Gilbert Foliot - Early Life

Early Life

Foliot was probably the son of Robert Foliot—steward to David, Earl of Huntingdon and heir to the Scottish throne—and Robert's wife Agnes, sister of Robert de Chesney, Bishop of Lincoln. Whatever his parentage, Gilbert was certainly Robert de Chesney's nephew; another of his uncles, Reginald, was a monk of Gloucester Abbey and Abbot of Evesham Abbey. Other ecclesiastics in his family included Robert Foliot, a later Bishop of Hereford perhaps from an Oxford branch of the family, and two earlier Bishops of London, Richard de Beaumis the elder and Richard de Beaumis the younger, Gilbert also referred to Richard of Ilchester, later Bishop of Winchester, as a kinsman, but the exact relationship is unknown. William de Chesney, a partisan of Stephen's and a leading Oxfordshire layman, was another of Foliot's uncles, and Miles of Gloucester, Earl of Hereford, was a cousin. In about 1145 Foliot intervened to secure the release of a knight to whom he was related, Roger Foliot, but their precise relationship is unknown.

Born about 1110, Foliot became a monk of Cluny, probably in about 1130. He became Prior of Cluny Abbey, then Prior of Abbeville, a Cluniac house. There are some indications that he studied law at Bologna, and he may have studied under Robert Pullen, the English theologian, either at Oxford or Exeter. He also acquired a knowledge of rhetoric as well as the liberal arts. The names of two of his early teachers are known, but nothing else of them. Foliot also learned biblical exegesis, probably from Pullen.

Foliot attended the Second Lateran Council, called by Pope Innocent II. It opened on 4 April 1139, and among other matters heard an appeal from the Empress Matilda concerning her claim to the throne of England. Matilda was the daughter and only surviving legitimate child of King Henry I, but following her father's death in late 1135 her cousin Stephen, the son of Henry's sister, had seized the crown. By 1139 Matilda had gathered supporters and was contesting Stephen's right to the throne.

In about 1143 Foliot wrote an account of the proceedings of the council in a letter to one of Matilda's supporters. No action was taken on her claim, and no conclusion was reached as to its validity. The papacy continued to accept Stephen as king, and the pope ordered the English Church to make no changes to the status quo. According to Foliot's letter the council's deliberations centred on the legitimacy of the marriage between Matilda's parents. Matilda's mother, Edith-Matilda, had been educated at a convent, and there was some uncertainty over whether she had taken vows before her marriage to Henry I. At the time of the council, the question caused some concern, although in time most were persuaded that the marriage was valid because Anselm of Canterbury had performed the ceremony. Foliot seems to have had some doubts in 1139, but before writing his letter of 1143 he had come to believe that Matilda was indeed the legitimate heiress, and he supported the Angevin cause, as Matilda's claim was known.