Robert of Melun

Robert of Melun
Bishop of Hereford
Appointed	1163
Term ended	27 February 1167
Predecessor	Gilbert Foliot
Successor	Robert Foliot
Orders
Consecration	22 December 1163 by Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury
Personal details
Born	c. 1100
Died	27 February 1167
Buried	Hereford Cathedral

Robert of Melun (c. 1100 – 27 February 1167) was an English scholastic Christian theologian who taught in France, and later became Bishop of Hereford in England. He studied under Peter Abelard in Paris before teaching there and at Melun, which gave him his surname. His students included John of Salisbury, Roger of Worcester, William of Tyre, and possibly Thomas Becket. Robert was involved in the Council of Reims in 1148, which condemned the teachings of Gilbert de la Porrée. Three of his theological works survive, and show him to have been strictly orthodox.

Robert returned to England in 1160, and was appointed Bishop of Hereford in 1163. King Henry II of England appointed him to the see, or bishopric, and was influenced in his decision by Pope Alexander III and Thomas Becket. Following his consecration, Robert became involved in the dispute between Becket and the king, during which he generally took the king's side. He also served as a papal and a royal judge.

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Until 2013, the Museo del Prado did not possess a single 15th-century French painting. With the recent acquisition of The Agony in the Garden with the Donor Louis I d’Orléans, painted between 1405 and 1408, probably by Colart de Laon, this gap in the Museum’s Permanent Collection has been filled. Now, with the loan from February to May of this masterpiece of 15th-century French painting, visitors to the Museum can complete this part of the collection. Fouquet’s “Madonna” was originally part of a diptych commissioned by Etienne Chevalier, treasurer to the French monarchs Charles VII and Louis XI, for the collegiate church in his native town of Melun where he had commissioned a tomb for himself and his wife, Catherine Budé, who had died in 1452. The diptych consists of a panel depicting Chevalier kneeling with his patron saint, Stephen, which is now in the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, and this panel of The Virgin lactans with the Christ Child and Angels. The difference between the two panels and the way Jean Fouquet, an artist from Tours, painted this one is truly exceptional. Within a totally abstract setting, Fouquet depicts the Virgin and Child with white flesh tones and also uses white for the ermine mantle, which contrasts with the strength of the reds and blues of the angels around the Virgin. The composition is constructed using geometrical formulas, including circles that seem to have been drawn with a compass, in addition to geometrical forms such as hexagons and octagons set in a central circle that encloses the principal part of the composition. This geometrical approach is most evident in the figure of the Virgin, with her almost oval head and bare breast, which refers to the iconography of the nursing Madonna but which seems to be almost a semicircle. The same is true for the other elements. Fouquet was familiar with Flemish art, probably since the early years of his training in France, while he is also known to have been in Italy. This dual Flemish-Italian training and the importance of the northern, specifically French tradition, is also evident in his use of iconography. The angels, red seraphim and blue cherubim, are depicted in the traditional French manner used by earlier miniaturists, and painters, but Fouquet adopts a different approach. He creates a Madonna with angels in the Italian tradition, but painted with this Flemish technique that allows each texture and material to be singled out: rather than giving the angels the texture of polychrome wood to imitate sculptures, as various Flemish painters including Rogier van der Weyden himself had done, Fouquet almost makes them simulate the ceramics that he had seen in Italy, specifically in Florence. We can also see echoes of the Flemish tradition, from Jan van Eyck to many others. This is evident in the way Fouquet paints the light and in these visual effects, as if the onyx of the balls on the Virgin’s throne were a window or a curved mirror, like the one in Jan van Eyck’sThe Arnolfini Marriage. With this work, which is totally unique both within French painting and within the oeuvre of Jean Fouquet, visitors to the Prado will have the chance to be surprised by a painting that reveals a remarkable modernity due to its abstraction and geometrical forms.

