Roger de Pont L'Evêque
Encyclopedia
Roger de Pont L'Évêque (c.
1115–1181) was a contemporary of Thomas Becket
and later Archbishop of York
. Born in Normandy
, he preceded Becket as Archdeacon of Canterbury, and together with Becket served Theobald of Bec
while Theobald was Archbishop of Canterbury
. While in Theobald's service, Roger was alleged to have committed a crime which Becket helped to cover up. Roger succeeded William FitzHerbert as archbishop in 1154, and while at York rebuilt York Minster
, which had been damaged by fire.
Roger did not become deeply involved in the dispute between King Henry II of England
and Becket until 1170, when the King had Roger preside at the coronation of the king's son Henry the Young King
, a function that would normally have been performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In retaliation Becket excommunicated Roger in late 1170, and some have seen this excommunication as one reason for King Henry's anger at Becket which led to Becket's martyrdom. After being suspended from office by the pope for his supposed role in Becket's death, Roger was eventually restored to office in late 1171, and died in 1181. The see of York remained vacant after his death until 1189.
Roger was probably born around 1115 and was a native of Pont-l'Évêque
in Normandy
. His only known relative was a nephew, Geoffrey, to whom Roger gave the offices of provost of Beverley and archdeacon of York. Roger was a clerk of Archbishop Theobald's before being named Archdeacon of Canterbury, some time after March 1148. When Becket joined Theobald's household, their contemporary William FitzStephen
recorded that Roger disliked the new clerk, and twice drove Thomas away before the archbishop's brother Walter arranged Thomas' return.
According to John of Salisbury
, who first reported this story in 1172 after the death of Thomas Becket, as a young clerk Roger was involved in a scandal involving a homosexual relationship with a boy named Walter. After Walter made the relationship public, Roger reacted by embroiling Walter in judicial case that ended with Walter's eyes being gouged out. When Walter then accused Roger of this crime, Roger persuaded a judge to condemn Walter to death by hanging. Becket supposedly was involved in the cover-up afterwards, by arranging with Hilary of Chichester
and John of Coutances
for Roger to swear an oath that he was innocent. According to John of Salisbury, Roger then went to Rome in 1152 and was cleared of involvement by Pope Eugene III
. John of Salisbury further alleges that it was only after bribery that the pope cleared Roger. Frank Barlow
, a medieval historian and Becket's biographer, points out in his biography of Becket that while Roger was accused of these crimes, and may even have been guilty of some sort of criminal homosexuality, John of Salisbury's motives for bringing up this story in 1172 were almost certainly to defame Roger. Such a story would naturally have put Roger in the worst possible light.
It was while Roger was Theobald's clerk that he made lasting friendships with Gilbert Foliot
and Hugh de Puiset
. Roger attended the Council of Reims in 1148 with Theobald, John of Salisbury, and possibly Thomas Becket. This council condemned some of Gilbert de la Porrée
's teachings, and consecrated Foliot as Bishop of Hereford
. While it was later recalled that Roger and Becket did not get along, there is no evidence of hatred between the two before the Becket crisis happened.
Roger was consecrated Archbishop of York on 10 October 1154. When he went north to York, the legal scholar Vacarius
, who had been part of Theobald's household, followed Roger and spent the next 50 years in the north. Vacarius was responsible for introducing Roman civil law into England, and did so under the patronage of Roger. He wrote a standard textbook on the civil law, the Liber pauperum, and was an important advisor for Roger.
Roger attended the Council of Tours
in 1163, along with a number of other English bishops. Pope Alexander III
named Roger a papal legate
in February 1164, but his powers did not include the city of Canterbury or anything to do with Archbishop Becket. They did, however, include Scotland.
In late 1164 Roger led a deputation from Henry II that visited the papal court, or curia
, to try to persuade Alexander III that any decision on the deposition of Becket should take place in England under a papal legate, rather than in Rome. While Becket was in exile, Roger also managed to secure papal permission for archbishops of York to carry their cross in front of them anywhere in England, a right that had long been a bone of contention between Canterbury and York. Later, the pope rescinded the permission, but consistently refused to give primacy to either Canterbury or York in their struggles.
