Alexander of Lincoln
Encyclopedia
Alexander of Lincoln was a medieval English Bishop of Lincoln
, a member of an important administrative and ecclesiastical family. He was the nephew of Roger of Salisbury
, a Bishop of Salisbury
and Chancellor of England under King Henry I
, and he was also related to Nigel, Bishop of Ely. Educated at Laon
, Alexander served in his uncle's diocese as an archdeacon
in the early 1120s. Unlike his relatives, he held no office in the government before his appointment as Bishop of Lincoln in 1123. Alexander became a frequent visitor to King Henry's court after his elevation to the episcopate, often witnessing royal documents, and he served as a royal justice in Lincolnshire.
Although 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 reorganized his diocese by 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, and was imprisoned together with his uncle Roger in 1139. He subsequently briefly supported Stephen's rival, Matilda
, but by the late 1140s Alexander was once again working with Stephen. He spent much of the late 1140s at the papal court in Rome, but died in England in early 1148. During his episcopate he began the rebuilding of his cathedral, which had been destroyed by fire. Alexander was the patron of medieval chroniclers Henry of Huntingdon
and Geoffrey of Monmouth
, and also served as an ecclesiastical patron of the medieval hermit Christina of Markyate
and Gilbert of Sempringham
, founder of the Gilbertines.
Alexander was a nephew of Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, probably the son of Roger's brother Humphrey. His mother's name, Ada, is known from the Lincoln Cathedral libri memoriales
, or obituary books. Alexander's brother David was archdeacon of Buckingham in the diocese of Lincoln
. 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 his son. It is possible, although unproven, that Nigel was really Alexander's brother rather than his cousin. Roger's son Roger le Poer
, who later became Chancellor of England, was also a cousin. Alexander's cousin Nigel had a son, Richard FitzNeal
, who later became Treasurer of England and Bishop of London. Alexander also had a nephew William, who became an archdeacon, and a great-nephew named Robert de Alvers.
Alexander's birthdate is unknown. Together with his cousin Nigel he was educated at Laon, under the schoolmaster Anselm of Laon
, and returned to England at some unknown date. The historian Martin Brett feels that Alexander probably served as a royal chaplain early in his career, although no sources support this conjecture. Alexander was an archdeacon in the diocese of Salisbury
by 1121, under his uncle. While occupying that office he was credited with a writing a glossary of Old English
legal terms in the Anglo Norman
language, entitled the Expositiones Vocabulorum. Unlike his cousin Nigel, Alexander does not appear to have entered the king's household or administration before his appointment as a bishop, and only attested, or witnessed, one royal charter before his elevation to the episcopate in 1123.
of Lincoln in April 1123 and was consecrated bishop on 22 July 1123, at a ceremony held in Canterbury
. He owed his appointment to his uncle's influence with King Henry I; the Peterborough version
of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
noted that Alexander's elevation to the episcopate was done entirely for the love of Roger.
During his time as bishop Alexander secured the submission of St Albans Abbey to his diocese and founded a number of monasteries, including Haverholme Priory
(a Gilbertine house), Dorchester on Thames (an Arrouaisian Order house), Louth Park
, and Thame
; Louth was one of the first Cistercian houses founded in England, and Dorchester was the refoundation of a former collegiate church
. During Alexander's episcopate 13 Cistercian abbeys and seven nunneries were founded in his diocese. Alexander himself consecrated the church at Markyate used by the medieval mystic Christina of Markyate and her nuns, and it was he who consecrated her as a hermit at St Albans Abbey. Alexander also founded a hospital for lepers at Newark-on-Trent.
Although Alexander was a frequent witness to royal charters and documents, there is no evidence that he held an official government position after his appointment as bishop, unlike his relatives Roger and Nigel. Nevertheless, Alexander subsequently appears to have become a regular presence at the royal court. He frequently attested royal charters after 1123, and probably acted as a royal justice in Lincolnshire and the town of Lincoln. He also held the royal castles at Newark
, Sleaford
and Banbury
, and gave confirmations of grants to the church at Godstow.
