Gilbert Foliot

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Gilbert Foliot (* approx. 1110; † February 18, 1187 ) was an Anglo-Norman Benedictine monk . He became abbot of Gloucester Abbey in 1139 . From 1148 he was Bishop of Hereford and from 1163 Bishop of London .

origin

Gilbert Foliot was a son of Agnes de Chesney. Gilbert's mother was believed to be the daughter of Roger de Chesney, who came from Le Quesnay in Normandy , and his wife Alice de Langetot. The identity of the husband of Gilbert's mother is not exactly clear. In any case, his father was a member of the Norman Foliot family , which probably originally came from the Cotentin . Gilbert was probably a son of Robert Foliot, who had served as administrator of the later Scottish King David I when he was living in England as the Earl of Huntingdon . Gilbert's mother was a sister of Robert de Chesney . This was his uncle, from 1147 to 1166 he was Bishop of Lincoln . His other relatives included Miles de Gloucester, 1st Earl of Hereford , Bishop Richard de Belmeis of London, who was Bishop of London from 1108 to 1127, his successor of the same name Richard de Belmeis II , who was Bishop of London from 1152 to 1162. Even Richard of Ilchester , who later became Bishop of Winchester, was related to Gilbert. His large family promoted Foliot's career. Thanks to Miles de Gloucester, he became abbot of Gloucester Abbey in 1139, and the fact that two members of his family had already been bishops of London certainly made his election as bishop in 1163 easier.

education

As a teenager, Foliot was taught by the teachers Master Adam and Ranulf de Turri in the liberal arts , in particular in rhetoric , Roman law and theology. Nothing is known about these teachers except their names, including where they taught Foliot. Probably studied Foliot Roman law in Bologna and theology at the Cathedral School of Exeter . He was probably also a student of Robert Pullen (* around 1080, † around 1146), who taught in Paris and in Exeter in the 1120s. Between 250 and 300 letters are known from Foliot that testify to his education and his ability to write. Together with the documents sealed by him, almost 500 documents have been preserved from him. Commentaries on the Lord's Prayer and the Song of Songs (Hoheslied) have been received from him .

Promotion to Abbot of Gloucester

Foliot entered Cluny Abbey around 1130 at the age of around 20 as a monk . He quickly rose to one of the priors of Cluny and then became prior of the Abbeville Priory , a subsidiary of Cluny. Through the influence of the related Miles de Gloucester, he became abbot of the Benedictine monastery of St Peter in Gloucester, England in 1139 .

Abbot of Gloucester

Gloucester Abbey was a prestigious monastery that included extensive estates and several daughter houses in England and Wales. Nevertheless, as an abbot, he lived a modest personal life. A long-running dispute with William of York , the Archbishop of York, over the possession of several estates, Foliot was able to decide in favor of his abbey by forging documents. Apparently these forgeries, which were quite common in English monasteries at the time, were at the initiative of Foliot.

The greatest challenge for the young abbot, however, was the war of succession to the throne, the so-called anarchy , which shook England around this time. Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester , became the main supporter of the so-called Empress Matilda , who claimed the English throne against her cousin Stephan von Blois . Foliot was initially an ardent supporter of Matilda. A letter he has received from him to Brian FitzCount shows how carefully he established Matilda's claim to the throne as the daughter of the late King Henry I , as evidenced by biblical passages . However, until Matilda withdrew from England in 1148, the war of succession remained undecided and the country was split in two. Since Heinrich von Blois , the Bishop of Winchester, supported his brother King Stephen, the civil war threatened to split the church into two camps. Theobald von Bec , who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1139, managed to preserve the ecclesiastical unity of the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury . To do this, he tried to end the Civil War and pacify England again, for which he needed the support of the rich and influential Abbot of Gloucester. Foliot quickly became a friend and supporter of Theobald. With Foliot's support, the Archbishop managed to remain recognized as head of the Church in the areas ruled by supporters of the Empress. Another friend of Foliot was the Cistercian abbot Aelred von Rievaulx , who was canonized after his death. Aelred later dedicated a collection of sermons to Foliot.

Bishop of Hereford

Archbishop Theobald rewarded Foliot for his support by proposing and electing him as a candidate for the office of Bishop of Hereford in 1148. Pope Eugene III. supported the proposal, but due to the tension between King Stephen and the archbishop at the time, the episcopal ordination took place in France on the orders of the Pope. Together with several French bishops, Theobald consecrated Foliot as bishop on September 5 in Saint Omer . In France, Heinrich Plantagenet , who had taken over her claim to the throne as the son of the empress, requested an oath of support from Foliot. Foliot wanted to do this, but by order of the archbishop he refrained from doing so and instead swore allegiance to King Stephen. Heinrich Plantagenet was initially angry about Foliot's oath of allegiance, but was finally able to come to terms with it. Foliot subsequently acted often as a royal judge and in 1153 hired an official who specialized in Roman law to assist him in legal matters . After Heinrich Plantagenet had decided the civil war in his favor and became King of England in 1154 as Henry II, Foliot quickly became one of the new king's important advisers.