Roger did not like monks, and William of Newburgh
said that he often referred to the foundation of Fountains Abbey
as the worst mistake of Archbishop Thurstan
's episcopate. Roger also was accused of avarice, and of making unworthy clerical appointments. However, he also started the rebuilding of York Minster, which had been damaged by fire in 1137, and helped with the building of a church at Ripon
. He also endowed the school at York with an annual income of 100 shillings.
on 14 June 1170 by Archbishop Roger of York. Also present at the coronation were the bishops of London, Salisbury, Exeter, Chester, Rochester, St Aspah, Llandaff, Durham, Bayeux, Évreux and Sées. The only English bishops absent seem to have been Winchester, Norwich, Worcester, and of course Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was in exile. The remaining English sees were vacant. This overstepped a long tradition which reserved coronations to the Archbishop of Canterbury, a reservation confirmed as recently as 1166 by Pope Alexander III. In 1170, however, Henry II received papal permission to have Roger crown the younger Henry, a permission which Alexander later revoked.
Before Becket returned to England, on 1 December 1170, he excommunicated Roger, as well as Gilbert Foliot the Bishop of Lincoln
and Josceline de Bohon
the Bishop of Salisbury
. After Becket landed in England the three excommunicates went to Becket and asked for absolution, but while Becket was willing to absolve Gilbert and Josceline, he insisted that only the pope could absolve an archbishop. Roger persuaded the others that they should stick together, and all three went to King Henry in Normandy, to secure the king's permission for their appeals to Rome.
Roger's and his fellow-bishops' stories to Henry are often cited as the spark that touched off the king's anger at Becket and led to his martyrdom. However, it was more probably the stories of Becket's behavior upon arrival in England that caused Henry's anger, and which indirectly led to the death of Becket. Roger was suspended by Pope Alexander III because he was implicated in Becket's death, but was restored to office on 16 December 1171.
. Other sources give the date of death as 22 November or 20 November. After Roger's death, the king declared his will invalid and confiscated most of his wealth. Henry's excuse was that bishops' wills made after the bishop became ill, that bequeathed most of their property to charity, were invalid.
Roger had one son, named William, at some point in his career. Some verses in hexameter
written by Roger to Maurice of Kirkham, the prior of Kirkham Priory
, are extant and have been published as part of Maurice's works. York remained vacant from Roger's death in 1181 until 1189.
Circa
Circa , usually abbreviated c. or ca. , means "approximately" in the English language, usually referring to a date...
1115–1181) was a contemporary of Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170. He is venerated as a saint and martyr by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion...
and later Archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
. Born in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, he preceded Becket as Archdeacon of Canterbury, and together with Becket served 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...
while Theobald was 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...
. While in Theobald's service, Roger was alleged to have committed a crime which Becket helped to cover up. Roger succeeded William FitzHerbert as archbishop in 1154, and while at York rebuilt York Minster
York Minster
York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...
, which had been damaged by fire.
Roger did not become deeply involved in the dispute between King Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
and Becket until 1170, when the King had Roger preside at the coronation of the king's son Henry the Young King
Henry the Young King
Henry, known as the Young King was the second of five sons of King Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine but the first to survive infancy. He was officially King of England; Duke of Normandy, Count of Anjou and Maine.-Early life:Little is known of the young prince Henry before the events...
, a function that would normally have been performed by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In retaliation Becket excommunicated Roger in late 1170, and some have seen this excommunication as one reason for King Henry's anger at Becket which led to Becket's martyrdom. After being suspended from office by the pope for his supposed role in Becket's death, Roger was eventually restored to office in late 1171, and died in 1181. The see of York remained vacant after his death until 1189.
Early life
Pont-l'Évêque, Calvados
Pont-l'Évêque is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France. It has given its name to a type of soft cheese .-Population:-Transport:* A13 autoroute* A132 autoroute...
in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. His only known relative was a nephew, Geoffrey, to whom Roger gave the offices of provost of Beverley and archdeacon of York. Roger was a clerk of Archbishop Theobald's before being named Archdeacon of Canterbury, some time after March 1148. When Becket joined Theobald's household, their contemporary William FitzStephen
William Fitzstephen
William Fitzstephen , died c. 1191, was a cleric and administrator in the service of Thomas Becket, becoming a Subdeacon in his chapel, with responsibility for perusing letters and petitions. He witnessed Becket's murder, and wrote his biography - the Vita Sancti Thomae William Fitzstephen (also...
recorded that Roger disliked the new clerk, and twice drove Thomas away before the archbishop's brother Walter arranged Thomas' return.
According to John of Salisbury
John of Salisbury
John of Salisbury , who described himself as Johannes Parvus , was an English author, educationalist, diplomat and bishop of Chartres, and was born at Salisbury.-Early life and education:...