Alexander was probably at the 1125 church council held at Westminster by the papal legate John of Crema
, and shortly afterwards accompanied the legate on his journey back to Rome. He was still in Rome in 1126, and may have helped to obtain a papal confirmation of his uncle's possession of Malmesbury Abbey
, Abbotsbury Abbey
, and Horton. At some point during his episcopate, an eighth archdeaconry was established in his diocese, for the West Riding area of Lindsey. Besides these reorganizations, Alexander had a number of clerics in his personal household, including Gilbert of Sempringham, who later founded the Gilbertine order. Other members of the bishop's household were Ralph Gubion
, who became abbot of St Albans, and an Italian Bible scholar named Guido or Wido, who taught that subject while serving Alexander.
Alexander presided over the organization of his diocese into prebends to support the cathedral clergy; he established at least one new prebend and augmented two others. 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, but the exact nature of their dispute is unknown. William and Alexander travelled to Normandy in 1134 to seek out King Henry to settle their dispute.
After 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 after Henry I's death in 1135 Stephen rushed to England and had himself crowned, before Theobald or Matilda could react. The Norman barons accepted Stephen as Duke of Normandy, and Theobald contented himself with his possessions in France. But Matilda was less sanguine and secured the support of the Scottish king, David
, her maternal uncle, and in 1138 that of her half-brother, Robert, Earl of Gloucester
, an illegitimate son of Henry I.
The election of Theobald of Bec
to the Archbishopric of Canterbury was announced at the Council of Westminster in 1138. The medieval chronicler Gervase of Canterbury
writes that 17 bishops attended the council, which implies that Alexander was present. After a failed expedition to Normandy in 1137, the influence of Alexander's uncle, Roger of Salisbury, waned at the court of King Stephen, but the king took no action against the family that might incite them to rebel. In early 1139 Stephen may have named William d'Aubigny
as Earl of Lincoln
, perhaps in an effort to limit Alexander's influence in Lincolnshire.
In June 1139 a knight was killed during a fight in Oxford between a party of Roger of Salisbury's men and a group of noblemen. The king ordered Roger to attend his court to explain the circumstances of the incident and to surrender custody of his castles, which Roger refused to do, resulting in his and Alexander's arrest; Roger's other nephew, Nigel, evaded capture. Another possible explanation for the arrests is offered by the Gesta Stephani, a contemporary chronicle, which reported the king's fear that Roger and his nephews were plotting to hand their castles to the Empress Matilda. Stephen may alternatively have been attempting to assert his rights over the castles, and demonstrate his authority over powerful subjects. Alexander was imprisoned in Oxford, in conditions described by some medieval chroniclers as bad.
Since the work of Henry of Huntingdon, who wrote in the years before 1154 and who regarded Stephen's actions as treachery against the clergy that earned him punishment from God, Alexander's arrest has been seen by many historians as a turning point in Stephen's reign. Writing in the 1870s, the historian William Stubbs
felt that the arrest destroyed the royal administration, but modern historians have advanced differing explanations for the troubles that followed, not all of which are related to the bishop's arrest.
After Roger and Alexander's arrests Nigel defied the king. The bishops' castles refused to surrender to the king, therefore Stephen threatened to starve Alexander and Roger until they did. Sleaford and Newark surrendered 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. Alexander subsequently excommunicated
Earl Robert when the earl refused to return the castle to Alexander's custody. Alexander then successfully applied to Pope Innocent II
in 1139 for support in his efforts to recover Newark castle from Earl Robert.
Stephen's brother, Henry of Blois
, Bishop of Winchester
and one of the king's main supporters, had recently been appointed papal legate. Henry objected to Stephen's actions in arresting the bishops and confiscating their property, as they were in contravention of canon law
. Henry called a legatine council
, a church council convened by a papal legate, at Winchester to discuss the issue, which ended in nothing being done, although both sides threatened excommunication and stated they would appeal to Rome and the papacy for support. Alexander did not attend the council of Winchester, but his uncle did. He seems to have borne Stephen no ill will over the arrest, and worked with the king during Stephen's later reign.
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 the castle, but the earl escaped and sought aid from Robert of Gloucester, Matilda's half-brother and leading supporter. Following Robert's arrival in Lincoln a battle took place there on 2 February 1141, during which Stephen was captured by Matilda's forces. Alexander was present at Oxford in July 1141, when the Empress Matilda held court and attempted to consolidate her hold on England. The citizens of London objected to Matilda's rule when she arrived in their city, and drove her away; Robert of Gloucester was captured shortly afterwards. This reversal of the Empress' fortunes resulted in Stephen's release, after he was exchanged for Robert. The next few years, until 1148, saw a period of civil war in England, often called The Anarchy
, when neither Matilda nor Stephen controlled the country.
