Robert Bloet - Death and Legacy

Death and Legacy

Bloet was a married bishop, and he appointed his son Simon as Dean of Lincoln. It was in Bloet's household that the medieval historian Henry of Huntingdon was brought up. He died on 10 January 1123 at Woodstock, Oxfordshire and was buried at Lincoln. He had a sudden fit while out riding with King Henry and Roger of Salisbury, the Bishop of Salisbury, and collapsed in the king's arms before dying shortly thereafter without absolution, which combined with his style of living led many contemporaries to conclude he was condemned to Hell. His last words were "Lord king, I am dying" which he uttered right before collapsing into Henry's arms. His entrails were buried at Eynsham, but the rest of his body was buried in Lincoln Cathedral near the southern entrance in front of St. Mary's altar.

Henry of Huntingdon records that noblemen sent their children to be educated at Bloet's household, whether or not they were destined for a career in the church. King Henry's illegitimate son Robert of Gloucester was educated in Bloet's care. Another illegitimate son of Henry's, Richard of Lincoln, was also in Bloet's household for an education. Gilbert of Sempringham, who founded the Gilbertine Order, was also educated in Bloet's household, entering it before Bloet's death and continuing there under Bloet's successor Alexander of Lincoln. Besides educating laymen, Bloet educated his own household clergy, including sending some of them to study under Ivo, Bishop of Chartres. He was known for his ostentatious manner of living, and served personally in war when needed. The medieval chronicler William of Malmesbury claimed that he hated monks. Henry of Huntingdon, however, remembered him as handsome, cheerful and affable. Earlier in his episcopate, Bloet had aided Christina of Markyate's family in their attempts to get the religious hermit to marry, at one point giving a judicial judgement that she must marry, which she refused to do. It was only after Bloet's death that Christina was able to be consecrated as a recluse at St Albans Abbey.