, who first reported this story in 1172 after the death of Thomas Becket, as a young clerk Roger was involved in a scandal involving a homosexual relationship with a boy named Walter. After Walter made the relationship public, Roger reacted by embroiling Walter in judicial case that ended with Walter's eyes being gouged out. When Walter then accused Roger of this crime, Roger persuaded a judge to condemn Walter to death by hanging. Becket supposedly was involved in the cover-up afterwards, by arranging with Hilary of Chichester
Hilary of Chichester
Hilary was a medieval Bishop of Chichester in England. English by birth, he studied canon law and worked in Rome as a papal clerk. During his time there, he became acquainted with a number of ecclesiastics, including the future Pope Adrian IV, and the medieval writer John of Salisbury...
and John of Coutances
John of Coutances
-Life:He was a nephew of Walter of Coutances, Bishop of Lincoln and was treasurer of the diocese of Lisieux before his uncle appointed him Archdeacon of Oxford sometime before December of 1184. He also was dean of Rouen, and retained the treasurership of Lisieux while archdeacon.He was elected in...
for Roger to swear an oath that he was innocent. According to John of Salisbury, Roger then went to Rome in 1152 and was cleared of involvement by Pope Eugene III
Pope Eugene III
Pope Blessed Eugene III , born Bernardo da Pisa, was Pope from 1145 to 1153. He was the first Cistercian to become Pope.-Early life:...
. John of Salisbury further alleges that it was only after bribery that the pope cleared Roger. Frank Barlow
Frank Barlow (historian)
Frank Barlow CBE FBA FRSL was a British historian, known particularly for biographies of medieval figures.Barlow studied at St John's College, Oxford. He was Professor of History at the University of Exeter from 1953 until he retired in 1976 and became Emeritus Professor...
, a medieval historian and Becket's biographer, points out in his biography of Becket that while Roger was accused of these crimes, and may even have been guilty of some sort of criminal homosexuality, John of Salisbury's motives for bringing up this story in 1172 were almost certainly to defame Roger. Such a story would naturally have put Roger in the worst possible light.
It was while Roger was Theobald's clerk that he made lasting friendships with Gilbert Foliot
Gilbert Foliot
Gilbert Foliot was a medieval English monk and prelate, successively Abbot of Gloucester, Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London. Born to an ecclesiastical family, he became a monk at Cluny Abbey in France at about the age of twenty...
and Hugh de Puiset
Hugh de Puiset
Hugh de Puiset was a medieval Bishop of Durham and Chief Justiciar of England under King Richard I. He was the nephew of King Stephen of England and Henry of Blois, who both assisted Hugh's ecclesiastical career...
. Roger attended the Council of Reims in 1148 with Theobald, John of Salisbury, and possibly Thomas Becket. This council condemned some of Gilbert de la Porrée
Gilbert de la Porrée
Gilbert de la Porrée , also known as Gilbert of Poitiers, Gilbertus Porretanus or Pictaviensis, was a scholastic logician and theologian.-Life:...
's teachings, and consecrated Foliot as Bishop of Hereford
Bishop of Hereford
The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.The see is in the City of Hereford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert which was founded as a cathedral in 676.The Bishop's residence is...
. While it was later recalled that Roger and Becket did not get along, there is no evidence of hatred between the two before the Becket crisis happened.
Archbishop
Vacarius
Roger Vacarius was an Italian authority in civil and Canon law, who became the first known teacher of Roman law in England.Apparently educated in Bologna, he was brought to Canterbury, possibly by Thomas Becket, to serve as counsel to the Archbishop of Canterbury Theobald of Bec, in his struggle...
, who had been part of Theobald's household, followed Roger and spent the next 50 years in the north. Vacarius was responsible for introducing Roman civil law into England, and did so under the patronage of Roger. He wrote a standard textbook on the civil law, the Liber pauperum, and was an important advisor for Roger.
Roger attended the Council of Tours
Council of Tours
In the medieval Roman Catholic church there were several Councils of Tours, that city being an old seat of Christianity, and considered fairly centrally located in France. Athenius, Bishop of Rennes, took part in the First Council of Tours in AD 461...
in 1163, along with a number of other English bishops. Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III
Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...
named Roger a papal legate
Papal legate
A papal legate – from the Latin, authentic Roman title Legatus – is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic Church. He is empowered on matters of Catholic Faith and for the settlement of ecclesiastical matters....
in February 1164, but his powers did not include the city of Canterbury or anything to do with Archbishop Becket. They did, however, include Scotland.
In late 1164 Roger led a deputation from Henry II that visited the papal court, or curia
Roman Curia
The Roman Curia is the administrative apparatus of the Holy See and the central governing body of the entire Catholic Church, together with the Pope...
