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The Preferments and ‘Adiutores’ of Robert Grosseteste

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2011

J. C. Russell
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina

Extract

In many fields of activity Robert Grosseteste was an important figure in thirteenth-century England. Bishop of Lincoln for nearly two decades (1235–1253), he pursued a vigorous policy as statesman and churchman. He was already a distinguished teacher and chancellor of the University of Oxford. His voluminous writings were more acceptable to his contemporaries than those of any other author. His scientific achievements were such that Professor Sarton has styled a volume of his monumental History of Science, From Robert Grosseteste to Roger Bacon. In death his memory was revered as that of a saint.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College 1933

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References

1 A critical study of the very large number of books attributed to him is being prepared by S. Harrison Thomson.

2 The best is probably Stevenson, F. S., Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, London, 1899.Google Scholar References to the others are in Paetow, L. J., A Guide to the Study of Medieval History, New York, 1931, p. 464.Google Scholar To these should be added Luard's accounts in the Dictionary of National Biography and in the introduction to his edition of the letters of Grosseteste in the Rolls Series (London, 1861).

3 The expression is Bacon's, Roger. Opera Inedita, ed. Brewer, , p. 91Google Scholar.

4 Sharp, D. E., Franciscan Philosophy at Oxford in the Thirteenth Century, Oxford, 1930, p. 12.Google Scholar

5 The original is probably lost but it is enrolled in a cartulary, British Museum, MS Reg. 11 B ix, fol. 25r. It has been published by Dugdale, , Monasticon Anglicanum, V, p. 191Google Scholar.

6 (1) That the Bishop Hugh of the charter is Hugh II (1209–1235) and (2) that Grosseteste was archdeacon of Chester in 1210.

7 There are fifteen names in the list including two abbots, a prior, and two (rural) deans, all with their titles: the absence of title is therefore of some significance. Since Simon of Sewell was treasurer of Lichfield by 1205, there would be no cause for listing him among canons of Lincoln in the time of Hugh II (1209–1235). See Foster, C. W., ed., The Registrum Antiquissimum of the Cathedral Church of Lincoln, I, 254.Google Scholar Roger de Rolveston apparently became archdeacon of Leicester in 1189, succeeding Hamo, who became dean in that year. MS Cotton, Vesp. E xx, fol. 33v in the British Museum. Sometimes archdeacons' titles were omitted in Lincoln charters before 1200, so that the charter may be after 1189. Four of the witnesses appear together in the same order in a charter in which Hamo appears as archdeacon of Leicester: therefore before 1189. British Museum, MS Reg. 11 B ix, fol. 27v.

8 For evidence of the custom of placing the scribes' names last, see my ‘The Significance of Charter Witness Lists in Thirteenth Century England,’ New Mexico Normal University Bulletin, August, 1930, pp. 11 fGoogle Scholar.

9 There is a possibility that ‘Robert Grosseteste’ is a copyist's error for some other R. Grosseteste, such as the Richard or Ralph mentioned below.

10 ‘Solus dominus Robertus propter longitudinem vite sue,’ etc. Compendium Studii Philosophie, ed. Brewer, , London, 1859, p. 472.Google Scholar

11 Luard, H. R., ed. Flores Historiarum (Matthew of Westminster), London, 1890, I, p. xlvi.Google Scholar

12 Giraldi Cambrensis Opera, ed. Brewer, , London, 1861, I, p. 249.Google Scholar

13 Oxford, Balliol College, MS 271, fol. 56v and 88v as a clerk: fol. 6v and 79v status undesignated. His surname is given in the ablative, Grossicapite. He may be the Master Robert of a charter in MS Arundel 19, fol. 31r, a cartulary of Tintern Abbey, in the British Museum.

14 A very systematic study of the diplomatics of the Hereford documents might make a more accurate date possible.

15 He was highly regarded by both Alexander Neckam and Gerald of Wales. The latter thought it worth while to study under William at Lincoln after 1191: it is possible that he may have met Grosseteste there. The name, William of Leicester, sometimes applied to William de Monte, does not seem to be supported by any evidence.

16 For Neckam, , see Russell in English Historical Review, XLVII, 1932, pp. 260268.Google Scholar

17 For these men see Russell in Isis, XVIII, 1932, pp. 1425Google Scholar.

18 A. G. Little in Archivum Franciscanum Historicum, XIX, 1926, pp. 807810.Google Scholar

19 , Sharp, Franciscan Philosophy at Oxford in the Thirteenth Century, p. 10.Google Scholar

20 Haskins, C. H., Studies in the History of Mediaeval Science, 2nd ed., Cambridge, Mass., 1927, p. 227.Google Scholar Miss Sharp does not list this book in her bibliography and apparently does not cite it.

