Robert of Jumièges
Robert of Jumièges | |
---|---|
Archbishop of Canterbury | |
Appointed | 1051 |
Term ended | September 1052 |
Predecessor | Eadsige |
Successor | Stigand |
Other post(s) | Abbot of Jumièges Abbey Bishop of London |
Orders | |
Consecration | 1044 |
Personal details | |
Died | between 1052 and 1055 Jumièges |
Robert of Jumièges
A Norman medieval chronicler
Background and life in Normandy
Robert was prior of the
Robert became friendly with Edward the Confessor, a claimant to the English throne, while Edward was living in exile in Normandy, probably in the 1030s.
Bishop and archbishop
Robert accompanied Edward the Confessor on Edward's recall to England in 1042
When Archbishop
After returning from Rome, Robert refused to consecrate Spearhafoc, the Abbot of Abingdon and the king's goldsmith,[26] as his successor to the bishopric of London, claiming that Pope Leo IX had forbidden the consecration. Almost certainly the grounds were simony,[27] the purchase of ecclesiastical office,[28] as Leo had recently issued proclamations against the practice. In refusing to consecrate Spearhafoc, Robert may have been following his own interests against the wishes of both the king and Godwin, as he had his own candidate, a Norman, in mind.[27] In the end Robert's favoured candidate, William the Norman, was consecrated instead of Spearhafoc.[2][26] Robert also discovered that some lands belonging to Canterbury had fallen into Godwin's hands, but his efforts to recover them through the shire courts were unsuccessful.[27] Canterbury had lost control of some revenues from the shire of Kent to Godwin during Eadsige's tenure as archbishop, which Robert unsuccessfully attempted to reclaim.[29] These disputes over the estates and revenues of the archbishopric contributed to the friction between Robert and Godwin,[29][30] which had begun with Robert's election. Robert's election had disrupted Godwin's patronage powers in Canterbury, and now Robert's efforts to recover lands Godwin had seized from Canterbury challenged the earl's economic rights.[23] Events came to a head at a council held at Gloucester in September 1051, when Robert accused Earl Godwin of plotting to kill King Edward.[31][d] Godwin and his family were exiled; afterwards Robert claimed the office of sheriff of Kent, probably on the strength of Eadsige, his predecessor as archbishop, having held the office.[33]
Although Robert refused to consecrate Spearhafoc, there is little evidence that he was interested in the growing movement towards Church reform being promulgated by the papacy.[34] Pope Leo IX was beginning a reform movement later known as the Gregorian Reform, initially focused on improving the clergy and prohibiting simony. In 1049 Leo IX declared that he would take more interest in English church matters and would investigate episcopal candidates more strictly before confirming them. It may have been partly to appease Leo that Edward appointed Robert instead of Æthelric, hoping to signal to the papacy that the English crown was not totally opposed to the growing reform movement.[35] It was against this backdrop that Robert refused to consecrate Spearhafoc, although there is no other evidence that Robert embraced the reform position, and his claim that the pope forbade the consecration may have had more to do with finding an easy excuse than any true desire for reform.[34] There are also some indications that Spearhafoc was allied to Godwin, and his appointment was meant as a quid pro quo for the non-appointment of Æthelric.[19][36] If true, Robert's refusal to consecrate Spearhafoc would have contributed to the growing rift between the archbishop and the earl.[19]
Royal adviser
The Life of Saint Edward claims that while Godwin was in exile Robert tried to persuade King Edward to divorce Edith, Godwin's daughter, but Edward refused and instead she was sent to a nunnery.[33] However, the Life is a hagiography, written soon after Edward's death to show Edward as a saint. Thus it stresses that Edward voluntarily remained celibate, something unlikely to have been true and not corroborated by any other source. Modern historians have felt it more likely that Edward, at Robert's urging, wished to divorce Edith and remarry to have children to succeed him on the English throne,[37] although it is possible that he merely wished to be rid of her, without necessarily wanting a divorce.[2]
During Godwin's exile, Robert is said to have been sent by the king on an errand to Duke William of Normandy.