Early life

Robert was born in England, probably in about 1100.^[1] Nothing else is known of his background.^[2] He owed his name to the place where he taught, Melun in France.^[3] Robert studied under Peter Abelard and Hugh of St. Victor in Paris, where in 1137 he succeeded Abelard as a teacher in the school on Mont Ste-Geneviève.^[4] John of Salisbury and William of Tyre were among his pupils in Paris.^[5] King Henry II of England's cousin, Roger of Worcester, later the Bishop of Worcester, was another of Robert's students.^[6] He probably also taught Thomas Becket, later Archbishop of Canterbury,^[1]^[7] although this is not certain.^[8]^[9]

Robert went to Melun in 1142 to direct a school,^[4] but returned to Paris in 1147.^[10] He took part in the condemnation of Gilbert de la Porrée at the Council of Rheims in 1148,^[5] working with Peter Lombard to secure Porrée's recantation.^[1] A small consistory court was held after the ending of the council's deliberations, and was attended by Bernard of Clairvaux and Suger of St Denis, along with Robert and Peter. This court forced Porrée to repudiate his views on the Trinity.^[11]^[12] A fellow scholar, Herbert of Bosham, described Robert as a great teacher, who "sent forth from himself, like rays of his light, a great and learned host of students".^[13]

Appointment to Hereford

After teaching as a master of arts^[14] in Paris for over forty years,^[15] Robert was recalled to England by King Henry II in 1160, and was appointed Bishop of Hereford in 1163. He was consecrated at Canterbury on 22 December^[16] by Archbishop Thomas Becket.^[4]^[17]^[a] Becket had been prominent among those recommending Robert for the vacancy at Hereford;^[1] one of Becket's later biographers said that Becket urged the king to find benefices for Englishmen living abroad.^[19] There is some evidence that Pope Alexander III had a hand in Robert's election, as Becket in 1166 reminded Robert and Roger of Worcester that they both owed their episcopates to Alexander.^[20]

Little evidence of Robert's activities survives from his time as bishop, although it is known that he acted as a papal judge-delegate in 1165. Five documents survive from his time at Hereford, as well as confirmations of gifts by previous bishops to Llanthony Priory, which he augmented with another grant of tithes.^[2] He also served as a royal judge.^[21]

Role in the Becket dispute

In 1163, a conflict arose between the king and the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, over the rights of the king in the English church. At a council held at Westminster in October 1163, the king and Becket contended over the question, with the bishops supporting Becket against the king.^[22] Robert was involved in the conflict not only as a bishop-elect, but as an envoy to Becket from the pope, as he accompanied Philip of Aumone, a French abbot, who was sent by Alexander to Becket in after the Council of Westminster to urge Becket not to inflame the situation. Robert went with Philip, probably because it was hoped he would be able to influence Becket.^[17]

Robert was present in January 1164 when the king summoned a council of the barons and the bishops to Clarendon, where the king demanded that both groups swear to uphold the royal rights of Henry's grandfather, King Henry I, without any reservations or conditions. Although Becket at first attempted to resist, he eventually submitted, and then forced the other bishops to swear also.^[23] In October 1164, Becket was accused of denying justice to a royal vassal, tried at a council held at Northampton,^[24] and was found guilty although he did not accept the sentence.^[25] During the trial, Robert attempted to moderate Becket's behaviour, by persuading him from having his archiepiscopal cross, a symbol of spiritual authority, carried in front of him when he entered the court, which would have been an insult to the king.^[2] Shortly after the trial, Robert interceded with the king to order that no injury be done to Becket, who went into voluntary exile.^[26]

Early in Becket's exile, Robert received a papal censure for not doing more to support Becket.^[27] In summer 1165, Robert accompanied Gilbert Foliot, the Bishop of London, on a papal mission to King Henry, to convey to the king Pope Alexander's complaints about the king's behaviour. The king had been preventing his subjects from visiting or appealing to the papacy, and Alexander wished to protest against that, as well as against the king's treatment of Becket.^[28] In 1166, Becket tried to convince Robert to switch sides, writing to Robert in conciliatory tones. John of Salisbury, a supporter of Becket's, prevailed upon two French academics to write to Robert, criticising him for hypocrisy.^[29]