The beginning of the conflict with Thomas Becket

Archbishop Theobald died in April 1161. King Heinrich II wanted his chancellor Thomas Becket as the new archbishop. As Archdeacon of Canterbury, Becket had also been close to the late archbishop, but it was not until May 1162 that the king sent messengers to Canterbury to instruct the monks of the cathedral priory to elect Becket. The monks quickly complied, and at a church council meeting in London, the suffragan bishops also agreed to Becket's election. Only Foliot is said to have objected to the election. He was said to want to become Archbishop of Canterbury himself, but presumably he thought Becket was too secular and thus unworthy as an archbishop. A little later, the king asked the Pope for permission to make Foliot his confessor, possibly as compensation or as a counterbalance to Becket's growing influence.

Bishop of London

Election to bishop

After the consecration of Becket, Becket and the king decided to compensate Foliot with the office of bishop of the wealthy diocese of London . The cathedral chapter of St Paul's Cathedral , which included several of Foliot's relatives, had no objection to Foliot as bishop. According to the chronicler Ralph de Diceto , who was then archdeacon and canon himself at St Paul's, it even unanimously endorsed Foliot's election. The transfer of episcopal offices, however, contradicted the canon law of the time , which is why Foliot needed the consent of the Pope for his new office. This was requested in the presence of the king on March 6, 1163. Pope Alexander III , who was in Paris at the time, confirmed the election on March 19 and granted the required dispensation . On April 28, 1163, Foliot was enthroned as Bishop of London at St Paul's .

Expansion of the conflict with Becket

As archbishop, Becket no longer obeyed the king as Henry II had expected his former chancellor to do. Both the king and the pope therefore asked Foliot to mediate in the dispute with Becket. Becket also trusted Foliot at the time. This initially had a moderating effect in the conflict, because like Becket, he accepted the Constitution of Clarendon issued by the king in 1164 . As a result, however, there was also tension between Becket and Foliot. At times, Foliot also came into conflict with König when he insisted on his right to address the Pope directly, contrary to the Constitution of Clarendon. However, given the greater conflict with Becket, the king avoided an open break with Foliot and relented. After Becket fled into exile in France at the end of 1164, Foliot served as the king's spokesman before Pope Alexander III, who had traveled to Sens in France . His attempt to have Becket deposed as archbishop was sharply rejected by the Pope. The king confiscated the Becket lands and placed them under Foliot's administration. Still, Becket blamed Foliot and Archbishop Roger of York for the confiscation.

Leader of the opposition to Thomas Becket

For the next several years Foliot, along with Archbishop Roger of York, became the leader of the spiritual opposition to Becket. After Becket excommunicated a number of his opponents in June 1166 , the king asked the bishops to appeal to the Pope. Following a council of churches that Foliot organized and chaired on June 24th in London, he wrote to both the Pope and the Archbishop. Becket responded with accusations. Foliot wrote a letter known as Multiplicem nobis calling for compromise and advising the archbishop to achieve his goals through humility. In late 1166, Foliot ended the administration of Canterbury. Foliot continued to turn regularly to the Pope and increasingly tried to damage the position of the archbishop by various measures. First, Foliot took up the old idea of ​​making London the southern center of the English Church instead of Canterbury. Therefore, he emphatically claimed the rank of archbishop for himself. However, he received little support for this, so that he did not pursue this claim any further. Next, he tried to protect himself from future Becket sanctions. This earned him the ridicule of his opponents, but the Pope approved this to a certain extent in order to curb the increasing measures of Becket. Ultimately, from 1166 onwards, he sent numerous letters, some of them spiteful, in which he presented his view of the dispute with Becket.

Foliot's first excommunication

In 1168 the Pope withdrew Foliot's support. On Palm Sunday, April 13, 1169, Becket excommunicated Bishop Jocelin of Salisbury and other opponents at Clairvaux Foliot for their continued opposition to his orders as Archbishop. Foliot tried to ignore or bypass this ban at first. On Ascension Day, May 29, 1169, however, an intrepid messenger placed the deed of excommunication on the altar of St Paul's Cathedral. Now Foliot could no longer ignore the church sentence. After lengthy negotiations with papal envoys in northern France, he traveled to Rome at the end of 1169. Via Montpellier and Saint-Gilles , he bypassed Burgundy, which was hostile to him , and reached Milan. There he learned that Archbishop Rotrou de Beaumont of Rouen and Bishop Bartholomew of Exeter were allowed to give him absolution on behalf of the Pope . Then he traveled north again. On April 5, 1170, at Easter, the excommunication against him was lifted in Rouen . On May 1, he was reinstated as bishop. Foliot's objection to excommunication with the Pope became the model for similar cases in the 12th century.

Second excommunication and escalation of the conflict

But Foliot immediately continued the confrontation with Becket. Along with the Archbishop of York and other bishops, he snubbed Becket when they crowned the king's eldest son, Henry the Younger , on June 14, 1170, as co-king . The privilege of crowning the king actually belonged to Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury. This claim was supported by the Pope, who in September, when he learned of the details of the coronation, excommunicated Foliot and Bishop Jocelin of Salisbury, and suspended Archbishop Roger of York from his office. The king had in the meantime reached an equalization with Becket, whereupon the latter returned to England. The day before he crossed the English Channel, however, he forwarded the Pope's letter with the excommunication of Foliot and Bishop Jocelin. Most of the English bishops saw this as a provocation and feared a renewed argument with Becket. They informed the king, who was in Normandy, whereupon he got a fit of anger. Four barons saw this tantrum as an invitation to kill Becket, whereupon they translated to England and murdered Becket in Canterbury on December 29, 1170.

