He also succeeded his aunt Albreda, heiress of her brother Berengar de Tosny, with lands in Yorkshire, including Kirkstall Abbey,[1] and in Normandy.
On Henry II's accession in December 1154, Bigod received confirmation of the possession of his earldom and office of royal steward by a charter issued apparently in January of the next year.
After this incident Hugh Bigod makes no significant appearances in the chronicles for some time; he is named among those who had been excommunicated by Becket, in consequence of his retention of lands belonging to the monastery of Pentney in Norfolk.
This gave Hugh Bigod a fresh occasion for rebellion, with the English barons and the kings of France and Scotland leagued in his favour.
He at once became a leader in the cause, being eager to revive his feudal power which Henry II had curtailed, and because the conflict which inevitably resulted was, at least in England, centred upon his own territorial possessions.
Robert de Beaumont, 3rd Earl of Leicester (died 1190) landed at Walton, in Suffolk, on 29 September 1173 and marched to Framlingham, joining forces with Hugh.
But the Earl of Leicester was defeated and taken prisoner setting out from Framlingham at the Battle of Fornham, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, by the justiciar Richard de Luci and other barons.
Though defeated and compelled to surrender his castles, Bigod kept his lands and his earldom, and lived at peace with Henry II until his death reportedly in 1177 in Palestine.
Earl Hugh had possessed vast estates, which he inherited, and was also the recipient of the third penny of judicial fines levied in the county of Norfolk by right of his earldom.