Alexander was a supporter of Gilbert of Sempringham's new monastic order of the Gilbertines, and he was also known as a patron of literature. He commissioned Geoffrey of Monmouth to compose the Prophecies of Merlin, which Geoffrey dedicated to him. Alexander was a patron of the medieval chronicler Henry of Huntingdon, and requested that Henry write his historical work.
Alexander rebuilt Lincoln Cathedral after it had been destroyed by fire at an unknown date. He had the roof done with stone vaulting and began construction of the west front of the cathedral, which was finished under his successor. The only remaining major traces of Alexander's work on the west end are the carved doors and the frieze on the west front. The author of the Gesta Stephani claimed that Alexander's additions made Lincoln Cathedral "more beautiful than before and second to none in the realm". Traditionally, Alexander has been credited with the commissioning of the baptismal font in Lincoln Cathedral, made of Tournai marble. Recent scholarship, however, has cast doubt upon this theory and suggests that the font was carved on the orders of Alexander's successor, Robert de Chesney
.
Stephen granted to Alexander the land on which the Old Palace of the bishops stands in Lincoln, although it is unclear whether it was Alexander or his successor as bishop who began the construction of the existing building. Stephen's grant added to an earlier one by King Henry, of the Eastgate in Lincoln as an episcopal residence. Work commissioned by Alexander has survived at the three castles he built at Newark-on-Trent, Sleaford, and probably Banbury.
Alexander's nickname, "the Magnificent", reflected his ostentatious and luxurious lifestyle. Henry of Huntingdon records that this was a contemporary nickname. Alexander was rebuked by Bernard of Clairvaux
for his lifestyle. 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 the king. He also advanced the careers of his family, 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.
The medieval chronicler William of Newburgh
wrote that Alexander founded a number of monasteries, "to remove the odium" that he had incurred because of his castle building. Alexander himself stated explicitly that his foundation of Louth was intended to secure the remission of his sins, as well as the salvation of King Henry I, his uncle Roger of Salisbury, and his parents. Alexander also played a part in the founding of Newhouse Abbey
in about 1143. Although the actual foundation was by Peter of Goxhill, Alexander and his successor issued confirmation charters and took the new monastery into their protection.
on 25 February 1148. No tomb remains, but 12th-century documents record that Alexander left the cathedral a number of books, mostly biblical works.
Bishop of Lincoln
The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral...
, a member of an important administrative and ecclesiastical family. He was the nephew of Roger of Salisbury
Roger of Salisbury
Roger was a Norman medieval Bishop of Salisbury and the seventh Lord Chancellor and Lord Keeper of England.-Life:...
, a Bishop of Salisbury
Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset...
and Chancellor of England under King Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...
, and he was also related to Nigel, Bishop of Ely. Educated at Laon
Laon
Laon is the capital city of the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-History:The hilly district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance...
, Alexander served in his uncle's diocese as an archdeacon
Archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...
in the early 1120s. Unlike his relatives, he held no office in the government before his appointment as Bishop of Lincoln in 1123. Alexander became a frequent visitor to King Henry's court after his elevation to the episcopate, often witnessing royal documents, and he served as a royal justice in Lincolnshire.
Although 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 reorganized his diocese by increasing the number of archdeaconries and setting up prebends to support his cathedral clergy. Under Henry's successor, King Stephen
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
, Alexander was caught up in the fall from favour of his family, and was imprisoned together with his uncle Roger in 1139. He subsequently briefly supported Stephen's rival, Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
, but by the late 1140s Alexander was once again working with Stephen. He spent much of the late 1140s at the papal court in Rome, but died in England in early 1148. During his episcopate he began the rebuilding of his cathedral, which had been destroyed by fire. Alexander was the patron of medieval chroniclers Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon , the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th century English historian, the author of a history of England, Historia anglorum, "the most important Anglo-Norman historian to emerge from the secular clergy". He served as archdeacon of Huntingdon...
and Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth
Geoffrey of Monmouth was a cleric and one of the major figures in the development of British historiography and the popularity of tales of King Arthur...
