Robert Bloet - Chancellor and Bishop

Chancellor and Bishop

Bloet was a royal clerk in the household of King William I of England. He accompanied William I's son, William Rufus, when Rufus traveled to England to claim the throne after William I's death. Rufus named Bloet as chancellor by January 1091, but then named Bloet to the see of Lincoln in March 1093 after the death of Remigius de Fécamp. Bloet was appointed at the same time that Anselm was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, during a severe illness when Rufus feared he was dying. Bloet was consecrated at Hastings not long before 22 February 1094, probably on 12 February the day after the dedication of the church at Battle Abbey. By 19 March 1094 he had been replaced as chancellor by William Giffard.

Prior to Bloet's consecration, the Archbishop of York, Thomas of Bayeux, who had previously had a claim to supervise the see of Lincoln, tried to prevent the Archbishop Anselm's consecrating Bloet. Thomas argued that the area of Lindsey, which was within the diocese of Lincoln, really belonged to the archdiocese of York. The medieval chronicler Hugh the Chanter alleged that Bloet gave Rufus £3,000 to intervene on Bloet's side when Thomas attempted to assert York's claim to Lindsey, but another medieval chronicler, Henry of Huntingdon, who knew Bloet well, said that the sum was £5,000. This payment secured Rufus' support in the dispute between York and Lincoln, which was settled in Lincoln's favour. The sum of £5,000 was quite large, eight times what Domesday Book records as the bishop of Lincoln's annual income. The king gave York the abbeys of Selby and St Oswald, Gloucester in return for the settlement in favour of Lincoln. Bloet also refused to profess obedience to Anselm, but when King William intervened on Anselm's side, Bloet made the profession to Anselm.

Bloet was one of the chief administrative officers of the kingdom under William II, often associated with Ranulf Flambard, Urse d'Abetot, and Haimo the dapifer. As a bishop, he moved the newly founded monastery of Stow to Eynsham instead. This church was considered a proprietary church and the bishops of Lincoln retained the right to appoint the abbot and installing the abbot in office. The monks of Stow had been established by his predecessor. Bloet also gave to the priory of Bermondsey, which became a Cluniac priory during Rufus' reign.

Even after becoming a bishop, Bloet continued to witness royal writs, witnessing six of Rufus' writs while bishop, to add to his 11 witnessed writs during his chancellorship. Bloet was one of the bishops in 1097 that attempted to persuade Anselm when the archbishop was in a dispute with Rufus over traveling to Rome to consult with the papacy. When Anselm refused to be persuaded not to go, the king ordered him to leave the kingdom, with the support of most of the bishops and nobility.