Outlawing, death, and legacy
After Godwin left England, he went to Flanders, and gathered a fleet and mercenaries to force the king to allow his return. In the summer of 1052, Godwin returned to England and was met by his sons, who had invaded from Ireland. By September, they were advancing on London, where negotiations between the king and the earl were conducted with the help of Stigand, the Bishop of Winchester.[43] When it became apparent that Godwin would be returning, Robert quickly left England[44] with Bishop Ulf of Dorchester and Bishop William of London, probably once again taking Wulfnoth and Hakon with him as hostages, whether with the permission of King Edward or not.[45][f] Robert was declared an outlaw and deposed from his archbishopric on 14 September 1052 at a royal council, mainly because the returning Godwin felt that Robert, along with a number of other Normans, had been the driving force behind his exile.[22][44][g] Robert journeyed to Rome to complain to the pope about his own exile,[48] where Leo IX and successive popes condemned Stigand,[49] whom Edward had appointed to Canterbury.[50] Robert's personal property was divided between Earl Godwin, Harold Godwinson, and the queen, who had returned to court.[51]
Robert died at Jumièges,[52] but the date of his death is unclear. Various dates are given, with Ian Walker, the biographer of Harold arguing for between 1053 and 1055,[39] but H. E. J. Cowdrey, who wrote Robert's Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry, says on 26 May in either 1052 or 1055.[2][h] H. R. Loyn, another modern historian, argues that it is likely that he died in 1053.[53]
Robert's treatment was used by William as one of the justifications for
Artistic patronage
In notable contrast to his successor Stigand, Robert does not figure among the important benefactors to English churches,
Before he came to England, Robert had begun the construction of a new abbey church at Jumièges, in the new Romanesque style which was then becoming popular,[64] and introduced to Normandy the two-towered western facade from the Rhineland. On his return to Normandy he continued to build there,[65] and the abbey church was not finished until 1067.[66] Although the choir has been torn down, the towers, nave and transepts have survived.[67] Robert probably influenced Edward the Confessor's rebuilding of the church at Westminster Abbey, the first known building in the Romanesque style in England, which is so described by William of Malmesbury.[64][68] Edward's work began in about 1050 and was completed just before his death in 1065. The recorded name of one of the senior masons, "Teinfrith the churchwright" indicates foreign origins, and Robert may have arranged for Norman masons to be brought over, though other names are English.[69] It is possible that Westminster influenced the building at Jumièges, as the arcade there closely resembles Westminster's arcade, both of them in a style that never became common in Normandy.[70] The Early Romanesque style of both was to be superseded after the Conquest by the Anglo-Norman High Romanesque style pioneered in Canterbury Cathedral and St Étienne, Caen by Lanfranc.[71]
Notes
- ^ Sometimes known as Robert Chambert or Robert Champart.
- ^ This refers to William of Jumièges who does not appear to be a relation to Robert. Both gained the surname by being monks at Jumièges.[2][3]
- ^ Both Alfred and Edward returned to England in 1036, but afterwards Alfred was murdered, apparently on Harold's orders.[11]
- ^ Godwin was especially vulnerable to this charge, as he had been involved in the death of Edward's brother Alfred during Harthacanute's reign.[32]
- ^ The whole issue is discussed in John "Edward the Confessor and the Norman Succession" English Historical Review, and Oleson "Edward the Confessor's Promise of the Throne" English Historical Review, listed in the references, where the various theories are set forth in great detail.
