Robert Stillington

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Robert Stillington was Bishop of Bath and Wells and Lord Chancellor of England. It is alleged by some that it was he who presented evidence that the marriage of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville was invalid due to Edward's earlier betrothal to Lady Eleanor Talbot.

In 1478 he spent some weeks in prison, apparently as a result of some association with the disgraced George, Duke of Clarence. He was imprisoned again in 1485, shortly after Henry VII's victory at Bosworth. Some say this was due to Stillington's involvement in the matter of Edward IV's bigamy, for the new king needed to reverse the bigamy charges that made his future queen, Elizabeth of York, illegitimate.

Some years after his second release, Stillington became involved in the plot to place the impostor Lambert Simnel on the throne (1487). He was imprisoned a third time, and died in prison.

Preceded by
Thomas Beckington
Bishop of Bath and Wells
1466–1491
Succeeded by
Richard Fox
Preceded by
Laurence Booth
Lord Privy Seal
1460–1467
Succeeded by
Thomas Rotheram
Preceded by
George Neville
Lord Chancellor
1467–1470
Succeeded by
George Neville
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