“The Bigod name is important to our family DNA study because Hamo St. Clair married Cecilia Bigod, daughter of the very powerful Roger Bigod. Cecilia was the granddaughter of Robert de Tosny. Roger Bigod had several tenants on his lands, one of the most important was the de Vaux family.”

Steve St.Clair goes off on a journey to prove the Sinclair Family have some Knight Templars in their family tree. I have gone out on many a limb in the last sixteen years. You got to go back over the same ground – many times! This is very tedious work as my friend Ben Toney can attest. It takes great concentration.

I can tell you Steve was not looking very hard. He came to – some stuff – and thought he hit – some pay dirt – and went back home. He liked his Bigod-Tosny strike, and drove a stake in the ground, then, rushed back to his computer. Compared to my Rougemont – MOTHER LOAD – he looked like a peasant poking about for tiny potatoes, because, he is a Gleaner, the Saint Clair Gleaner. He was right on top of us, and, went grumbling his merry petty way.

Odo or Eudes, (?-1301), Archbishop of Besançon from 1269 to 1301. Buried before the high altar of the Abbey Notre-Dame de Bellevaux. Bellavaux is where Rougemont Templars are buried. I will tell my friend, Ben Toney, or, Toeni,  or Tosny, that Steve happened by, but, couldn’t find the front door – nor the Toeni castles. He says hello to the Cliffords, however.

Oh, by the way, the Rougemonts owned the Shroud of Turin. They are kin to the Dreux. Annnnnnnnd, let’s not leave out Henry II “Curt Mantel” King of ENGLAND.

Jon Presco

ttp://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=jweber&id=I03438

Name: Ida de TOENI ^1 2 3 4

• Sex: F

• Birth: AFT 1160 in Flamstead, Hertfordshire, England ⁵

Father: Ralph V de TOENI , Lord of Flamstead b: ABT 1125 in Flamstead, Hertfordshire, England
Mother: Margaret de BEAUMONT b: 1125 in Leicestershire, England

Marriage 1 Henry II “Curt Mantel” King of ENGLAND b: 5 MAR 1132/33 in Le Mans, Sarthe, Maine/Pays-de-la-Loire, France

• Married: in No Marriage

Children

1. William I LONGESPEE , 3rd Earl of Salisbury b: ABT 1176
2. Illegitimate dau. of Henry II FITZROY b: ABT 1178

Marriage 2 Roger BIGOD , 2nd Earl of Norfolk, MCS b: ABT 1150 in Framlingham Castle, Suffolk, England

• Married: ABT 25 DEC 1181 ⁶

Children

1. Hugh BIGOD , 3rd Earl of Norfolk, MCS b: ABT 1182 in Framlingham Castle, Suffolk, England
2. Margaret BIGOD b: ABT 1184 in Thetford, Norfolk, England
3. Mary BIGOD , Heiress of Menthorpe b: ABT 1186 in Menthorpe with Bowthorpe, Yorkshire East Riding, England
4. Alice BIGOD , Heiress of Prayers b: ABT 1188 in Prayers Manor, Sible Hedingham, Essex, England

Why Warenne is so interesting

It’s always fun to look at the armorial bearings of families who are circling around one another. The fact that these families all used the chequy arms cannot be ignored. The Warenne / Vaux connection is obvious if you look at my wider research. Both families were involved at Preaux Abbey, Thetford, and Castle Acre. Preaux Abbey is very interesting. That land was held in 1070 by Eudo Rye.

The Dreux family will be interesting for those who believe such a connection to the St. Clair family. I think it is bogus, however I might be wrong – the coats of arms are very similar. Some “researchers” have claimed that he de Dreux are the ancestors of the Sinclairs of Rosslyn. Curiouser and curiouser.

Just so you understand all the inter-relations here, Robert count of Mortain was half-brother of William the Conqueror and the younger brother of bishop Odo of Bayeux. (Morris p. 15)

http://www.stclairresearch.com/content/Sinclair-Templar-Proof.html

I visited Thetford on my drive north from London. It’s an immense place with enough surviving stonework to get a sense of how beautiful it must have been. The benefactor and witnesses list is an incredible group:

• Bigot

• Savigny

• Warenne

• Bois

• Malet

• Longespee

• Vaux

• Brito

• Albini

• Bosco

• Montchensey

The Bigod name is important to our family DNA study because Hamo St. Clair married Cecilia Bigod, daughter of the very powerful Roger Bigod. Cecilia was the granddaughter of Robert de Tosny. Roger Bigod had several tenants on his lands, one of the most important was the de Vaux family.

Those connections between the Warenne, Mortemer, Mandeville, Bigod, Vaux, and Saint-Clair families are incredible, especially considering my discovery of direct connections all of them had to Stephen count of Aumale. He was the son of Odo, Count of Champagne and Adelaide of Normandy, the sister of William the Conqueror.

First branch of the House of Rougemont[Edit]Thibaud III de Rougemont, Rougemont sire, Viscount of Besançon, in a deal with the religious of flying (Besançon) in 1230. It was as a seal: an eagle with its wings to the Tower reads: Sigillum Theobaldi Vice – Comitis Bisuntini. He acknowledged lige man of the County of Burgundy in 1242. In 1243 he exchanged his fief of the Val de Vennes against Uzelles.

Marriage and succession:
He married Alix, daughter of Jean I de Ray, of which it has:

Isabelle, wife of Robert de Choiseul, sire of Traves, son of Renaud III de Choiseul and Alix de Dreux,
Humbert III that follows.

Humbert III de Rougemont, damoiseau, quoted in charters La Charité and la Grâce-Dieu (Besançon) in 1230, 1233 – 1239.

Marriage and succession:
He married Elvis that there:

Theobald IV, which follows,
Hugues, he married Alix of Ray,
Odo or Eudes, (?-1301), Archbishop of Besançon from 1269 to 1301. Buried before the high altar of theAbbey Notre-Dame de Bellevaux.
Isabelle, she married Jean de La Roche, Lord of La Roche,
Mercy, married Ponce de Chambornay, Knight, of the House of La Roche.