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Alexander of Lincoln

West front of Lincoln cathedral, which was begun under Alexander
Denomination	Catholic
Senior posting
See	Diocese of Lincoln
Title	Bishop of Lincoln
Period in office	1123–1148
Predecessor	Robert Bloet
Successor	Robert de Chesney
Religious career
Previous post	Archdeacon of Salisbury
Personal
Date of death	February 1148

Alexander of Lincoln (died in early 1148) was a medieval English bishop of Lincoln and member of an important administrative and ecclesiastical family. He was the nephew of Roger of Salisbury, the Bishop of Salisbury and chancellor of England under King Henry I. Alexander was also related to other ecclesiastics, including Nigel, Bishop of Ely. Educated at Laon, he served in his uncle's diocese as an archdeacon in the early 1120s. Unlike his relatives, Alexander did not hold office in the government prior to his appointment as bishop of Lincoln in 1123. After his elevation to the episcopate, he frequently attended King Henry's court and was often a witness to royal documents as well as serving as a royal justice in Lincolnshire.

Alexander was known for his ostentatious and luxurious lifestyle. He founded a number of religious houses in his diocese and was an active builder and literary patron. He also attended church councils and organized his diocese, increasing the number of archdeaconries and setting up prebends to support his cathedral clergy. Under Henry's successor, King Stephen, Alexander was caught up in the fall from favour of his family, being arrested along with his uncle Roger in 1139 and imprisoned. Later, he briefly supported Stephen's rival, the Empress Matilda, but by the late 1140s, Alexander was once more working with Stephen. He spent much of the late 1140s at Rome, attending the papal court, but died in England in early 1138. During his episcopate, he began the rebuilding of his cathedral, which had been destroyed by a fire, and was the patron of the medieval chroniclers Henry of Huntingdon and Geoffrey of Monmouth, as well as serving as an ecclesiastical patron of Gilbert of Sempringham, the founder of the Gilbertines, and the medieval hermit Christina of Markyate.

Early life

A simplified family tree of Alexander's family

Alexander was a nephew of Roger, bishop of Salisbury,^[1] probably the son of Roger's brother Humphrey.^{[2][notes 1]} Alexander's mother's name, Ada, is known from the Lincoln Cathedral libri memoriales, or obituary books.^[4] Alexander's brother David was archdeacon of Buckingham in the diocese of Lincoln.^[1] Other relatives included Nigel, another nephew of Roger's; and Adelelm, later Treasurer of England, who was recorded as Roger's nephew but perhaps was Roger's son.^[4] It is possible that Nigel was really Alexander's brother, not just cousin, but no definitive proof of that is available.^[3] Another cousin was Roger's son Roger le Poer, who later became Chancellor of England. Alexander's cousin Nigel had a son, Richard FitzNeal, who later became Treasurer and Bishop of London. Relatives who may not have been related to Roger included a nephew of Alexander's named William, who became an archdeacon, and a great-nephew named Robert de Alvers.^[4]

Alexander's birthdate is not known,^[3] but he was educated at Laon, under the schoolmaster Anselm of Laon,^[5] along with his relative Nigel. It is unknown when exactly Alexander returned to England from Laon.^[6] The historian Martin Brett feels that Alexander probably served as a royal chaplain early in his career, though no sources support this.^[7] Alexander was an archdeacon in the diocese of Salisbury by 1121, under his uncle. While he was archdeacon, he was credited with a writing a glossary of Old English legal terms in the Anglo Norman language,^[8] entitled the Expositiones Vocabulorum.^[2] Unlike his cousin Nigel, Alexander does not appear to have entered the administration prior to his appointment as a bishop, and only attests one royal charter prior to his elevation to the episcopate in 1123.^[9]

Bishop

Alexander was nominated to the see of Lincoln in April 1123 and was consecrated bishop on 22 July 1123,^[10] the ceremony being performed at Canterbury.^[1] He owned his appointment to his uncle's influence on King Henry I of England. The Peterborough version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle noted that Alexander's elevation to the episcopate was done entirely for the love of Roger.^[11]

