Stephen Gravesend

Stephen Gravesend (* around 1260; † April 8, 1338 in Bishop's Stortford ) was an English clergyman. From 1318 he was Bishop of London . During the politically troubled 1320s, he was a loyal supporter of King Edward II.

Origin and education

Stephen Gravesend was possibly a son of the knight of the same name Stephen Gravesend . Former London Bishop Richard of Gravesend was an uncle of his, and Richard Grene of Gravesend , Treasurer of London's St Paul's Cathedral , was possibly his brother, but more likely his cousin. The Grene family owned the Parrocks estate in Milton near Gravesend , which Stephen Gravesend later owned. Presumably Gravesend first studied in Oxford and completed his studies with a master's degree , but there is no evidence for this. He was already a sub-deacon when on June 22, 1278 he was given the office of Rector of Stoke Hammond in the Diocese of Lincoln . Around 1291 he received a benefice at St Paul's Cathedral, in addition he received another benefice in Stepney in Middlesex . In 1306 he was given leave of absence for three years to study at the University of Paris .

Bishop of London

Election to bishop

On September 11, 1318, Gravesend was elected Bishop of the Diocese of London by the cathedral chapter of St Paul's Cathedral , largely thanks to the influence of his family . King Edward II. Had against the candidate apparently no objections, because already on November 6 he handed Gravesend the temporalities of the diocese. The relationship between Gravesend and Walter Reynolds , Archbishop of Canterbury, was already strained before his election as bishop. Reynolds was reluctant to ordain Gravesend bishop. The Earls of Pembroke and Hereford finally convinced Reynolds, so that he consecrated Gravesend in Canterbury as bishop on January 14, 1319 . On September 30, 1319, the enthronement of Gravesend took place in St Paul's Cathedral.

Supporters of the politics of Edward II.

During the parliament , which took place in Westminster in October 1320 , Gravesend was commissioned to try together with the papal nuncio Rigaud de Asserio a political rapprochement between the king and his domestic political opponent Thomas of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Lancaster . Them were papal bulls passed, where the Scottish King Robert I were invited to peace with England and Lancaster and Edward II. To reconciliation. On November 16, 1320 Gravesend took part in the ordination of Asserio as Bishop of Winchester in St Albans , but afterwards he fell seriously ill so that he could not fulfill his mission. Only on February 6, 1321 did he return to Westminster. Together with several other bishops he tried from July 1321 to mediate between the king and the rebellious Marcher Lords who had moved to London with their army. An agreement was reached in mid-August, but in October 1321 the king began to take military action against the rebels and the Earl of Lancaster, who was allied with them. After a provoked incident, the king besieged Leeds Castle in Kent , a castle belonging to the rebel Bartholomew Badlesmere, in October . Part of the rebels Roger Mortimer of Wigmore Castle was horrified , but the Earl of Pembroke, Archbishop Reynolds and Gravesend attracted the rebels opposed. At Kingston they persuaded her not to attempt the relief of Leeds Castle. Instead, they wanted to ask the king to lift the siege and resolve the conflict through parliament. The relief forces then withdrew, but the king continued the siege and captured the castle a little later. Gravesend now continued to support the king, who took action against the rebels in the Welsh Marches . In December 1321 he was one of the four bishops who followed Archbishop Reynolds' call to a meeting in London at which they approved the return of the exiled favorites of the king. In March 1322, the king defeated the remaining rebels in the Battle of Boroughbridge . The captured Lancaster was executed a little later as a rebel, but soon popularly venerated as a martyr . In St Paul's Cathedral, a mural put up at the instigation of Lancaster commemorated the Annunciation of the Ordinances of 1311. Candles burned in front of the picture in memory of Lancaster, which is why the King complained to Gravesend. However, with the plaque not removed, Gravesend and members of the Cathedral Chapter were harassed in court by royal judges. Nevertheless, in 1326 Gravesend rejected the invasion of Roger Mortimer and Queen Isabelle , who wanted to overthrow Edward II. Together with Archbishop Reynolds and Bishop John Stratford of Winchester he read in St Paul's a falsified version of the papal bull of 1320, which was originally directed against the Scots and which was now used against the invaders. After the king's flight from London, he met with other bishops at Lambeth Palace . In vain he is said to have urged the other bishops to send a delegation to the queen to try to mediate between her and the king. In the end, Gravesend narrowly avoided being murdered by an angry mob who had murdered the Bishop of Exeter on October 16 . The reign of Edward II collapsed, the king fled to Wales and was captured there in November.

Activity during the reign of Edward III.

