Robert the Lotharingian

Life

Robert was a native of Lorraine

Robert may have arrived in England by the 1050s, or perhaps after the Norman Conquest. Arguments have been presented on both sides. Robert was ordained as a priest by Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester sometime before 29 December 1079. Robert was consecrated as the Bishop of Hereford by Lanfranc on 29 December 1079 at Canterbury.

Robert brought the chronicle of Marianus Scotus to England, but it had little effect on historical writing in England, beyond the use that Florence of Worcester made of it. Robert inserted into his own copy of Marianus, a notice about the Domesday Book survey, that is one of the best sources for information on the process of Domesday. His only other work that survives is a small introduction to Marianus' chronicle that corrects a few errors and discusses computation. and some historians feel he helped introduce it into England. Others, though, disagree and feel that the use of the abacus was known before this time in England. He was good friends with Wulfstan, Bishop of Worcester, and it was Robert who buried the future saint. It may be that Robert gave Wulfstan a copy of Marianus' chronicle, which allowed the monks at Worcester to use it in their own works.

Robert was present at the Council of Rockingham in February 1095, which dealt with the conflict between King William II of England and Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Robert sided with the king against the archbishop. Afterwards, however, Robert and Osmund, the Bishop of Salisbury, were reconciled with Anselm.

Robert died on 26 June 1095. This was a two-tier chapel of a type reserved for royalty or archbishops in Germany.

Notes

Citations

References

References

1. Harper-Bill "Losinga, Herbert de" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''
2. and probably a [[Canon (priest)
3. Mason ''William II'' pp. 76–77
4. King [[William the Conqueror]]'s appointment of Robert was somewhat unusual, not just because he was not a Norman, but because he was not a religious scholar, and was instead an astronomer and mathematician.Barlow ''English Church'' pp. 63–64
5. Barrow ''[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=34422 Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 8: Hereford: Bishops]''
6. Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 250
7. Welborn "Lotharingia" ''Isis'' p. 197
8. Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 621
9. Barlow ''English Church'' p. 15
10. Chibnall ''Anglo-Norman England'' pp. 110–111
11. Brooke "Diocese of Hereford" ''Churches and Churchmen'' p. 32
12. Evans "Schools and Scholars" ''English Historical Review'' p. 77
13. Williams ''English and the Norman Conquest'' p. 149
14. Robert was also friends with [[Saint Osmund
15. Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec'' pp. 180–182 and p. 182 footnote 158
16. Cantor ''Church, Kinship, and Lay Investiture'' p. 95
17. He was buried in [[Hereford Cathedral]]. He built a chapel at Hereford Cathedral, basing it on the church at [[Aachen]].Barlow ''English Church'' p. 259
18. He also improved the financial condition of his diocese, although it remained poor.Mason ''William II'' p. 139