, and also served as an ecclesiastical patron of the medieval hermit Christina of Markyate
Christina of Markyate
Christina of Markyate was born in Huntingdon, England c. 1095–1100, and died perhaps after 1155. As a young girl or adolescent, named Theodora, she took a vow of chastity, so her parents' attempts to force her unwillingly into marriage led her to run away from home and go into hiding under the care...
and Gilbert of Sempringham
Gilbert of Sempringham
Saint Gilbert of Sempringham became the only Englishman to found a conventual order, mainly because the abbot of Cîteaux declined his request to assist him in helping a group of women living with lay brothers and sisters, in 1148...
, founder of the Gilbertines.
Early life
Confraternity book
A confraternity book is a medieval memorial book that records the names of people who have entered into a state of brotherhood with a church in some way, often by visiting it in the capacity of a pilgrim.-Confraternity books:...
, or obituary books. Alexander's brother David was archdeacon of Buckingham in the diocese of Lincoln
Diocese of Lincoln
The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire.- History :...
. Other relatives included Nigel, another nephew of Roger's; and Adelelm
Adelelm (Lord High Treasurer)
Adelelm was Lord High Treasurer of England and nephew of Roger, Bishop of Salisbury. He was also archdeacon of Dorset and later Dean of Lincoln.-References:...
, later Treasurer of England, who was recorded as Roger's nephew but perhaps was his son. It is possible, although unproven, that Nigel was really Alexander's brother rather than his cousin. Roger's son Roger le Poer
Roger le Poer
Roger le Poer was the twelfth Lord Chancellor of England, from 1135 to 1139. He was the son of Roger of Salisbury, Lord Chancellor for King Henry I of England.-References:* accessed on October 30, 2007...
, who later became Chancellor of England, was also a cousin. Alexander's cousin Nigel had a son, Richard FitzNeal
Richard FitzNeal
Richard FitzNeal Richard FitzNeal Richard FitzNeal (or FitzNigel; circa (c. 1130 – 10 September 1198), sometimes called Richard of Ely, was a churchman and bureaucrat in the service of Henry II of England.-Life:...
, who later became Treasurer of England and Bishop of London. Alexander also had a nephew William, who became an archdeacon, and a great-nephew named Robert de Alvers.
Alexander's birthdate is unknown. Together with his cousin Nigel he was educated at Laon, under the schoolmaster Anselm of Laon
Anselm of Laon
Anselm of Laon was a French theologian and founder of a school of scholars who helped to pioneer biblical hermeneutics.Remembered in the century after his death as "Anselmus" or "Anselm", his name was more properly "Ansellus" or, in Modern French, "Anseau."Born of very humble parents at Laon...
, and returned to England at some unknown date. The historian Martin Brett feels that Alexander probably served as a royal chaplain early in his career, although no sources support this conjecture. Alexander was an archdeacon in the diocese of Salisbury
Diocese of Salisbury
The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England. The diocese covers Dorset and most of Wiltshire and is a constituent diocese of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Salisbury and the diocesan synod...
by 1121, under his uncle. While occupying that office he was credited with a writing a glossary of Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
legal terms in the Anglo Norman
Old Norman
Old Norman, also called Old Northern French or Old Norman French, was one of many langues d'oïl dialects. It was spoken throughout the region of what is now called Normandy and spread into England, Southern Italy, Sicily, and the Levant. It is the ancestor of modern Norman, including the insular...
language, entitled the Expositiones Vocabulorum. Unlike his cousin Nigel, Alexander does not appear to have entered the king's household or administration before his appointment as a bishop, and only attested, or witnessed, one royal charter before his elevation to the episcopate in 1123.
Bishop
Alexander was nominated to the seeEpiscopal See
An episcopal see is, in the original sense, the official seat of a bishop. This seat, which is also referred to as the bishop's cathedra, is placed in the bishop's principal church, which is therefore called the bishop's cathedral...
of Lincoln in April 1123 and was consecrated bishop on 22 July 1123, at a ceremony held in Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
. He owed his appointment to his uncle's influence with King Henry I; the Peterborough version
Peterborough Chronicle
The Peterborough Chronicle , one of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, contains unique information about the history of England after the Norman Conquest. According to philologist J.A.W...
of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
noted that Alexander's elevation to the episcopate was done entirely for the love of Roger.
