Life

Warelwast and his successor, Robert of Chichester

Robert of Chichester

Robert of Chichester was a medieval Bishop of Exeter.Robert is often confused with his predecessor, Robert Warelwast. His surname comes from a single source, one of his successors. He was a relative of David fitzGerald, bishop of St David's, but the exact relationship is unknown...

 are often confused. Warelwast was the nephew of the previous bishop, William Warelwast

William Warelwast

William Warelwast, sometimes known as William de Warelwast was a medieval Norman cleric and Bishop of Exeter in England. Warelwast was a native of Normandy, but little is known about his background before 1087, when he appears as a royal clerk for King William II of England...

, and was appointed archdeacon of Exeter by his uncle. He had been educated at Laon, sent there by his uncle to study under Master 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...

.

Warelwast was nominated on 10 April 1138 at a royal council held at Northampton. Probably, he was elected by the cathedral chapter and his election was formally accepted by King Stephen of England

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...

 at Northampton. He was consecrated on 18 December 1138 by the papal legate Alberic, because the archbishopric 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...

 was vacant.

Warelwast went to the Lateran Council

Lateran council

The Lateran councils were ecclesiastical councils or synods of the Catholic Church held at Rome in the Lateran Palace next to the Lateran Basilica. Ranking as a papal cathedral, this became a much-favored place of assembly for ecclesiastical councils both in antiquity and more especially during...

 held by 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. During King Stephen's reign

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...

, he was forced to recognize Baldwin de Redvers as Earl of Cornwall

Earl of Cornwall

The title of Earl of Cornwall was created several times in the Peerage of England before 1337, when it was superseded by the title Duke of Cornwall, which became attached to heirs-apparent to the throne.-Earl of Cornwall:...

, but continued to date his charters by Stephen's regnal years. He seems to have favored Stephen, but his diocese was not strategically significant in the civil war and he was little bothered by the disorders of the reign. He did excommunicate 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...

's half-brother Reginald fitz Roy

Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of Cornwall

Reginald de Dunstanville , Earl of Cornwall , High Sheriff of Devon, Earl of Cornwall, was an illegitimate son of Henry I of England and Lady Sybilla Corbet.Reginald had been invested with the Earldom of Cornwall by King...

 whom she had made Earl of Cornwall, but this was because Richard had ravaged church lands.

Warelwast failed to attend the Council of Rheims in 1148, and was suspended from his bishopric by Pope Eugene III for this. Warelwast was a patron of Baldwin of Exeter

Baldwin of Exeter

Baldwin of Forde was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1185 and 1190. Son of a clergyman, he studied both canon law and theology at Bologna and was tutor to Pope Eugene III's nephew before returning to England to serve successive bishops of Exeter...

, the future Archbishop of Canterbury, sending Baldwin to Italy to study 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...

.

Warelwast died about 28 March 1155. He was still alive on 7 February 1155 when he oversaw the translation of relics at Launceston Priory, but died soon after that. He was buried in his cathedral.

External links

• George Oliver
  George Oliver (historian)
  George Oliver was an English Roman Catholic priest and historian of the Exeter area.-Life:He was born at Newington, Surrey, on 9 February 1781, and was educated, first at Sedgley Park School, Staffordshire, and afterwards at Stonyhurst College...
  
  , Lives of the Bishops of Exeter, entry for Robert