Robert of Bath

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Robert of Bath
Denomination Catholic
Senior posting
See Diocese of Bath and Wells
Title Bishop of Bath and Wells
Period in office 1136–1166
Predecessor Godfrey
Successor Reginald fitz Jocelin
Religious career
Previous post monk of Lewes Priory
Possibly Prior of Winchester
Personal
Place of birth England
Date of death August 31, 1166

Robert or sometimes Robert of Lewes was a medieval Bishop of Bath.

[edit] Life

He was a Cluniac[1] and a monk of Lewes Priory and a protege of Henry of Blois who employed him at Glastonbury Abbey on administrative tasks.[2][1] He was a native of England, but his ancestry was Flemish,[1] probably of noble birth.[3] He may have been the prior of Winchester but there is no certain evidence of this,[2] as it is based on an appearance of a "Robert, prior of Winchester" on the 1130 Pipe Roll, and a 15th century historian.[3] He was named Bishop of Bath through the influence of Henry of Blois,[2][4] and was consecrated probably in March of 1136.[5]

He was instrumental in reorganizing his diocese as well as building and restoring at Wells. He was the bishop that organized the archdeacons of the diocese on a territorial basis.[3] He was considered pious as well as a man of business.[6] He also built at Bath, and gave borough status to the town of Wells.[3]

In 1138, during Robert of Gloucester's rising against King Stephen of England, the bishop was in charge of the defenses of Bath. He captured Geoffrey Talbot, who was a supporter of Robert of Gloucester's, but when he went out to parley with another group of Gloucester's supporters, the bishop was captured even though he had been offered a safe conduct for the parley. The bishop was then exchanged for Geoffrey Talbot.[7] In 1141 he was at the gathering where Henry of Blois changed allegiance to the Empress Matilda at Winchester.[8][9]

He died August 31, 1166[5] and was buried in Bath Cathedral before the high altar.[2] He may have been the author of the Gesta Stephani,[2][10][11] an identification first made by the historian R. H. C. Davis in 1962. While it is not certain that Robert was the author, the outlook of the work certainly fits with the known outlook of Robert.[3]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 400-401
  2. ^ a b c d e British History Online Bishops of Bath and Wells accessed on September 23, 2007
  3. ^ a b c d e Ramsey "Lewes, Robert of (d. 1166)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online Edition accessed November 15, 2007
  4. ^ Crouch Reign of King Stephen p. 46
  5. ^ a b Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 228
  6. ^ Barlow The English Church 1066-1154 p. 92-93
  7. ^ Appleby The Troubled Reign of King Stephen p. 50
  8. ^ Davis King Stephen p. 52
  9. ^ Appleby The Troubled Reign of King Stephen p. 98
  10. ^ Huscroft Ruling England p. 200
  11. ^ Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 99

[edit] References

Roman Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Godfrey		 Bishop of Wells
1136–1166		 Succeeded by
Reginald fitz Jocelin
Persondata
NAME Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Robert of Bath; Robert of Lewes
SHORT DESCRIPTION Bishop of Wells
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH August 31, 1166
PLACE OF DEATH