During his time as bishop Alexander secured the submission of St Albans Abbey to his diocese and founded a number of monasteries, including Haverholme Priory
Haverholme Priory
Haverholme Priory was a monastery situated north-east of Sleaford, Lincolnshire, near Anwick.-Foundation:Gilbert of Sempringham founded the only English order of the Cistercian monks, who were given Haverholme Priory, by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, located between the villages of Anwick and...
(a Gilbertine house), Dorchester on Thames (an Arrouaisian Order house), Louth Park
Louth Park Abbey
Louth Park Abbey was a cistercian abbey in Lincolnshire, England. It was founded in 1139 by the Bishop Alexander of Lincoln.The founder offered to Fountains Abbey a site on the Isle of Haverholme, but when the monks arrived, they requested to settle in the bishop's park at Louth instead.The...
, and Thame
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
; Louth was one of the first Cistercian houses founded in England, and Dorchester was the refoundation of a former collegiate church
Collegiate church
In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons; a non-monastic, or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or provost...
. During Alexander's episcopate 13 Cistercian abbeys and seven nunneries were founded in his diocese. Alexander himself consecrated the church at Markyate used by the medieval mystic Christina of Markyate and her nuns, and it was he who consecrated her as a hermit at St Albans Abbey. Alexander also founded a hospital for lepers at Newark-on-Trent.
Although Alexander was a frequent witness to royal charters and documents, there is no evidence that he held an official government position after his appointment as bishop, unlike his relatives Roger and Nigel. Nevertheless, Alexander subsequently appears to have become a regular presence at the royal court. He frequently attested royal charters after 1123, and probably acted as a royal justice in Lincolnshire and the town of Lincoln. He also held the royal castles at Newark
Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire
Newark Castle, in Newark, in the English county of Nottinghamshire was built by Alexander, consecrated Bishop of Lincoln in 1123, who established it as a mint. His rebuild here was probably the model for that at Sleaford Castle, also built by Alexander....
, Sleaford
Sleaford Castle
Sleaford Castle is a medieval castle in Sleaford, Lincolnshire, England. Built by the Bishop of Lincoln in the early 1120s it was inhabitable as late as 1555 but fell into disrepair during the latter half of the 16th-century...
and Banbury
Banbury Castle
Banbury Castle was a medieval castle that stood near the centre of the town of Banbury, Oxfordshire. Historian John Kenyon notes that the castle is "remarkable for its early concentric shape".-History:...
, and gave confirmations of grants to the church at Godstow.
Alexander was probably at the 1125 church council held at Westminster by the papal legate John of Crema
John of Crema
John of Crema was an Italian papal legate and Cardinal. He was a close supporter of Pope Callistus II.-Legate:He undertook a significant papal mission to Henry I of England in 1124-5, sent by Callistus and confirmed by his successor Pope Honorius II...
, and shortly afterwards accompanied the legate on his journey back to Rome. He was still in Rome in 1126, and may have helped to obtain a papal confirmation of his uncle's possession of Malmesbury Abbey
Malmesbury Abbey
Malmesbury Abbey, at Malmesbury in Wiltshire, England, was founded as a Benedictine monastery around 676 by the scholar-poet Aldhelm, a nephew of King Ine of Wessex. In 941 AD, King Athelstan was buried in the Abbey. By the 11th century it contained the second largest library in Europe and was...
, Abbotsbury Abbey
Abbotsbury Abbey
The Abbey of St Peter was a Benedictine monastery in the village of Abbotsbury in Dorset, England. The abbey was founded in the eleventh century by King Cnut's thegn Orc and his wife Tola, who handsomely endowed the monastery with lands in the area. The abbey prospered and became a local centre of...
, and Horton. At some point during his episcopate, an eighth archdeaconry was established in his diocese, for the West Riding area of Lindsey. Besides these reorganizations, Alexander had a number of clerics in his personal household, including Gilbert of Sempringham, who later founded the Gilbertine order. Other members of the bishop's household were Ralph Gubion
Ralph Gubion
Ralph Gubion was a native Englishman and abbot of St Albans Abbey from 1146 to 1151.Gubion was a native of England, although his surname indicates that his family was likely from Normandy or Brittany. Gubion was a monk at St Albans as well as being a clerk in the household of Alexander, Bishop of...
