Hugh of Lincoln

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Hugh of Avalon
Denomination Catholic
Senior posting
See Diocese of Lincoln
Title Bishop of Lincoln
Period in office 1186–1200
Predecessor Walter de Coutances
Successor William de Blois
Religious career
Previous post Prior of Witham Priory
Personal
Date of birth between 1135 and 1140
Place of birth Avalon, Burgundy, France
Date of death November 16, 1200
Place of death London, England
Saint Hugh of Lincoln redirects here. See also Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln.

Hugh of Avalon or Hugh of Burgundy, best known as Saint Hugh, bishop of Lincoln, (1135/1140 – London, November 16, 1200) was at the time of the Reformation the best-known English saint after Thomas Becket.

Contents

[edit] Life

He was born at the château of Avalon,[1] at the border of the Dauphiné with Savoy, the son of William, seigneur of Avalon. His mother Anna died when he was eight, and his father retired to the nearby priory of Villard Benoît at Pontcharra near Grenoble, taking his young son with him.

Hugh did very well, and was suited to the monastic religious life, becoming deacon at the age of nineteen. About 1159 he was sent to be prior of the monastery nearby at Saint-Maxim, then entered the Grande Chartreuse,[1] at the height of its reputation for the rigid austerity of its rules and the earnest piety of its members. There he rose to become procurator, until he was sent in 1179 to become prior of Witham in Somerset, the first English Carthusian house.[1]

Henry II of England, as part of his penance for the murder of Thomas Becket, in lieu of going on crusade as he had promised in his first remorse, had established a Carthusian monastery or "Charterhouse" some time before, which was settled by monks brought from the Grande Chartreuse. There were difficulties in advancing the building works, however, and the first prior was retired and a second soon died. Henry learned of Hugh and sent an influential embassy to demand his services. Most reluctantly, the Carthusians let him go.

Hugh found the monks in great straits, living in log huts and with no plans yet advanced for the more permanent monastery building. Hugh interceded with the king for royal patronage and at last, probably on January 6, 1182, Henry issued a charter of foundation and endowment for Witham Charterhouse. Hugh presided over the new house till 1186 and attracted many to the monastery. Among the frequent visitors was King Henry, for the Charterhouse lay near the borders of the king's chase in Selwood Forest, a favorite hunting ground. Hugh admonished Henry for keeping dioceses vacant in order to keep their income for the royal chancellery.

In May 1186, Henry summoned a council of bishops and barons at Eynsham Abbey to deliberate on the state of the Church of England and the filling of vacant bishoprics, including Lincoln. On May 25, 1186 the canons of Lincoln were ordered to elect a new bishop and Hugh was elected.[1] Hugh insisted on a second, private election by the cathedral chapter, securely in their Chapterhouse at Lincoln rather than in the King's chapel. His election was confirmed by the results.

Hugh was consecrated Bishop of Lincoln on September 21, 1186[2] at Westminster.[1] Almost immediately he established his independence of the King, excommunicating a royal forester and refusing to seat one of Henry's courtly nominees as a prebendary of Lincoln, but softened the king's anger by his diplomatic address and tactful charm. As a bishop he was exemplary, constantly in residence or travelling within his diocese, generous with his charity, scrupulous in the appointments he made. He raised the quality of education at the cathedral school. Hugh was also prominent in trying to protect the Jews, great numbers of whom lived in Lincoln, in the persecution they suffered at the beginning of Richard I's reign, and he put down popular violence against them in several places.

A plan of Lincoln Cathedral drawn by G Dehio (died 1932)
A plan of Lincoln Cathedral drawn by G Dehio (died 1932)

Lincoln Cathedral had been badly damaged by an earthquake in 1185, and Bishop Hugh set about rebuilding and greatly enlarging it, making it the first English structure in the new Gothic style; however, he only lived to see the choir well begun. As one of the premier bishops of the Kingdom of England he more than once accepted the role of diplomat to France for Richard and then for King John in 1199, a trip that ruined his health. While attending a national council in London a few months later, he was stricken with an unnamed ailment, and died two months later on 16 November 1200.[2]

[edit] Veneration

Hugh of Lincoln
Bishop of Lincoln
Born 1135/1140, Avalon, Burgundy, France
Died November 16, 1200, London, England
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Anglican Communion
Canonized February 17, 1220 by Pope Honorius III
Feast 17 November
Attributes a white swan
Patronage sick children, sick people, and swans
Saints Portal

Hugh's primary emblem is a white swan, in reference to the story of the swan of Stowe which had a deep and lasting friendship for the saint, even guarding him while he slept. The swan would follow him about constantly, and was his constant companion whilst he was at Lincoln.

He was canonized by Pope Honorius III on February 17, 1220,[1] and is the Patron Saint of sick children, sick people, and swans.

His vita was written by his chaplain, a Benedictine monk and his constant associate; it remains in manuscript form in the Bodleian Library in Oxford.

He is the namesake of St Hugh's College, Oxford, where a 1920s statue of the saint stands on the stairs of the Howard Piper Library. In his right hand, he holds an effigy of Lincoln Cathedral, and his right hand rests on the head of a swan.

At the site of Avalon, a round tower in a Romantic gothic taste was built by the Carthusians in the 19th century in his honour.[3]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f British History Online Bishops of Lincoln accessed on October 28, 2007
  2. ^ a b Powicke Handbook of British Chronology p. 235
  3. ^ La tour d'Avalon accessed on October 28, 2007

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Religious titles
Preceded by
Walter de Coutances		 Bishop of Lincoln
1186-1200		 Succeeded by
William de Blois
Persondata
NAME Hugh of Lincoln
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Saint Hugh of Lincoln; Hugh of Avalon; Hugh of Burgundy
SHORT DESCRIPTION Bishop of Lincoln; Saint
DATE OF BIRTH circa 1137
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 1200
PLACE OF DEATH