While bishop, Alexander founded a number of monasteries, including Haverholme Priory,^[1] Dorchester on Thames, Louth Park, and Thame;^[12] Louth was one of the first Cistercian houses founded in England.^[13] Dorchester was the refoundation of a former collegiate church.^[14] He also held the castles at Newark, Sleaford and Banbury.^[15] He also granted confirmations of grants to the church at Godstow.^[16] Alexander also secured the submission of St Albans Abbey to his diocese.^[17] It was Alexander who consecrated Christina of Markyate as a hermit at St Albans Abbey.^[18] During Alexander's episcopate, 13 Cistercian abbeys were founded in his diocese. Haverholme was a Gilbertine house, and Dorchester was an Arrouaisian Order house. Alexander also founded a hospital for lepers at Newark-on-Trent. Seven nunneries were founded in his diocese during his time as bishop, and he himself consecrated the church at Markyate used by Christina and her nuns.^[3]

Although Alexander continued to be a frequent witness to royal charters and documents, there is no evidence that he held office in the government, unlike his relatives Roger and Nigel.^[3] Although he held no office, Alexander appears to have become a frequent attendee at the royal court after his appointment as bishop. He frequently attested royal charters after 1123, and probably acted as a royal justice in both Lincolnshire and the town of Lincoln.^[9]

Alexander was probably at the 1125 church council held at Westminster by the papal legate John of Crema, and shortly after the end of the council accompanied the legate on his journey back to Rome.^[3] He was still in Rome in 1126, and may have helped obtain a papal confirmation of his uncle's possession of Malmesbury Abbey, Abbotsbury Abbey, and Horton.^[19] At some point during his episcopate, an eighth archdeaconry was established in his diocese, this one for the West Riding area of Lindsey.^[20] He also presided over the organization of his diocese into prebends to support the cathedral clergy, as he established at least one new prebend and augmented two more. He also attended the church councils in 1127 and 1129 that were convened by William de Corbeil, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Later, during 1133 and 1134 he and the archbishop quarrelled, although the exact nature of the dispute is unknown. Both William and Alexander travelled to Normandy in 1134 to seek out King Henry to settle the dispute.^[3]

Reign of Stephen

All that remains of Sleaford Castle

Following King Henry's death in 1135, the succession was disputed between the king's nephews—Stephen and his elder brother, Theobald II, Count of Champagne—and Henry's surviving legitimate child Matilda, usually known as the Empress Matilda because of her first marriage to the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry V. King Henry's only legitimate son, William, had died in 1120. After Matilda was widowed in 1125, she returned to her father, who married her to Geoffrey, Count of Anjou. All the magnates of England and Normandy were required to declare fealty to Matilda as Henry's heir, but when Henry I died in 1135, Stephen rushed to England and had himself crowned before either Theobald or Matilda could react. The Norman barons accepted Stephen as Duke of Normandy, and Theobald contented himself with his possessions in France. Matilda, though, was less sanguine, and secured the support of the Scottish king, David, who was her maternal uncle, and in 1138 also the support of her half-brother, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of Henry I.^{[21][notes 2]}

The medieval chronicler Gervase of Canterbury says that 17 bishops attended the Council of Westminster in 1138, which implies that Alexander was present.^[23] This council was where the election of Theobald of Bec to the Archbishopric of Canterbury was announced.^[24] After a failed expedition to Normandy in 1137, Roger of Salisbury's influence on King Stephen waned, although Stephen did not make any moves towards the family that might incite them to rebel.^[15] In early 1139, Stephen possibly named William d'Aubigny as Earl of Lincoln,^[25] which may have been an attempt to limit Alexander's influence in Lincolnshire.^[15]

