Robert of England

Robert of England OCist (* Hertfordshire ; † October 17, 1240 ) was Bishop of Olomouc .

Life

Robert was born in Hertfordshire, England. Presumably he studied in Paris and then entered the Cistercian order in the Ebrach monastery . For the year 1199 Robert is recorded as prior of the Bohemian monastery Nepomuk , which was founded by the monastery Ebrach.

Probably since 1198 he worked as a royal chaplain at the court of the Bohemian King Ottokar I Přemysl , to whose closest advisory group he belonged for several decades. In addition, the king entrusted him with diplomatic tasks. As his envoy he traveled to Pope Innocent III. to advance Ottokar's intended divorce.

At the request of the king, after the death of Bishop Johannes V. Bavor from Olomouc in 1201 , Robert was appointed his successor. At Robert's request, the king granted the diocese of Olomouc ecclesiastical immunity , which included, among other things, the right to elect bishops for canons. After Robert rebuilt the Dompropstei, the office of provost was combined with the Chancellery for Moravia with royal approval . As a royal envoy, Robert took part in the Augsburg Court Conference in 1207 , which was convened by King Otto IV . In 1215 he was one of the participants in the Fourth Lateran Council . For the duration of the crusade, in which the Austrian Duke Leopold VI. participated, Pope Honorius III. 1217 Bishop Robert as "Defensor" for Leopold's family and his country. In the conflict over the Prague bishop Andreas , which included investiture rights, Robert stood on the king's side. After he had read masses there despite the interdict imposed on Prague , he was suspended by the Pope. After the death of the Moravian margrave Vladislav Heinrich in 1222, Robert temporarily represented the king as his governor.

Even during his work as bishop and diplomat to the king, Robert felt connected to the Cistercian order and contributed to its spread by founding several monasteries. In 1204 the abbey church in Plasy was inaugurated by Robert, in 1204–1205 he founded the Velehrad monastery as the first Moravian male cisterce , which was populated by monks from Plasy. In 1207 he founded the Augustinian convent near St. Peter in Olomouc .

After a conflict with the Curia , Robert resigned himself to the episcopate shortly before his death. His body was buried in the church of the Velehrad monastery he founded .

literature

• Karel Hruza:  Robert, Bishop of Olomouc. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 21, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-428-11202-4 , p. 676 f. ( Digitized version ).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ In the NDB Vladislav III. indicated, but this does not coincide with the year of death 1222.

predecessor	Office	successor
John V. Bavor	Bishop of Olomouc 1201–1240	Konrad von Friedberg