Hervey le Breton

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For the Earl of Wiltshire of this name, see Harvey of Léon.
Hervey
Denomination Catholic
Senior posting
See Diocese of Ely
Title Bishop of Ely
Period in office 1109–1131
Predecessor new foundation
Successor Nigel
Religious career
Previous bishoprics Bishop of Bangor
Personal
Date of death August 30, 1131

Hervey le Breton (also known as Hervé le Breton) (died August 30, 1131) was a Breton cleric who became Bishop of Bangor and later Bishop of Ely.

Contents

[edit] Early life

Hervey was a native of Brittany,[1] and was a chaplain of King William II of England[2] before being appointed Bishop of Bangor in 1092[3] by King William II of England.[4] At this time most of Gwynedd had been overrun by the Normans, and following the killing of Robert of Rhuddlan had been taken over by Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester.[5] The appointment of Hervey was probably intended to further consolidate the Norman hold on the area.[6] He was consecrated Bishop of Bangor by Thomas of Bayeux Archbishop of York, since the see of Canterbury was vacant at the time.[7]

[edit] Problems at Bangor

Relations between Hervey and the Welsh appear to have been very bad. The Liber Eliensis described the situation as:

Since they [the Welsh] did not show the respect and reverence due to a bishop, he [Hervey] wielded the sharp two-edged sword to subdue them, constraining them both with repeated excommunications and with the host of his kinsmen and other followers. They resisted him nonetheless and pressed him with such dangers that they killed his borther and intended to deal with him the same way, if they could lay hands on him.[8]

Hervey was forced to rely on his own armed bands for protection.[9] In 1094 a Welsh revolt against Norman rule in Gwynedd began under the leadership of Gruffydd ap Cynan,[10] and by the late 1090s Hervey had been driven from his diocese by the Welsh.[4] William of Malmesbury, however, states that the reason Hervey left Bangor was that the revenues of the see were too small.[11] He remained nominally Bishop of Bangor until 1109. King Henry I of England tried to translate Hervey to the see of Lisieux in 1106, but the attempt was unsuccessful.[9] The main opposition came from Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury, who was the metropolitan of Bangor, and refused to allow Hervey to go to a Norman bishopric.[12] While in exile, Hervey served as King Henry's confessor.[13]

[edit] Appointment to Ely

Before his death in 1107, Richard the abbot of Ely had attempted to secure from the papacy the elevation of his abbey into a bishopric. After Richard's death, Hervey was appointed to oversee the abbey during the vacancy,[14] and he convinced the monks of Ely to support the project, which received the conditional approval of Archbishop Anselm, contingent on papal approval. Paschal signaled his approval, and in 1109 the monastery became a bishopric.[15] Ely still remained a monastic house, as the abbey itself became the cathedral and the monks of the abbey became the monks of the cathedral chapter.[14] Also in 1109, the pope approved Hervey's translation to a new see,[16] and he was made Bishop of Ely.[3] He was enthroned at Ely in October of 1109.[17]

While bishop, Hervey ordered the compilation of a history of the refounding of the abbey of Ely, which later became incorporated into the Liber Eliensis.[18] He was energetic in recovering the feudal rights of the bishopric against knights who had intruded themselves on the lands but were not rendering knight service to the bishop.[19] As bishop, he attended a legatine council in 1127, and a royal council in 1129, but otherwise his administrative actions remain obscure. The causeway between the island of Ely and Exning, which made it easier for pilgrims to visit the shrine of Saint Ethelreda was built under Hervey's orders.[9] Insight into his activities as bishop is given in the Pipe Roll of 1130, the first surviving Pipe Roll. In that record, Hervey is recorded as owing King Henry 45 pounds to provide an office for a nephew, 100 pounds on an old settlement with the king, another 100 pounds for the settlement of a case dealing with Ramsey Abbey, Bury St. Edmunds Abbey and the bishop, 240 pounds for the right to be rid of a surplus of knights, and finally 1000 pounds for the king to allow the bishop's knights to serve castleguard at Ely instead of Norwich.[20]