As dean of the Canterbury Ecclesiastical Province , Gravesend convened a meeting of the prelates of the Ecclesiastical Province at St Paul's Cathedral on January 16, 1327 to receive aid for Pope John XXII. in the fight against the Roman-German King Ludwig IV. should approve. Due to the parliamentary assembly after the fall of Edward II, this church assembly did not take place. During parliament, Gravesend was one of the four bishops who refused to approve the removal of Edward II. On January 13, he also refused to openly demand the king's removal from the Guildhall in London . Nevertheless, he took part on February 1 at the coronation of Edward III. to the new king. He and Bishop John Stratford held the crown over the head of the young king, for whom the crown is said to have been too heavy.

However, for the underage king, Roger Mortimer and Queen Isabelle exercised real power. When Henry of Lancaster rebelled against Mortimer's power, Gravesend and John Stratford tried in Winchester in vain to get Lancaster to participate in Parliament, which was held in Salisbury in October 1328. Before Christmas 1328 he met with Archbishop Simon Mepham , Bishop Stratford and several barons in London to write a criticism of Mortimer's government. In January 1329 Lancaster arrived in London, from where he moved with his army to the Midlands . But before there was a battle between Lancaster and Mortimer, Mepham and Gravesend tried to mediate. This accelerated the breakup of the rebel army and thus led to the failure of the Lancaster rebellion. When Mortimer took action against his opponents in the City of London a little later , Gravesend took the condemned former Mayor Hamo Chigwell into his care. After the failure of the Lancaster rebellion, rumors were spread, apparently by agents of Mortimer, that Edward II was still alive. The gullible Earl of Kent , a half-brother of the dead king, believed these rumors. Gravesend was also involved in the affair Mortimer used to execute Kent in March 1330. Gravesend had to answer as a suspected conspirator before Judge Henry Le Scrope . In October 1330, however, the young Edward III fell. in a coup Mortimer and took control himself. After that, Gravesend only rarely appeared politically. On August 24, 1335 and January 3, 1337 he presided over royal council meetings as representative for the king in London.

Spiritual activity

The register of documents from Gravesend's tenure as bishop is only partially preserved. As a bishop, he continued his conflict with Archbishop Reynolds. In 1320 he tried unsuccessfully to prevent the archbishop from visiting his diocese. However, he evidently performed his office as dean of the Canterbury Church Province conscientiously. He implemented the orders of numerous papal cops, which were often of political content. In 1319 and 1322 he was a leader in raising a tithing of the clergy in favor of the Pope. On behalf of Pope John XXII. He published a papal bull on July 16, 1329 at St Paul's Cross, in which the Emperor Ludwig IV and the antipope Nicholas V were excommunicated . From 1334 to 1335 he still served as Vicar General of John Stratford, who had become Archbishop of Canterbury.

Death and inheritance

Gravesend died in the rectorate of Bishop's Stortford in Hertfordshire. King Edward III attended his funeral on April 27 at St Paul's Cathedral, presided over by Archbishop Stratford. as well as two cardinals. According to his will, masses of the soul were to be read for him, for his uncle, Bishop Richard of Gravesend, and for the king. His extensive library, which also contained numerous works by Aristotle and other works on logic, theology and natural philosophy, he bequeathed three colleges in Oxford, including Merton College .

Web links

• Roy Martin Haines: Gravesend, Stephen (c. 1260-1338). In: Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison (Eds.): Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , from the earliest times to the year 2000 (ODNB). Oxford University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-861411-X , ( oxforddnb.com license required ), as of 2004

Individual evidence

1. ^ Kathleen Edwards, The Social Origins and Provenance of the English Bishops during the Reign of Edward II . In: Transactions of the Royal Historical Society , 9 (1959), p. 58
2. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 182
3. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 198
4. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 209
5. ↑ John Roland Seymour Phillips: Aymer de Valence, earl of Pembroke, 1307-1324. Baronial politics in the reign of Edward II. Clarendon, Oxford 1972, ISBN 0-19-822359-5 , p. 217
6. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 436
7. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , p. 506
8. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 536
9. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 170
10. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 213
11. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 217
12. ^ Ian Mortimer: The greatest traitor. The Life of Sir Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March, Ruler of England, 1327-1330. Pimlico, London 2003, ISBN 0-7126-9715-2 , p. 228
13. ↑ Seymour Phillips: Edward II . New Haven, Yale University Press 2010. ISBN 978-0-300-15657-7 , pp. 567

predecessor	Office	successor
Richard Newport	Bishop of London 1318–1338	Richard de Wentworth