Life

He was a Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford

Trinity College, Oxford

The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope , or Trinity College for short, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It stands on Broad Street, next door to Balliol College and Blackwells bookshop,...

 in 1613, and graduated M.A. in 1614.

His father Edmund Skinner was rector of Pitsford

Pitsford

Pitsford is a village and civil parish in the Daventry district of the non-metropolitan county of Northamptonshire in the United Kingdom. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 636 people...

, and Robert succeeded him in 1628. He was vicar of Launton

Launton

Launton is a village and civil parish on the eastern outskirts of Bicester, Oxfordshire, England. Launton is twinned with the village of Gavray in France.-History:King Edward the Confessor gave the manor of Launton to Westminster Abbey in 1065...

 from 1632.

In 1634, Oxford University granted him a D.D. at the request of William Laud

William Laud

William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...

, without the formalities, a move criticized by John Prideaux

John Prideaux

John Prideaux D.D. was an English academic and Bishop of Worcester.-Early life:The fourth son of John and Agnes Prideaux, he was born at Stowford House in the parish of Harford, near Ivybridge, Devon, England, on 17 September 1578...

. In the 1630s Skinner was known for his sermons before Charles I asserting Arminian doctrines. He became bishop of Bristol

Bishop of Bristol

The Bishop of Bristol heads the Church of England Diocese of Bristol in the Province of Canterbury, in England.The present diocese covers parts of the counties of Somerset and Gloucestershire together with a small area of Wiltshire...

 in 1636. There he was active in preaching against Calvinism

Calvinism

Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...

.

In 1641, he was translated to become Bishop of Oxford

Bishop of Oxford

The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford...

, but was imprisoned shortly afterwards with the fall of Archbishop Laud, in the round-up of Laudian bishops who were taken to the Tower of London

Tower of London

Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...

. Released on bail he resided at Launton, and under the Commonwealth he continued to ordain priests there, using Ralph Bathurst

Ralph Bathurst

Ralph Bathurst was an English theologian and physician.-Early life:He was born in Hothorpe, Northamptonshire in 1620 and educated at King Henry VIII School, Coventry.He graduated with a B.A...

 as a deputy.

In 1663 he was made bishop of Worcester

Bishop of Worcester

The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. He is the head of the Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury...

.

Further reading

• Peter Lake, Joseph Hall, Robert Skinner, and the Rhetoric of Moderation at the Early Stuart Court in Lori Anne Ferrell, Peter E. McCullough,(editors), The English sermon revised: religion, literature and history, 1600–1750 (2001), pp. 167–185.