, who became abbot of St Albans, and an Italian Bible scholar named Guido or Wido, who taught that subject while serving Alexander.
Alexander presided over the organization of his diocese into prebends to support the cathedral clergy; he established at least one new prebend and augmented two others. He also attended the church councils in 1127 and 1129 that were convened by William de Corbeil
William de Corbeil
William de Corbeil or William of Corbeil was a medieval Archbishop of Canterbury. Very little is known of William's early life or his family, except that he was born at Corbeil in the outskirts of Paris and that he had two brothers...
, the Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
. Later, during 1133 and 1134, he and the archbishop quarrelled, but the exact nature of their dispute is unknown. William and Alexander travelled to Normandy in 1134 to seek out King Henry to settle their dispute.
Reign of Stephen
Stephen of England
Stephen , often referred to as Stephen of Blois , was a grandson of William the Conqueror. He was King of England from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne by right of his wife. Stephen's reign was marked by the Anarchy, a civil war with his cousin and rival, the Empress Matilda...
and his elder brother Theobald II, Count of Champagne—and Henry's surviving legitimate child Matilda
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda , also known as Matilda of England or Maude, was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry to survive to adulthood...
, usually known as the Empress Matilda because of her first marriage to the Holy Roman Emperor
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
, Henry V
Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...
. King Henry's only legitimate son, William
William Adelin
William , surnamed Adelin , was the son of Henry I of England by his wife Matilda of Scotland, and was thus heir-apparent to the throne. His early death without issue caused a succession crisis.William was born in Winchester...
, had died in 1120. After Matilda was widowed in 1125 she returned to her father, who married her to Geoffrey, Count of Anjou
Geoffrey V, Count of Anjou
Geoffrey V , called the Handsome and Plantagenet, was the Count of Anjou, Touraine, and Maine by inheritance from 1129 and then Duke of Normandy by conquest from 1144...
. All the magnates of England and Normandy were required to declare fealty
Fealty
An oath of fealty, from the Latin fidelitas , is a pledge of allegiance of one person to another. Typically the oath is made upon a religious object such as a Bible or saint's relic, often contained within an altar, thus binding the oath-taker before God.In medieval Europe, fealty was sworn between...
to Matilda as Henry's heir, but after Henry I's death in 1135 Stephen rushed to England and had himself crowned, before Theobald or Matilda could react. The Norman barons accepted Stephen as Duke of Normandy, and Theobald contented himself with his possessions in France. But Matilda was less sanguine and secured the support of the Scottish king, David
David I of Scotland
David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...
, her maternal uncle, and in 1138 that of her half-brother, Robert, Earl of Gloucester
Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester
Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. He was called "Rufus" and occasionally "de Caen", he is also known as Robert "the Consul"...
, an illegitimate son of Henry I.
The election of Theobald of Bec
Theobald of Bec
Theobald was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1139 to 1161. He was a Norman; his exact birth date is unknown. Some time in the late 11th or early 12th century Theobald became a monk at the Abbey of Bec, rising to the position of abbot in 1137. King Stephen of England chose him to be Archbishop of...
to the Archbishopric of Canterbury was announced at the Council of Westminster in 1138. The medieval chronicler Gervase of Canterbury
Gervase of Canterbury
Gervase of Canterbury was an English chronicler.- Life :...
writes that 17 bishops attended the council, which implies that Alexander was present. After a failed expedition to Normandy in 1137, the influence of Alexander's uncle, Roger of Salisbury, waned at the court of King Stephen, but the king took no action against the family that might incite them to rebel. In early 1139 Stephen may have named William d'Aubigny
William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Arundel
William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Lincoln and 1st Earl of Arundel , also known as William d'Albini, was son of William d'Aubigny, 'Pincerna' of Old Buckenham Castle in Norfolk, and Maud Bigod, daughter of Roger Bigod, 1st Earl of Norfolk.-Marriage and Issue:The younger William was an important member...
as Earl of Lincoln
Earl of Lincoln
Earl of Lincoln is a title that has been created eight times in the Peerage of England.-Earls of Lincoln, First Creation :*William d'Aubigny, 1st Earl of Lincoln and 1st Earl of Arundel Earl of Lincoln is a title that has been created eight times in the Peerage of England.-Earls of Lincoln, First...
