Ida de Tosny
Ida de Tosny | |
|---|---|
| Noble family | de Tosny |
| Spouse(s) | Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk |
| Father | (likely) Ralph V de Tosny |
| Mother | (likely) Margaret de Beaumont |
Ida de Tosny, Countess of Norfolk (died after 1181), was very likely a daughter of Ralph V de Tosny (died 1162) and his wife Margaret (born circa 1125 and living in 1185), a daughter of Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester.[1]
Relationship to King Henry II
Ida de Tosny was a royal ward and mistress of Henry II, King of England, by whom she was mother of one of his illegitimate sons, William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, (b c. 1176-March 7, 1226), as proven by the discovery of a charter of William mentioning "Comitissa Ida, mater mea" (Countess Ida, my mother).[2] Ida was not the first English royal ward to be taken as a royal mistress. Isabel de Beaumont (Elizabeth de Beaumont), was the ward of King Henry I and the mistress of one of his sons.[3]
Marriage
Around Christmas 1181, Ida de Tosny was given in marriage to Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk by Henry II, together with the manors of Acle, Halvergate and South Walsham, which had been confiscated from his inheritance after his father's death (Hugh Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk).[4] Ida and Roger had a number of children including:
- Hugh Bigod, 3rd Earl of Norfolk who married in 1206 or 1207, Maud Marshal, a daughter of William Marshal
- William Bigod
- Roger Bigod
- John Bigod
- Ralph Bigod
- Mary Bigod, married Ralph fitz Robert
- Margery Bigod, married William de Hastings
- Ida Bigod
Many historians, including Marc Morris have speculated that the couple had a third daughter, Alice, who married Aubrey de Vere IV, 2nd Earl of Oxford as his second wife. However this is highly unlikely as the marriage would have been well within the bounds of consanguinity, for the couple would have been quite closely related, a daughter of the second earl of Norfolk being first cousin once removed to the second earl of Oxford.
Ida de Tosney in fiction
Ida de Tosny and her husband Roger are the main characters in Elizabeth Chadwick's The Time of Singing (Sphere, 2008), published in the USA as For the King's Favor. They appear as minor characters in other of her books set at the same time, notably To Defy a King, which concerns the marriage of their son Hugh to Maud, a daughter of William Marshal
References
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
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