, to try to persuade Alexander III that any decision on the deposition of Becket should take place in England under a papal legate, rather than in Rome. While Becket was in exile, Roger also managed to secure papal permission for archbishops of York to carry their cross in front of them anywhere in England, a right that had long been a bone of contention between Canterbury and York. Later, the pope rescinded the permission, but consistently refused to give primacy to either Canterbury or York in their struggles.
Roger did not like monks, and 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:...
said that he often referred to the foundation of Fountains Abbey
Fountains Abbey
Fountains Abbey is near to Aldfield, approximately two miles southwest of Ripon in North Yorkshire, England. It is a ruined Cistercian monastery, founded in 1132. Fountains Abbey is one of the largest and best preserved Cistercian houses in England. It is a Grade I listed building and owned by the...
as the worst mistake of Archbishop Thurstan
Thurstan
Thurstan or Turstin of Bayeux was a medieval Archbishop of York, the son of a priest. He served kings William II and Henry I of England before his election to the see of York in 1114. Once elected, his consecration was delayed for five years while he fought attempts by the Archbishop of Canterbury...
's episcopate. Roger also was accused of avarice, and of making unworthy clerical appointments. However, he also started the rebuilding of York Minster, which had been damaged by fire in 1137, and helped with the building of a church at Ripon
Ripon
Ripon is a cathedral city, market town and successor parish in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, located at the confluence of two streams of the River Ure in the form of the Laver and Skell. The city is noted for its main feature the Ripon Cathedral which is architecturally...
. He also endowed the school at York with an annual income of 100 shillings.
Controversy with Becket
Roger got drawn into the controversy with Becket because Henry II wanted to have his eldest living son crowned as king during Henry's lifetime. This was a new practice for England, but was a custom of the Capetian kings of France, which Henry decided to imitate. Henry II insisted that his son, Henry be crowned at Westminster AbbeyWestminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
on 14 June 1170 by Archbishop Roger of York. Also present at the coronation were the bishops of London, Salisbury, Exeter, Chester, Rochester, St Aspah, Llandaff, Durham, Bayeux, Évreux and Sées. The only English bishops absent seem to have been Winchester, Norwich, Worcester, and of course Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was in exile. The remaining English sees were vacant. This overstepped a long tradition which reserved coronations to the Archbishop of Canterbury, a reservation confirmed as recently as 1166 by Pope Alexander III. In 1170, however, Henry II received papal permission to have Roger crown the younger Henry, a permission which Alexander later revoked.
Before Becket returned to England, on 1 December 1170, he excommunicated Roger, as well as Gilbert Foliot the Bishop of Lincoln
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...
and Josceline de Bohon
Josceline de Bohon
Josceline de Bohon was an English religious leader.-Life:...
the 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...
. After Becket landed in England the three excommunicates went to Becket and asked for absolution, but while Becket was willing to absolve Gilbert and Josceline, he insisted that only the pope could absolve an archbishop. Roger persuaded the others that they should stick together, and all three went to King Henry in Normandy, to secure the king's permission for their appeals to Rome.
Roger's and his fellow-bishops' stories to Henry are often cited as the spark that touched off the king's anger at Becket and led to his martyrdom. However, it was more probably the stories of Becket's behavior upon arrival in England that caused Henry's anger, and which indirectly led to the death of Becket. Roger was suspended by Pope Alexander III because he was implicated in Becket's death, but was restored to office on 16 December 1171.
Death and afterwards
Roger died on 26 November 1181 and was buried at DurhamDurham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
. Other sources give the date of death as 22 November or 20 November. After Roger's death, the king declared his will invalid and confiscated most of his wealth. Henry's excuse was that bishops' wills made after the bishop became ill, that bequeathed most of their property to charity, were invalid.
Roger had one son, named William, at some point in his career. Some verses in hexameter
Hexameter
Hexameter is a metrical line of verse consisting of six feet. It was the standard epic metre in classical Greek and Latin literature, such as in the Iliad and Aeneid. Its use in other genres of composition include Horace's satires, and Ovid's Metamorphoses. According to Greek mythology, hexameter...
written by Roger to Maurice of Kirkham, the prior of Kirkham Priory
Kirkham Priory
The ruins of Kirkham Priory are situated on the banks of the River Derwent, at Kirkham, North Yorkshire, England. The Augustinian priory was founded in the 1120s by Walter l'Espec, lord of nearby Helmsley, who also built Rievaulx Abbey...
, are extant and have been published as part of Maurice's works. York remained vacant from Roger's death in 1181 until 1189.