In 1139, Alexander was arrested, along with his uncle and cousin, Nigel, the Bishop of Ely, by King Stephen because the king suspected them of plotting treason.^[26] This came after a fight in June in Oxford between a party of Roger of Salisbury's men and a group of noblemen, where a knight was killed. The king ordered Roger to come to court and explain what happened as well as surrender custody of the bishop's castles, which Roger refused to do. Stephen then ordered Roger and his two nephews to be arrested, which Roger and Alexander were, with Nigel managing to escape arrest.^[27] Another possible reason was given by the Gesta Stephani, a contemporary chronicle, which related that the king feared that Roger and his nephews were plotting to turn over their castles to the Empress Matilda, Stephen's rival for the throne. Stephen may also have been attempting to assert his rights over the castles, and show his authority over powerful subjects.^[28] Alexander was imprisoned in Oxford, some medieval chroniclers noted that the conditions were bad.^[29]

This arrest has been seen by many historians as a turning point in Stephen's reign.^[26] This traces to Henry of Huntingdon's work, where the chronicler himself regarded the arrest as a act of treachery against the clergy that earned Stephen punishment from God. The historian William Stubbs, writing in the 1870s, felt that the arrest destroyed the royal administration, but modern historians have advanced differing explanations for the troubles that followed.^[30]

After the arrest of Roger and Alexander, Nigel defied the king. The bishops' castles refused to surrender to the king, so Stephen is accused of starving Alexnader and Roger until the castles surrendered.^[27] Sleaford and Newark surrendered to the king and were given into the custody of Robert, the Earl of Leicester. Earl Robert also seized some of Lincoln's episcopal estates that had been disputed between the earl and the bishop.^[31] Alexander excommunicated Earl Robert when the earl refused to return the castle to Alexander's custody.^[32] Alexander then applied to Pope Innocent II in 1139 for support in attempting to recover Newark castle from Earl Robert, and the pope supported the bishop's efforts.^[33]

Henry of Blois, the Bishop of Winchester and Stephen's brother and one of the king's main supporters, had just recently been appointed papal legate. Henry objected to Stephen's actions in arresting the bishops and confiscating their property, which were against canon law. Henry called a legatine council at Winchester to discuss the issue, which ended in nothing being done, although both sides threatened excommunication and stated they'd appeal to Rome and the papacy for support.^[34] Alexander did not attend the council of Winchester, although his uncle did.^[35] He seems to have borne Stephen no ill will over the arrest, and worked in concert with the king later during Stephen's reign.^[36]

In 1141, Alexander and the citizens of the town of Lincoln requested that Stephen come to Lincoln and intercede with Ranulf de Gernon, the Earl of Chester, who was attempting to enforce what he regarded as his rights to Lincoln Castle. Stephen arrived and besieged Ranulf's wife and half-brother in Lincoln Castle, but the earl escaped and sought aid from Robert of Gloucester, the Earl of Gloucester, who was Matilda's half-brother and leading supporter. Robert then arrived at Lincoln and in a battle on 2 February 1141, Stephen was captured by Matilda's forces.^[36] After this, Alexander was present at Oxford in July 1141, when the Empress Matilda held court and attempted to consolidate her hold on England.^[37] But when Matilda arrived in London, the citizens of London objected to her rule and drove her from the city, and, shortly after this, Matilda's main supporter, her half brother Robert of Gloucester, was captured. This reverse to the Empress' fortunes resulted in the release of Stephen, who was exchanged for Robert of Gloucester. The next few years, until 1148, were years of civil war in England, often called The Anarchy, when neither Matilda nor Stephen controlled England.^[38]

Patronage

Page from a 13th century manuscript of the Prophecies of Merlin

Alexander was known as a patron of literature.^[39] He commissioned Geoffrey of Monmouth to compose the Prophecies of Merlin,^[40] which Geoffrey dedicated to him.^[41] He also supported Gilbert of Sempringham's new monastic order of the Gilbertines.^[42] Alexander also was a patron of the medieval chronicler Henry of Huntingdon, and requested that Henry write his historical work.^[43] Another member of Alexander's household was the Italian, Master Guido, who was a lecturer on the Bible.^[39]