In October 1166, Becket ordered Robert and Roger of Worcester to attend him in France, so they could give him guidance on his dispute with the king. When they informed the king of their intended journey he forbade them to leave England. Nevertheless, they attempted to sneak out of the country in February 1167. They were apprehended on 2 February, and ordered to remain in England not only in the king's name, but also in Alexander's.^[30]

Theology

Robert's theology is expressed in his three surviving works, the Quaestiones de divina pagina, Quaestiones de epistolis Pauli, and the unfinished Sententiae. The dating of the works is problematic, but it appears that the first two works were composed between 1145 and 1157. The Sententiae was revised twice, probably during the 1150s and the 1160s.^[2] His works, especially the Sententiae, cover the entire subject of theology and are strictly orthodox in Christian doctrine.^[5]

Robert's Sententiae, or Summa Theologica, was well known in his time, and has been considered a key connection in theology between Robert's own teachers' works and the works of Peter Lombard.^[1] Robert is the first commentator on St Paul to say that resistance to a tyrant might be vindicated by the Bible. Robert also opined that a king might be excommunicated if royal actions harmed the church. Robert used Gratian's works as sources for his own, citing the Decretum Gratiani. Although he used this work, which dealt with church law, he does not appear to have been considered a lawyer, and his training was that of a theologian. Furthermore, his years as a student predated the establishment of canon law as a distinct discipline in the European schools.^[31] Robert's views of the glossators, and their main work Glossa Ordinaria was that they had shortened their glosses to such a point that they made them unintelligible.^[32] Robert was also known as a logician,^[33] and John of Salisbury named him one of the leading disputatores,^[3] or a person who used rhetoric and logic to debate in public.^[9]

Although Robert condemned Gilbert Porrée in conjunction with Peter Lombard, he did not agree with Lombard's Christology, or views on the nature of Jesus Christ. Likewise, although he disagreed with some of Abelard's teachings, he defended Abelard against charges of heresy. Robert did, however, agree with some of Abelard's teachings and methods. The introduction to the Sententiae proclaims Robert's desire to harmonise the writings of two unnamed scholars, who have been identified by modern writers as Hugh of St Victor and Abelard.^[2]

Death and legacy

Robert died on 27 February 1167.^[16] William fitzStephen, one of Becket's supporters, wrote that Robert died of grief because he was unable to visit Becket in exile.^[30] He was buried in Hereford Cathedral.^[2] Robert enjoyed a good reputation on the continent, for his knowledge and teaching ability, as well as for his personal qualities. Before his appointment to Hereford, John of Salisbury had praised him, but Robert's conduct during the Becket controversy soured John's attitude towards his old teacher.^[1]

Robert's works have been published in four volumes, edited by R. M. Martin. His episcopal documents are in Hereford 1079–1234: English Episcopal Acta Number 7, published in 1993.^[2]

Notes

^ Some authors give a consecration date of 24 December,^[18] and a few medieval sources say he was consecrated sometime in 1164.^[4]

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Knowles Episcopal Colleagues pp. 28–30
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Rampolla "Melun, Robert de" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
^ ^a ^b Barlow English Church pp. 251–252
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Barrow Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 8: Hereford
^ ^a ^b ^c Knowles Evolution of Medieval Thought p. 178–179
^ Knowles Episcopal Colleagues p. 22
^ Warren Henry II p. 473
^ Church English Church p. 256
^ ^a ^b Barlow Thomas Becket p. 20
^ Keats-Rohan Domesday Descendants p. 831
^ Nielsen "Peter Abelard and Gilbert of Poitiers" Medieval Theologians p. 115
^ Barlow Thomas Becket p. 35
^ Quoted in Rampolla "Melun, Robert de" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
^ Barlow Feudal Kingdom of England p. 229
^ Chibnall Anglo-Norman England p. 129
^ ^a ^b Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 250
^ ^a ^b Barlow Thomas Becket pp. 97–98
^ Cheney Roger of Worcester p. 18
^ Cheney Roger of Worcester p. 14
^ Barlow Thomas Becket p. 85
^ Cheney Roger of Worcester p. 139
^ Barlow Thomas Becket pp. 95–96
^ Barlow Thomas Becket pp. 98–99
^ Barlow Thomas Becket pp. 108–109
^ Barlow Thomas Becket pp. 113–114
^ Barlow Thomas Becket pp. 115–116
^ Barlow Thomas Becket p. 135
^ Barlow Thomas Becket p. 137
^ Barlow Thomas Becket pp. 151–152
^ ^a ^b Barlow Thomas Becket p. 160
^ Cheney Roger of Worcester pp. 10–12
^ Swanson "Glossa Ordinaria" Medieval Theologians p. 167
^ Barlow English Church p. 253