, perhaps in an effort to limit Alexander's influence in Lincolnshire.
In June 1139 a knight was killed during a fight in Oxford between a party of Roger of Salisbury's men and a group of noblemen. The king ordered Roger to attend his court to explain the circumstances of the incident and to surrender custody of his castles, which Roger refused to do, resulting in his and Alexander's arrest; Roger's other nephew, Nigel, evaded capture. Another possible explanation for the arrests is offered by the Gesta Stephani, a contemporary chronicle, which reported the king's fear that Roger and his nephews were plotting to hand their castles to the Empress Matilda. Stephen may alternatively have been attempting to assert his rights over the castles, and demonstrate his authority over powerful subjects. Alexander was imprisoned in Oxford, in conditions described by some medieval chroniclers as bad.
Since the work of Henry of Huntingdon, who wrote in the years before 1154 and who regarded Stephen's actions as treachery against the clergy that earned him punishment from God, Alexander's arrest has been seen by many historians as a turning point in Stephen's reign. Writing in the 1870s, the historian William Stubbs
William Stubbs
William Stubbs was an English historian and Bishop of Oxford.The son of William Morley Stubbs, a solicitor, he was born at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and was educated at Ripon Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1848, obtaining a first-class in classics and a third in...
felt that the arrest destroyed the royal administration, but modern historians have advanced differing explanations for the troubles that followed, not all of which are related to the bishop's arrest.
After Roger and Alexander's arrests Nigel defied the king. The bishops' castles refused to surrender to the king, therefore Stephen threatened to starve Alexander and Roger until they did. Sleaford and Newark surrendered and were given into the custody of Robert
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester
Robert de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Leicester was Justiciar of England 1155–1168.The surname "de Beaumont" is given him by genealogists. The only known contemporary surname applied to him is "Robert son of Count Robert"...
, the Earl of Leicester
Earl of Leicester
The title Earl of Leicester was created in the 12th century in the Peerage of England , and is currently a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, created in 1837.-Early creations:...
. Earl Robert also seized some of Lincoln's episcopal estates that had been disputed between the earl and the bishop. Alexander subsequently excommunicated
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
Earl Robert when the earl refused to return the castle to Alexander's custody. Alexander then successfully applied to Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II , born Gregorio Papareschi, was pope from 1130 to 1143, and was probably one of the clergy in personal attendance on the antipope Clement III .-Early years:...
in 1139 for support in his efforts to recover Newark castle from Earl Robert.
Stephen's brother, Henry of Blois
Henry of Blois
Henry of Blois , often known as Henry of Winchester, was Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey from 1126, and Bishop of Winchester from 1129 to his death.-Early life and education:...
, Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
and one of the king's main supporters, had recently been appointed papal legate. Henry objected to Stephen's actions in arresting the bishops and confiscating their property, as they were in contravention of canon law
Canon law
Canon law is the body of laws & regulations made or adopted by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of the Christian organization and its members. It is the internal ecclesiastical law governing the Catholic Church , the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, and the Anglican Communion of...
. Henry called a legatine council
Legatine council
A legatine council or legatine synod is an ecclesiastical council or synod that is presided over by a papal legate.According to Pope Gregory VII, writing in the Dictatus papae, a papal legate "presides over all bishops in a council, even if he is inferior in rank, and he can pronounce sentence of...
, a church council convened by a papal legate, at Winchester to discuss the issue, which ended in nothing being done, although both sides threatened excommunication and stated they would appeal to Rome and the papacy for support. Alexander did not attend the council of Winchester, but his uncle did. He seems to have borne Stephen no ill will over the arrest, and worked with the king during Stephen's later reign.
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
Earl of Chester
The Earldom of Chester was one of the most powerful earldoms in medieval England. Since 1301 the title has generally been granted to heirs-apparent to the English throne, and from the late 14th century it has been given only in conjunction with that of Prince of Wales.- Honour of Chester :The...
