Jocelin of Wells

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Jocelin of Wells
Denomination Catholic
Senior posting
See Bath and Wells
Title Bishop of Bath and Wells
Period in office 1206–1242
Predecessor Savaric FitzGeldewin
Successor Roger of Salisbury
Religious career
Previous post canon of Wells
Personal
Date of death November 12, 1242
Place of death Wells

Jocelin of Wells, also known as Jocelinus Thoteman, (died November 19, 1242) was a medieval Bishop of Bath and Wells.

[edit] Life

Jocelin was a native of Wells in Somerset,[1] and the son of Edward of Wells. His brother Hugh de Wells, was archdeacon of Wells and Bishop of Lincoln.[2] In 1203, he was serving as one of the king's justiciars[2] at Westminster, and in the same year he was one of the custodes of the vacant See of Lincoln. He was a royal clerk as well as a canon of Wells[2] and in 1203/1204 received two benefices: Lugwardine and Urchenfeld in Herefordshire. When Savaric FitzGeldewin tried to gain possession of Glastonbury Abbey, the monks there appealed to the pope, and Savaric sent Jocelin with the precentor of Wells to force them to withdraw the appeal. Savaric died in 1205, and on February 3, 1206, Jocelin was elected bishop in his stead by the canons of Bath and the agreement of the chapter of Wells. He was consecrated on May 28, 1206[3] at Reading by Bishop William of Sainte-Mère-Eglise of London.[2]

Two years later, Jocelin left England in consequence of the interdict. The king outlawed him and seized his estates, but these were restored in 1213, when John submitted to Pope Innocent III. In 1215, Jocelin aided Stephen Langton to obtain the Magna Charta and his name occurs in the charter as one of the king's counsellors.[4]

After John's death, Jocelin and the Bishop of Winchester anointed and crowned the boy-king, Henry III. He was present at the battle with Eustace the Monk in 1217. Jocelin also actively supported the efforts of Hubert de Burgh in expelling the remaining French forces from England and in regaining for the king the royal castles which had been seized by Falkes de Breaute and other unruly barons.[5]

In 1218, Jocelin acted as one of the itinerant justiciars for the Southwest England and at the same time he brought to a close the long dispute between his diocese and the Abbey of Glastonbury. In return for the surrender of his claims, he received some manors and was thenceforth known as the Bishop of Bath and Wells.[6] He used the proceeds from his new lands to fund the rebuilding of Wells Cathedral,[5] an Early English building with a Norman choir. Jocelin built the existing nave and choir. The west front and the lower part of the three towers were also his work. His cathedral was consecrated on October 23, 1239.[5]

With his brother Hugh, he founded St. John's Hospital at Wells.[7] Jocelin also built the cloisters, began the bishop's palace, and erected a manor house at Wookey. He drew up constitutions for the church, insisted on the residence of the prebends, increased their common fund, and endowed the cathedral school with houses and land.[5] A calendar of his episcopal charters and deeds is given in the report of the Historical MSS. Commission on the MSS. of Wells cathedral.

He died on November 19, 1242[3] at Wells[5] and was buried in the choir of Wells Cathedral.[2] He may have been the father of Nicholas of Wells. The memorial brass on his tomb is supposedly one of the earliest brasses in England.[5]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ British History Online Prebends of Bath accessed on September 23, 2007
  2. ^ a b c d e British History Online Bishops of Bath accessed on September 23, 2007
  3. ^ a b Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 228
  4. ^ Powell The House of Lords in the Middle Ages p. 129
  5. ^ a b c d e f Dunning "Wells, Jocelin of (d. 1242)" 'Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online Edition accessed November 15, 2007
  6. ^ Knowles The Monastic Order in England p. 329-330
  7. ^ Moorman Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century p. 205

[edit] References

  • British History Online Bishops of Bath accessed on September 23, 2007
  • British History Online Prebends of Bath accessed on September 23, 2007
  • Dunning, Robert W. "Wells, Jocelin of (d. 1242)" 'Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, 2004 Online Edition accessed November 15, 2007
  • 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. 
  • Knowles, Dom David The Monastic Order in England: From the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council Second Edition Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1976 reprint ISBN 0-521-05479-6
  • Moorman, John R. H. Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century Revised Edition Cambridge:Cambridge University Press 1955
  • Powell, J. Enoch and Keith Wallis The House of Lords in the Middle Ages: A History of the English House of Lords to 1540 London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson 1968
Roman Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Savaric FitzGeldewin		 Bishop of Wells
1206–1242		 Succeeded by
Roger of Salisbury
Persondata
NAME Jocelin of Wells
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thoteman, Jocelinus
SHORT DESCRIPTION Bishop of Bath and Wells
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH November 19, 1242
PLACE OF DEATH Wells

This article incorporates text from the entry Jocelin of Wells in the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.