- ^ Ulf never returned to England, but William was allowed to return eventually.[46]
- ^ Edith, after her father's restoration to power, was returned to court and reinstated as queen.[47]
- ^ Note that May 1052 is probably wrong, as it is prior to the September 1052 date when, according to most historians, Robert fled England.[2][39][53]
- ^ The inscription naming it as a gift of "Archbishop Robert" dates from the 17th century and is not clear which Archbishop Robert is being referred to.[62]
Citations
- ^ a b c Barlow Edward the Confessor p. 50
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Cowdrey "Robert of Jumièges" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ van Houts, Elizabeth "William of Jumièges" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ a b Douglas William the Conqueror p. 167–170
- ^ Barlow English Church 1000–1066 p. 44
- ^ Crouch Normandy Before 1066 p. 30
- ^ Crouch Normans p. 12
- ^ Crouch Normandy Before 1066 p. 58
- ^ Crouch Normandy Before 1066 pp. 193–194
- ^ Hindley Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons pp. 306–310
- ^ Hindley Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons pp. 316–317
- ^ Hindley Brief History of the Anglo-Saxons pp. 315–318
- ^ Crouch Normans p. 78
- ^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 230
- ^ a b c Barlow English Church 1000–1066 pp. 46–50
- ^ Mason House of Godwine pp. 51–53
- ^ Quoted in Huscroft Ruling England p. 50
- ^ Potts "Normandy" Companion to the Anglo-Norman World p. 33
- ^ a b c Higham Death of Anglo-Saxon England pp. 128–129
- ^ Barlow Edward the Confessor p. 104
- ^ Walker Harold p. 27
- ^ a b Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 214
- ^ a b Bates "Land Pleas of William I's Reign" Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research p. 16
- ^ Barlow English Church 1000–1066 p. 209
- ^ Barlow Edward the Confessor p. 106
- ^ a b Huscroft Ruling England p. 52
- ^ a b c Walker Harold p. 29–30
- ^ Coredon Dictionary of Medieval Terms and Phrases p. 260
- ^ a b Rex Harold II pp. 42–43
- ^ Campbell "Pre-Conquest Norman Occupation of England" Speculum p. 22
- ^ Barlow Edward the Confessor p. 111
- ^ Barlow Godwins p. 42
- ^ a b Barlow Edward the Confessor p. 115
- ^ a b Rex Harold II p. 46
- ^ a b c Stafford Unification and Conquest pp. 89–92
- ^ John Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England p. 177
- ^ Walker Harold p. 35–36
- ^ Barlow Edward the Confessor p. 107
- ^ a b c Walker Harold p. 37–38
- ^ Bates William the Conqueror p. 73
- ^ John "Edward the Confessor" English Historical Review
- ^ Oleson "Edward the Confessor" English Historical Review
- ^ Mason House of Godwine pp. 69–75
- ^ a b Barlow Edward the Confessor p. 124
- ^ Walker Harold p. 47
- ^ Rex Harold II p. 12
- ^ Mason House of Godwine p. 75
- ^ Barlow Edward the Confessor p. 126
- ^ a b Walker Harold p. 50–51
- ^ Stafford Unification and Conquest p. 94
- ^ Stenton Anglo-Saxon England p. 568
- ^ Higham Death of Anglo-Saxon England p. 137
- ^ a b Loyn English Church p. 59
- ^ Stafford Queen Emma and Queen Edith p. 11
- ^ Dodwell Anglo-Saxon Art mentions many of these, but not Robert.
- ^ Dodwell Anglo-Saxon Art pp. 216–222 and passim
- ^ Kelly Chaucer p. 54
- ^ a b Turner "Illuminated Manuscripts" Golden Age p. 69
- ^ Dodwell Anglo-Saxon Art pp. 224–225
- ^ Turner "Illuminated Manuscripts" Golden Age p. 60
- ^ Gameson "Winchester School" Blackwell Encyclopaedia p. 482
- ^ Lawrence "Anglo-Norman Book Production" England and Normandy p. 83
- ^ Dodwell Anglo-Saxon Art pp. 225–226
- ^ a b Mason House of Godwine p. 83
- ^ Gem "Origins" Westminster Abbey p. 15
- ^ Higham Death of Anglo-Saxon England p. 148
- ^ Plant "Ecclesiastical Architecture" Companion to the Anglo-Norman World pp. 219–222
- ^ Barlow English Church 1000–1066 p. 51 footnote 2
- ^ Gem "Origins" Westminster Cathedral pp. 13–15
- ^ Breese "Early Normandy and the Emergence of Norman Romanesque Architecture" Journal of Medieval History p. 212
- ^ Gem "English Romanesque Architecture" English Romanesque Art p. 26
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Further reading
- Gem, R. D. H. (1980). "The Romanesque rebuilding of Westminster Abbey". Anglo-Norman Studies. Vol. 3. pp. 33–60. or his collected papers
External links