, 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 the castle, but the earl escaped and sought aid from Robert of Gloucester, Matilda's half-brother and leading supporter. Following Robert's arrival in Lincoln a battle took place there on 2 February 1141, during which Stephen was captured by Matilda's forces. Alexander was present at Oxford in July 1141, when the Empress Matilda held court and attempted to consolidate her hold on England. The citizens of London objected to Matilda's rule when she arrived in their city, and drove her away; Robert of Gloucester was captured shortly afterwards. This reversal of the Empress' fortunes resulted in Stephen's release, after he was exchanged for Robert. The next few years, until 1148, saw a period of civil war in England, often called The Anarchy
The Anarchy
The Anarchy or The Nineteen-Year Winter was a period of English history during the reign of King Stephen, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government...
, when neither Matilda nor Stephen controlled the country.
Patronage
Alexander rebuilt Lincoln Cathedral after it had been destroyed by fire at an unknown date. He had the roof done with stone vaulting and began construction of the west front of the cathedral, which was finished under his successor. The only remaining major traces of Alexander's work on the west end are the carved doors and the frieze on the west front. The author of the Gesta Stephani claimed that Alexander's additions made Lincoln Cathedral "more beautiful than before and second to none in the realm". Traditionally, Alexander has been credited with the commissioning of the baptismal font in Lincoln Cathedral, made of Tournai marble. Recent scholarship, however, has cast doubt upon this theory and suggests that the font was carved on the orders of Alexander's successor, Robert de Chesney
Robert de Chesney
Robert de Chesney was a medieval English Bishop of Lincoln. He was the brother of an important royal official, William de Chesney, and the uncle of Gilbert Foliot, later successively Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London...
.
Stephen granted to Alexander the land on which the Old Palace of the bishops stands in Lincoln, although it is unclear whether it was Alexander or his successor as bishop who began the construction of the existing building. Stephen's grant added to an earlier one by King Henry, of the Eastgate in Lincoln as an episcopal residence. Work commissioned by Alexander has survived at the three castles he built at Newark-on-Trent, Sleaford, and probably Banbury.
Alexander's nickname, "the Magnificent", reflected his ostentatious and luxurious lifestyle. Henry of Huntingdon records that this was a contemporary nickname. Alexander was rebuked by Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...
for his lifestyle. 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 the king. He also advanced the careers of his family, naming his relative Adelelm as Dean of Lincoln
Dean of Lincoln
The Dean of Lincoln is the head of the Chapter of Lincoln Cathedral in the city of Lincoln, England in the Diocese of Lincoln. The post is currently held by the Very Revd Philip John Warr Buckler, MA.-References:...
during his episcopate. Another member of his household was Robert Gubion, who later became abbot of St Albans Abbey.
The medieval chronicler William of Newburgh
William of Newburgh
William of Newburgh or Newbury , also known as William Parvus, was a 12th-century English historian and Augustinian canon from Bridlington, Yorkshire.-Biography:...
wrote that Alexander founded a number of monasteries, "to remove the odium" that he had incurred because of his castle building. Alexander himself stated explicitly that his foundation of Louth was intended to secure the remission of his sins, as well as the salvation of King Henry I, his uncle Roger of Salisbury, and his parents. Alexander also played a part in the founding of Newhouse Abbey
Newhouse Abbey
Newhouse Abbey, near Brocklesby, Lincolnshire, was the first Premonstratensian abbey in England, founded in 1143. The abbey was built in honour of Our Lady and St. Martial, Bishop of Limoges....
in about 1143. Although the actual foundation was by Peter of Goxhill, Alexander and his successor issued confirmation charters and took the new monastery into their protection.
Death
Alexander spent most of 1145 and 1146 at the papal court in Rome, although some time during that period he was in England as one of the witnesses to the peace accord signed between the earls of Chester and Leicester. He returned to the papal court, then at Auxerre, in 1147, but he was back in England by the time of his death the following year. Henry of Huntingdon says that Alexander picked up his last illness while travelling. Alexander died in February 1148, probably on the 20th, as that was the date on which his death was commemorated at Lincoln Cathedral, and he was buried at LincolnLincoln, Lincolnshire
Lincoln is a cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England.The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a population of 85,595; the 2001 census gave the entire area of Lincoln a population of 120,779....
on 25 February 1148. No tomb remains, but 12th-century documents record that Alexander left the cathedral a number of books, mostly biblical works.