Robert Papelew

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Robert Papelew
Denomination Catholic
Senior posting
See Diocese of Chichester
Title Bishop of Chichester elect
Period in office 1244
Predecessor Ralph Neville
Successor Richard of Chichester
Religious career
Priestly ordination December 1249
Previous post Archdeacon of Lewes
Personal
Date of death June 6, 1252
Place of death Waltham

Robert Papelew (or Robert Passelewe) was a medieval Bishop of Chichester elect as well as being a royal clerk and Archdeacon of Lewes.[1]

[edit] Life

He first appears as a clerk in Peter des Roches, bishop of Winchester, household in 1218, and he also served the papal legate Cardinal Guala Bicchieri before that. After the cardinal left England in 1218, Robert often went to Rome to deliver the cardinal's pension payments. On one of these trips, after a request from des Roches, Robert obtained in 1222 a declaration from Pope Honorius III that King Henry III was of legal age. This service for the bishop of Winchester put Papelew in the opposite party of Hubert de Burgh, who was des Roches' opponent in the minority government of Henry III, and who had not wished the king to be declared of age.[2]

Because of his service for des Roches, in 1224 Robert was exiled from England and his property was seized. He managed to regain his property and return to England in 1226, partly through the efforts of the pope, but he remained out of favor at the royal court while Hubert de Burgh remained in power through 1232. By 1233 he was serving as Peter de Rivaux's deputy at the treasury, when he was threatened with excommunication by the bishops of England for his service to des Roches.[3] In 1234, when des Roches fell from power, Robert once more lost most of his property. His offices and lands were confiscated by the Council of Gloucester in May of 1234. With the offer of 500 marks, Robert regained the king's favor in 1235, although he did not hold office again until 1242, when the king appointed him as sheriff of Hampshire and put him in charge of the building at Westminster Abbey. He also was instrumental in the forest eyre of 1244 and 1245 that was widely considered to be oppressive.[2]

He was appointed archdeacon of Lewes in 1244.[2] He was elected to the see of Chichester about April 18, 1244, but was never consecrated as his election was quashed on June 3, 1244.[4] Boniface of Savoy prevented his consecration because Papelew was ignorant of theology.[5] Another reason was likely that he had served as a royal justice of the forest, which was a post that many bishops, including Robert Grossteste, bishop of Lincoln, felt to be unsuited for the clergy. Robert himself was more royal servant than clerk, as he was not ordained until December of 1249. He left royal service in 1250 after a quarrel over Robert's presentation to a benefice the king had desired to go to Henry's half brother Aymer de Lusignan. The king forgave Robert, however, by December of 1250.[2]

Robert died at Waltham on June 6, 1252. He had two brothers, Hamo and Simon, and a sister. Hamo served as sheriff of Norfolk and of Suffolk, and Simon was a royal clerk. Their sister married William of Holwell, who was sheriff of Hertfordshire.[2]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ British History Online Bishops of Chichester accessed on October 21, 2007
  2. ^ a b c d e Stacey, Robert C. "Passelewe, Robert (d. 1252)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, 2004 Online Edition accessed November 26, 2007
  3. ^ Powell The House of Lords p. 156
  4. ^ Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 239
  5. ^ Petit-Dutaillis The Feudal Monarchy in France and England p. 365

[edit] References

  • British History Online Bishops of Chichester accessed on October 21, 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. 
  • Petit-Dutaillis, Charles The Feudal Monarcy in France and England: From the Tenth to the Thirteenth Century trans. E. D. Hunt New York:Harper Torchbooks 1964
  • 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
Ralph Neville		 Bishop of Chichester
election quashed
1244		 Succeeded by
Richard of Chichester
Persondata
NAME Papelew, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Passelewe, Robert
SHORT DESCRIPTION Bishop of Chichester elect
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH June 6, 1252
PLACE OF DEATH Waltham