21 Ibid., Chs. II, VI, possibly XIII, and XVIII.

22 This account (in poem no. 127) is edited by Heironimus and Russell in their forthcoming Shorter Latin Poems of Master Henry of Avranches Relating to England (Mediaeval Academy of America).

23 Paetow, L. J., Morale Scolarium of John of Garland, Berkeley, 1927, p. 83.Google Scholar

24 Davis, F. N., ed. Rotuli Hugonis de Welles, Lincoln, 1912-1914, II, pp. 308321.Google Scholar He succeeded a certain W. in the bishop's twentieth year (20 December 1228–19 December 1229) and was succeeded by another W. in the twenty-third year (1231–1232). As archdeacon he witnessed a charter in the twenty-second year: British Museum, MS Cotton, Domitian A. x, fol. 203v. This causes the date of his letter to the Franciscans, written as archdeacon of Leicester, to be postponed from ca. 1225. See Luard's, edition in the Rolls Series, pp. 17 fGoogle Scholar.

25 Luard, , ed. Roberti Grosseteste Episcopi … Epistole, 1861, Rolls Series, p. 43:Google Scholar ‘Noveris quoque quod omnes redditus quos habui, resignavi, preter prebendam quam habeo in ecclesia Lincolniensi.’

de Welles, Rotuli Hugonis, Lincoln, , II, p. 238:Google Scholar ‘Ecclesie sancte Margarete extra muros patronus dominus Lincolniensis et est prebenda Lincolniensis.’

Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, p. 391: ‘Magister R. Grosseteste quondam rector ejusdem ecclesie (S. Margarete).’

26 Rotuli Hugonis de Welles, III, p. 48.

27 Leighton, W. A., ‘Extracts from the Cartulary of Haghmon Abbey, co. Salop,’ Transactions of the Shropshire Archeological and Natural History Society, New Series, I, 1878, p. 182.Google Scholar The editor gives Dan R. G.; Dan presumably stands for ‘dominus.’ In the presentation R. G. is given as deacon, which cannot be a mistake for archdeacon since for the latter the whole title is included. The title, if any, seems to be preferred to the holy orders. See op. cit., III, pp. 15, 16, 24, 100.

28 Wharton, , Anglia Sacra, I, p. 457Google Scholar his statement that Grosseteste was made bishop of Lincoln about 1250 is sufficient indication of his haziness about the bishop's life. Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae, Oxford, 1844, II, p. 55Google Scholar.

29 Jones, W. H. R. and Macray, W. D., Charters and Documents, etc. of Salisbury, London, 1891, Rolls Series, pp. 111113.Google Scholar

30 Jones, W. H. R., The Register of S. Osmund, London, 1884, Rolls Series, I, p. 380Google Scholar II, pp. 16, 130, 133.

31 Richard's name appears as a witness of a charter of Bishop Herbert Poore of Salisbury of about 1198. Brit. Mus. MS Cotton, Claudius C. ix, fol. 182r, 184r. There may have been a contemporary Ralph Grosseteste. He appears in two documents as a papal delegate appointed by Pope Innocent III in a dispute involving the priory of Worcester. Worcester Cathedral, Muniments B 406 (as Master Ralph Grosseteste), and in MS A, iv (Reg. I) of the same cathedral (as Master R. Grosseteste).

32 Salter, H. E., Mediaeval Archives of the University of Oxford, Oxford, 1920, I, p. 10.Google Scholar

33 Salter, H. E., Snappe's Formulary and Other Records, Oxford, 1924, p. 52.Google Scholar But not out of ill will apparently, since the bishop was patron of all the preferments which Grosseteste is known to have held.

34 That he was a professor of theology at Oxford seems clear from evidence preserved by Tanner, , Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, p. 347Google Scholar.

35 Rotuli Hugonis de Welles, II, pp. 208, 321. In the time of Grosseteste an ‘official’ of the archdeacon of Leicester is mentioned only once (p. 312), and that citation does not make it clear whether the official was Robert's or an earlier archdeacon's. The rolls state when officials did the work.

36 Opera Inedita, ed. Brewer, , pp. 91, 472:Google Scholar ‘Grecum et hebreum non scivit sufficienter, ut per se transferred sed habuit multos adiutores.’ An interesting illustration of the way in which Grosseteste acquired books of the Greeks remains in a note on MS 7 of Pembroke College, Cambridge, ‘Memoriale Magistri Roberti Grosseteste pro exameron basilii.’ As M. R. James explains in the library catalogue, “The hand in which this is written is, I believe, Grosseteste's own. The meaning is that the monks (of Bury St. Edmunds) gave him a copy of Basil's Hexaemeron + a rare book which they had, and got this in exchange.”

