Robert Foliot
| Denomination |
Catholic |
| Senior posting |
| See |
Diocese of Hereford |
| Title |
Bishop of Hereford |
| Period in office |
1173–1186 |
| Predecessor |
Robert of Melun |
| Successor |
William de Vere |
| Religious career |
| Previous post |
Archdeacon of Oxford |
| Personal |
| Date of death |
9 May 1186 |
Robert Foliot (d. 1186) was a medieval Bishop of Hereford in England. He was a relative of a number of English ecclesiastics, including Gilbert Foliot, one of his predecessors at Hereford. After serving Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln as a clerk, he became a clerk of Henry of Blois, the Bishop of Winchester and brother of King Stephen of England. He was elected to Hereford in 1173, and was served as a royal and papal judge while bishop.
Contents
- 1 Early life
- 2 Clerical career
- 3 Bishop of Hereford
- 4 Death and legacy
- 5 Notes
- 6 References
|
Early life
Robert Foliot was a relative of both Gilbert Foliot, Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London, and of Robert de Chesney, Bishop of Lincoln. Another relative was Ralph Foliot, a royal justice. Some sources name him the nephew of Gilbert, but others are unsure of the exact relationship. His family appears to have been the branch of the Foliot family that owned the manor of Warpsgrove in Oxfordshire. This is made likely by Foliot’s confirmation of a gift of land from Ralph Foliot of Warpsgrove to Ralph’s son, and it is possible that Foliot was the brother or uncle of Ralph Foliot.
There is no evidence of Foliot’s education, but he likely received an education in order to fit him for his career in the church. The attribution of various works to Foliots authorship by older writers is mistaken, stemming from a confusion between Foliot and his predecessor as bishop, Robert of Melun.
Clerical career
Foliot was a canon of Lincoln Cathedral by 1147, and an official of Alexander of Lincoln, the Bishop of Lincoln, who secured his early promotions in the church. Foliot was sent to the Council of Reims in 1148 by the Lincoln cathedral chapter in order to be informed of Pope Eugene III’s wishes regarding the vacant bishopric, as Alexander had died in February 1148. Henry of Blois, the Bishop of Winchester, was attempting to secure Lincoln for one of his nephews, but the pope agreed with the chapter and appointed Robert de Chesney as bishop instead. Chesney continued to employ Foliot as a clerk.
Foliot was later named Archdeacon of Oxford sometime before 1 October 1151, owing the appointment to Chesney. He was also a canon of Hereford Cathedral, appearing in that capacity in 1173, but it is unclear when exactly he acquired the position, and whether he owed it to his relative Gilbert Foliot, who was bishop of Hereford from 1148 to 1163 or if he received the canonry after 1163 through royal influence. Foliot served as a clerk for Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, witnessing three documents for Becket during the period 1162–1164.
During early days of Becket’s dispute with the king, Foliot helped mediate between Becket and Gilbert Foliot, who was supporting the king. Foliot was one of the first of Becket’s clerks to leave the archbishop’s service, asking permission to leave Becket’s household shortly after the council at Clarendon in January 1164, which ratified the Constitutions of Clarendon.
Bishop of Hereford
Foliot was elected to the see of Hereford in late April of 1173 and consecrated on 6 October 1174 at Canterbury by Archbishop Richard of Dover. He attended the Third Lateran Council in 1179. While bishop, he became involved in a disupte with Hugh Parvus, a local baron, over the power of appointment to two churches. He also served as a judge-delegate for the papacy, serving with Roger, the Bishop of Worcester on cases including one between a Norman monastery and an English priory. He judged a number of other cases for the papacy during his time as bishop. He received over 40 surviving papal commissions and communications, some of which dealt with the problems of married clergy in his diocese. From his ecclesiastical documents, almost 40 survive.
While bishop, he gave books, altar furnishings, and land to his cathedral chapter, as well as a purple and gold cape to Wigmore Abbey. Although no documentary evidence links him to the timbered hall in the bishop’s palace at Hereford, tree-ring dating of the timbers has dated its construction to 1179, during his time as bishop.
Death and legacy
Foliot died on 9 May 1186, and was buried in Hereford Cathedral. Copies of his correspondence surive at the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
Notes
- ^ a b c Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 3: Lincoln: Archdeacons: Oxford
- ^ Turner English Judiciary p. 91
- ^ Warren Henry II p. 525
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Barrow “Foliot, Robert (d. 1186)” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- ^ Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 3: Lincoln: Prebendaries: Langford Ecclesia
- ^ Barlow Thomas Becket p. 78
- ^ Barlow Thomas Becket p. 81
- ^ Barlow Thomas Becket pp.98-100
- ^ a b Fryde, et. al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 250
- ^ Barrow Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: volume 8: Hereford: Bishops
- ^ Cheney Roger of Worcester p. 95
- ^ Cheney Roger of Worcester p. 129
- ^ Cheney Roger of Worcester p. 131
- ^ Cheney Roger of Worcester p. 142
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