After the murder, Foliot's excommunication was lifted, but Foliot witnessed his rival being venerated as a martyr and canonized a few years later. He himself now asked the saint for intercession when he once fell seriously ill.

Served as Bishop of Hereford and London

In addition to his political commitment, Foliot worked actively and conscientiously as a bishop. More than 60 documents have been received from his fifteen-year term as Bishop of Hereford, and around 150 documents from his 23-year term as Bishop of London. This makes him one of the English bishops of the 12th century, of whom most of the documents have been preserved. The art historian Hans J. Böker suspects that the construction of the episcopal chapel in Hereford Cathedral, which was destroyed in 1737 and whose style resembled German imperial chapels, began under Foliot . According to most other information, however, the construction took place under Foliot's predecessor, Bishop Robert de Bethune .

Evidently, Foliot dealt with affairs of the cathedral chapters and with the monasteries of his dioceses, which was close to him as a monk. But he was also in lively exchange with his archdeacons and the deans . In doing so, he encouraged members of his family, whom he gave spiritual offices. The Archdeacons of Hereford and London he appointed were all related to him. However, he made sure that these relatives received an adequate education, at least two of whom he sent to Bologna to study . In addition, he required his archdeacons to actually exercise their office and not just see it as an income- generating sinecure . Given his own experience with Becket, he apparently attached greater importance to the study of canon law. As Bishop of London, Foliot therefore promoted the canon Master David of London († 1189), who was later a well-known teacher of canon law in Bologna. After Becket's death, when his conflict with the Pope was resolved, Foliot was appointed several times by the Curia as a judge to resolve church disputes. Almost blind in old age, Foliot finally died at the age of almost 80.

bibliography

Books

Magazines

  • Hans J. Böker: The Bishop's Chapel of Hereford Cathedral and the Question of Architectural Copies in the Middle Ages . In: Gesta . 37, No. 1, 1998, pp. 44-54. doi : 10.2307 / 767211 .
  • Richard H. Helmholz: Excommunication in Twelfth Century England . In: Journal of Law and Religion . 11, No. 1, pp. 235-253. doi : 10.2307 / 1051632 .

literature

  • Foliot, Gilbert, Adrian Morey and CNL Brooke: The Cerne Letters of Gilbert Foliot and the Legation of Imar of Tusculum . In: The English Historical Review . 63, No. 249, October 1948, pp. 523-527. doi : 10.1093 / ehr / LXIII.CCXLIX.523 .
  • Adrian Morey, Christopher Brooke: The letters and charters of Gilbert Foliot, Abbot of Gloucester (1139-48), Bishop of Hereford (1148-63), and London (1163-87). University Press, Cambridge 1967
  • DN Bell: The commentary on the Lord's prayer of Gilbert Foliot . In: Recherches de Théologie Ancienne et Médiévale . 56, 1989, pp. 80-101.
  • Foliot, Gilbert: Gilbert Foliot and His Letters , edited by Dom Adrian Morey and CNL Brooke, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK 2008, ISBN 0-521-07288-3 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Barrow Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 8: Hereford: Bishops ( Memento of the original from August 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / british-history.ac.uk
  2. ↑ Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 3: Lincoln: Bishops ( Memento of the original dated August 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / british-history.ac.uk
  3. ↑ Knowles. Heads of Religious Houses p. 53
  4. ↑ a b c d Brooke " Foliot, Gilbert (c.1110-1187) " Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  5. ↑ Knowles Monastic Order p. 263
  6. ↑ Knowles Monastic Order pp. 293-297
  7. ^ Matthew King Stephen pp. 88-89
  8. ↑ Crouch Reign of King Stephen p. 307
  9. ↑ Knowles Episcopal Colleagues p. 46
  10. ↑ Barlow: Thomas Becket pp. 124-125
  11. ↑ Barlow: Thomas Becket pp. 149-150
  12. ↑ Barlow: Thomas Becket pp. 153-155
  13. ^ Barlow: Thomas Becket p. 160
  14. ^ Barlow: Thomas Becket p. 201
  15. ^ Helmholz: Excommunication in Twelfth Century England , Journal of Law and Religion, p. 244
  16. ^ Boker "Bishop's Chapel of Hereford Cathedral" Gesta p. 52
  17. ^ Wischermann "Romanesque Architecture" Romanesque pp. 232–233
predecessor Office successor
Richard de Beaumis Bishop of London
1163–1187 		Richard Fitz Nigel
Robert de Bethune Bishop of Hereford
1148–1163 		Robert de Melun
personal data
SURNAME Foliot, Gilbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English bishop
DATE OF BIRTH around 1110
DATE OF DEATH February 18, 1187