[edit] Death

Hervey died on August 30, 1131.[21] He was buried in Ely Cathedral on August 31, 1131.[9] He was disliked by Archbishop Anselm,[12] and he was described as a man of "secular tastes".[22] His nephew, William Brito, was a royal chaplain and was appointed Archdeacon of Ely by 1110.[23][24] Another nephew was Richard, who in 1130 is recorded in the Pipe Roll as paying a fine to the king because of land that his uncle had given him.[25] Another of Hervey's relative was Gilbert Universalis, who was appointed to the see of London in 1128 by Henry I.[26]

Following the expulsion of Hervey, the see of Bangor remained vacant until 1120, when Henry I appointed David the Scot with the consent of Gruffydd ap Cynan.[4]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Miller Abbey and Bishopric of Ely p. 3
  2. ^ Green Government of England p. 278
  3. ^ a b Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 290
  4. ^ a b c Chibnall Anglo-Norman England p. 81-82
  5. ^ Barlow William Rufus p. 320-324
  6. ^ Barlow William Rufus p. 322
  7. ^ Barlow English Church 1066-1154 p. 69
  8. ^ Quoted in Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 93
  9. ^ a b c d Owen "Hervery (d. 1131)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online edition accessed March 6, 2008
  10. ^ Barlow William Rufus p. 337
  11. ^ Vaughn Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan p. 320 footnote 43
  12. ^ a b Vaughn Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan p. 320-321
  13. ^ Brett The English Church Under Henry I p. 105
  14. ^ a b Miller Abbey and Bishopric of Ely p. 75
  15. ^ Brett The English Church Under Henry I p. 57-58
  16. ^ Brett The English Church Under Henry I p. 36 footnote3
  17. ^ British History Online Bishops of Ely accessed on October 25, 2007
  18. ^ Miller Abbey and Bishopric of Ely p. 4
  19. ^ Miller Abbey and Bishopric of Ely p. 166
  20. ^ Green The Government of England p. 86-87
  21. ^ Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 244
  22. ^ Hollister Henry I p. 223
  23. ^ Brett The English Church Under Henry I p. 109
  24. ^ British History Online Archdeacons of Ely accessed on March 6, 2008
  25. ^ Barlow William Rufus p. 258
  26. ^ Barlow English Church 1066-1154 p. 86

[edit] References

  • Barlow, Frank (1979). The English Church 1066-1154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church. New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-50236-5. 
  • Barlow, Frank (1983). William Rufus. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-04936-5. 
  • Bartlett, Robert C. (2000). England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075-1225. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-822741-8. 
  • Brett, M. (1975). The English Church under Henry I. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-821861-3. 
  • British History Online Archdeacons of Ely accessed on March 6, 2008
  • British History Online Bishops of Ely accessed on October 25, 2007
  • Chibnall, Marjorie (1986). Anglo-Norman England 1066-1166. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-15439-6. 
  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology, Third Edition, revised, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
  • Green, Judith A. (1986). The Government of England Under Henry I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37586-X. 
  • Hollister, C. Warren; Frost, Amanda Clark (ed.) (2001). Henry I. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08858-2. 
  • Miller, Edward (1951). The Abbey and Bishopric of Ely, Reprint edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 
  • Owen, Dorothy M. (2004). "Hervey (d. 1131)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 
  • Vaughn, Sally N. (1987). Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan: The Innocence of the Dove and the Wisdom of the Serpent. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-05674-4. 

[edit] External links

Roman Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Revedun		 Bishop of Bangor
1092–1109		 Succeeded by
David the Scot
New title Bishop of Ely
1109–1131		 Succeeded by
Nigel
Persondata
NAME Breton, Hervey le
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hervé le Breton
SHORT DESCRIPTION Bishop of Bangor; Bishop of Ely
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH August 30, 1131
PLACE OF DEATH
Languages