Lincoln Cathedral had been destroyed by a fire, and Alexander rebuilt it.^[44] The exact date of the fire is unknown, but afterwards, Alexander had the roof done with stone vaulting. Alexander also began the construction of the west front of the cathedral, which was finished under his successor. Stephen granted to Alexander the land on which the Old Palace of the bishop's stands in Lincoln, although it is not clear if it was Alexander or his successor as bishop who began the building of the existing structure. Surviving work commissioned by Alexander remains at the three castles he built at Newark-on-Trent, Sleaford, and probably Banbury.^[3]

Alexander was nicknamed "the Magnificent",^[45] for his ostentatious and luxurious lifestyle.^[44] Henry of Huntingdon records that this was a contemporary nickname. Alexander was rebuked by Bernard of Clairvaux for his lifestyle.^[3] He may have been responsible for the education of an illegitimate son of King Henry's, as two charters of Alexander's are witnessed by a William, who is described as a son of King Henry.^[46] He also advanced the careers of his relatives, naming his relative Adelelm as Dean of Lincoln during his episcopate. Another member of his household was Robert Gubion, who later became abbot of St Albans Abbey.^[3]

Death

Alexander spent most of 1145 and 1146 in Rome at the papal court. He returned to the papal court, then at Auxerre, in 1147, but had gone back to England at an unknown point prior to his death. Henry of Huntingdon says that he picked up his last illness while traveling. Alexander died in February 1148,^[10] and was buried at Lincoln on 25 February 1148.^[1] He likely died on 20 February, as that was the date on which his death was commemorated at Lincoln Cathedral. No tomb remains, but 12th century documents record that Alexander left the cathedral a number of books, mostly biblical works.^[3]

Notes

Citations

References

• Barlow, Frank (1979). The English Church 1066–1154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church. New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-50236-5.  
• Brett, M. (1975). The English Church under Henry I. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-821861-3.  
• Burton, Janet (1994). Monastic and Religious Orders in Britain: 1000–1300. Cambridge Medieval Textbooks. Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37797-8.  
• Chibnall, Marjorie (1986). Anglo-Norman England 1066–1166. Oxford: Basil Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-15439-6.  
• Chibnall, Marjorie (1991). The Empress Matilda: Queen Consort, Queen Mother and Lady of the English. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19028-7.  
• Crouch, David (2000). The Reign of King Stephen: 1135–1154. New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-22657-0.  
• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.  
• Green, Judith A. (1986). The Government of England Under Henry I. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-37586-X.  
• Greenway, Diana E. (1991). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: volume 4: Salisbury: Archdeacons of Salisbury. Institute of Historical Research. http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=34224.   Retrieved on 28 October 2007.
• Greenway, Diana E. (1977). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: volume 3: Lincoln: Bishops. Institute of Historical Research. http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33560.   Accessed on 28 October 2007
• Huscroft, Richard (2005). Ruling England 1042–1217. London: Pearson/Longman. ISBN 0-582-84882-2. OCLC 223968971.  
• Kealey, Edward J. (1972). Roger of Salisbury, Viceroy of England. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-01985-7.  
• Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (1999). Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum. Ipswich, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-863-3.  
• Knowles, David (1976). The Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 940–1216 (Second reprint ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-05479-6.  
• Lawrence, C. H. (2001). Medieval Monasticism: Forms of Religious Life in Western Europe in the Middle Ages (Third Edition ed.). New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-40427-4.  
• Matthew, Donald (2002). King Stephen. London: Hambledon & London. ISBN 1-85285-514-2.  
• Short, Ian (2002). "Language and Literature". in Harper-Bill, Christopher and Elizabeth Van Houts. A Companion to the Anglo-Norman World. Woodbridge: Boydell. pp. 191–213. ISBN 978-184383-341-3.  
• Smith, David M. (2004). "Alexander (d. 1148)" (fee required). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/324.   Retrieved on 1 October 2009
• Williams, Ann (2000). The English and the Norman Conquest. Ipswich: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-708-4.