de Geneve, by whom she had issue; in 1252, she married secondly Geoffrey de Geneville, 1st Baron Geneville, Seigneur de Vaucouleurs, by whom she had two sons, Geoffrey de Geneville, and Sir Piers de Geneville, father of Joan de Geneville, 2nd Baroness Geneville.

      Gilbert died on 25 December 1230 at Trim Castle, in County Meath, Ireland leaving Isabel a widow at the age of eighteen with three small children. Sometime before 12 April 1234, Isabel married her second husband, John FitzGeoffrey, Lord of Shere, Justiciar of Ireland. The marriage produced six children:

      Richard FitzJohn of Shere (died 1297), married Emma
      John FitzJohn of Shere (died 1275), married Margery Basset
      Maud FitzJohn (died 16/18 April 1301), married firstly Gerald de Furnivalle, Lord of Hallamshire; she married secondly William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick, by whom she had issue.
      Aveline FitzJohn (died c. 20 May 1274), married Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster, by whom she had issue including Richard Og de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster.
      Joan FitzJohn (died 4 April 1303), married Theobald le Botiller (1242- 1285 of Thurles, Nenagh, by whom she had issue. Joan and Theobald were the ancestors of the Butler Earls of Ormond.
      Isabel FitzJohn, married Robert de Vispont, Lord of Westmoreland by whom she had two daughters.

      In early 1241, Isabel's eldest son by her first husband died. Upon the death of her former father-in-law, Walter de Lacy shortly afterwards on 24 February, the vast de Lacy estates and lordships were passed down to Margery and Maud, her daughters by Gilbert. Their marriages were personally arranged by King Henry III to ensure that the estates they inherited were retained in the hands of trusted servants of the Crown.[6]

      Isabel Bigod died in 1250. She was about thirty-eight years old. Her second husband John died eight years later.
    Person ID I937  Bosdet Genealogy
    Last Modified 16 May 2013 

    Father Hugh le Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk,   b. Abt 1182,   d. Abt 11 Feb 1224/25  (Age ~ 43 years) 
    Relationship Natural 
    Mother Maud Marshal, Countess of Norfolk Countess of Surrey,   b. 1192,   d. 27 Mar 1248  (Age 56 years) 
    Relationship Natural 
    Married Abt 1207  [3
    Family ID F271  Group Sheet

    Family 1 John fitz Geoffrey,, Lord of Shere,   d. 23 Nov 1258 
    Married Bef 12 Apr 1234 
    Children 
     1. Joan fitz John,   d. Between 25 Feb 1302/03 and 26 May 1303
     2. Isabel fitz John,   d. 20 May 1274
     3. Maud fitz John
     4. Richard fitz John, 1st and last Lord FitzJohn
    Family ID F923  Group Sheet

    Family 2 Gilbert de Lacy,   b. Abt 1202,   d. Between 12 Aug and 25 Dec 1230, Meath, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Married 1225  [1, 2
    Children 
     1. Margaret de Lacy,   b. 1228, Ewyas Lacy, Herefordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 1256  (Age 28 years)
     2. Walter de Lacy,   d. 1241
     3. Maud de Lacy,   b. 1230, Dublin, Dublin, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location,   d. 11 Apr 1304, Meath, Ireland Find all individuals with events at this location  (Age 74 years)
    Family ID F1230  Group Sheet

  • Sources 
    1. [S179] The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed, G.E. Cokayne; with Vicary Gibbs, H.A. Doubleday, Geoffrey H. White, Duncan Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, editors, (Name: Alan Sutton Publishing; Location: Gloucester, U.K.; Date: 2000;).

    2. [S174] Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabel_Bigod.

    3. [S178] thePeerage.com, Darryl Lundy, (Location: Ngaio, Wellington, New Zealand;).