37 Baur, L., Die Philosophie des Robert Grosseteste, Münster, 1917, p. 42.Google Scholar

Upon the translation of the Ethics by Grosseteste, , Professor Powicke has a noteworthy article in the Proceedings of the British Academy, XVI, 1930.Google Scholar

38 British Museum, MS Egerton 2104a, fol. 80r. The date is furnished by the name of another witness, Philip de Falkenberg, archdeacon of Huntingdon. Le Neve (II, p. 49) indicates that another person was archdeacon in 1216, while Philip died in November or December, 1228; Calendar of Close Rolls, 1227–31, p. 122, Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1225–32, p. 231. The other witnesses are Robert de Lucy, Mr. Geoffrey de Lucy, Mr. Richard de ‘Herclawe,’ Richard Makerel and Nicholas de Seleburne, chaplain. Basingstoke was already a master.

39 Chronica Majora, Rolls Series, V, pp. 284–287.

40 Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, p. 391.

41 Luard, , ed. Roberti Grosseteste … Epistole, London, 1861, Rolls Series, p. 65.Google Scholar

42 Paris, Matthew, Chronica Majora, Rolls Series, IV, p. 152.Google Scholar

43 Ibid., V, pp. 284–287.

44 British Museum, MS Reg. 4 D vii, fol. 246V; ‘assistente eidem clerico Nicholao ab ecclesia beati Albani beneficiato nacione et educatione greco,’ written by Matthew Paris.

45 Paris, Matthew, Chronic a Majora, IV, p. 233.Google Scholar The presentation is recorded in the Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, p. 354. His death is noted in the Gesta Abbatum Monasterii S. Albani, Rolls Series, I, p. 440. He is to be distinguished from a contemporary Master Nicholas of St. Albans: see Paris, Matthew, op. cit. V, p. 261Google Scholar Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, pp. 68, 212, 297; and British Museum, MS Cotton, Julius D iii, fol. 4r.

46 British Museum, MS Cotton, Claudius D xi, fol. 223v.

47 Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, p. 395.

48 Ibid., p. 92. He appears as canon on pp. 93, 104, 112, 113, 118, 237, 332, 336, 428, 435. For 1278, see Bradshaw and Wordsworth, Statutes of Lincoln Cathedral, Cambridge, 1897, II, p. ccviiiGoogle Scholar.

49 Cole, R. E. G., ‘Proceedings relative to the canonization of Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln,’ Associated Architectural Society Reports, XXXIII, 1915-1916, p. 6.Google Scholar

50 Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, p. 300: he also appears as a witness in two charters of Northampton; British Museum, MS Cotton, Tiberius E v, fol. 13r; Oxford, Bodleian, MS Top. Northants, C 5, p. 286.

51 Calendar of Close Rolls, 1237–1242, p. 238.

52 A paraphrase from the chronicle of Nicholas Trivet, ed. , Hog, London, 1845, p. 242:Google Scholar ‘multa de glossis Hebreorum extraxit.’

53 Monumenta Franciscana, London, 1858, Rolls Series, I, p. 204.Google Scholar

54 Chronica Majora, IV, p. 553.

55 Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, pp. 250–256, 389, 391. His predecessor's name was Gilbert. In 1236 a Master W. de Arundel was canon of Exeter; British Museum, Add. Charter 13970. Neve, Le, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae, I, p. 409,Google Scholar indicates a William of Arundel as precentor of Exeter in 1242.

56 Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, p. 269, V year; pp. 272, 273, VI year; p. 277, VII year; p. 289, XI year; p. 290, XII year. Roger on pp. 290, 291.

57 A charter dated on the kalends of February, 1249 is given as of the fourteenth episcopal year, while another of 27 February, 1249 and a third of 7 March, 1249 are of the fifteenth year; Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, pp. 112, and 118. A charter of the second year is dated 1236 in the margin (p. 394), which is less reliable than the other. Hugh of Welles died on the seventh or eighth of February; Paris, Matthew, Chronica Majora, III, p. 306Google Scholar; Pegge, S., The Life of R. Grosseteste, London, 1793, p. 35Google Scholar.

58 For de Mara, see Lamare, , Guil. by E. Longprés in the Dict. de théologie catholique, VIII, cols. 2467–2469, Paris, 1909Google Scholar.

59 Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, p. 497 for the deacon, pp. 495, 499, 501 for the archdeacon of Oxford.

60 Rotuli Ricardi de Gravesend, p. 236 (admission to Syrington rectory in 1259–60), p. 298 (admission to Herlington rectory in 1273); p. 199 (resignation of Eversholt to Robert de la Mare in 1274). He acknowledged in chancery in 1273 that he owed 40s to be levied in default of payment on his lands and chattels in Buckingham and Bedford (where the three churches were); Calendar of Close Rolls, 1272–79, p. 44.