References

Barlow, Frank (1979). The English Church 1066–1154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church. New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-50236-5.
Barlow, Frank (1988). The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042–1216 (Fourth ed.). New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-49504-0.
Barlow, Frank (1986). Thomas Becket. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-07175-1.
Barrow, J. S. (2002). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 8: Hereford: Bishops. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 26 October 2007.
Cheney, Mary G. (1980). Roger, Bishop of Worcester 1164–1179: An English Bishop of the Age of Becket. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-821879-6.
Chibnall, Marjorie (1986). Anglo-Norman England 1066–1166. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell Publishers. ISBN 0-631-15439-6.
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. (1999). Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum. Ipswich, UK: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-863-3.
Knowles, David (1951). The Episcopal Colleagues of Archbishop Thomas Becket. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. OCLC 2742571.
Knowles, David (1962). The Evolution of Medieval Thought. London: Longman. OCLC 937364.
Nielsen, Lauge O. (2001). "Peter Abelard and Gilbert of Poitiers". In Evans, G. R. (ed.). The Medieval Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Medieval Period. Malden, MA: Blackwell. pp. 102–128. ISBN 978-0-631-21203-4.
Rampolla, M. L. (2004). "Melun, Robert de (c.1100–1167)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23727. Retrieved 13 February 2009. (subscription or UK public library membership required)
Swanson, Jenny (2001). "The Glossa Ordinaria". In Evans, G. R. (ed.). The Medieval Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Medieval Period. Malden, MA: Blackwell. pp. 156–167. ISBN 978-0-631-21203-4.
Warren, W. L. (1973). Henry II. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03494-5.

v t e Bishops of Hereford
Early Medieval	Putta Tyrhtel Torhthere Walhstod Cuthbert of Canterbury Podda Acca Headda Aldberht Esne Ceolmund Utel Wulfheard Beonna Eadwulf Cuthwulf Mucel Deorlaf Cynemund Edgar Tidhelm Wulfhelm Ælfric Athulf
High Medieval	Æthelstan Leofgar Ealdred Walter of Lorraine Robert de Losinga Gerard Roger Reynelm Geoffrey de Clive Richard de Capella Robert de Bethune Gilbert Foliot Robert of Melun Robert Foliot William de Vere Giles de Braose Hugh de Mapenor Hugh Foliot Ralph de Maidstone Michael Peter of Aigueblanche John de Breton Thomas de Cantilupe Richard Swinefield
Late Medieval	Adam Orleton Thomas Charleton John Trilleck Lewis de Charleton William Courtenay John Gilbert Thomas Trevenant Robert Mascall Edmund Lacey Thomas Polton Thomas Spofford Richard Beauchamp Reginald Boulers John Stanberry Thomas Mylling Edmund Audley
Early modern	Adriano Castellesi Richard Mayew Charles Booth Edward Foxe Edmund Bonner John Skypp John Harley Robert Parfew Thomas Reynolds John Scory Herbert Westfaling Robert Bennet Francis Godwin William Juxon Godfrey Goodman Augustine Lindsell Matthew Wren Theophilus Feild George Coke Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth) Nicholas Monck Herbert Croft Gilbert Ironside Humphrey Humphreys Philip Bisse Benjamin Hoadly Henry Egerton Lord James Beauclerk John Harley John Butler
Late modern	Folliott Cornewall John Luxmoore George Huntingford Edward Grey Thomas Musgrave Renn Hampden James Atlay John Percival Hensley Henson Linton Smith Charles Lisle Carr Richard Parsons Tom Longworth Mark Hodson John Eastaugh John Oliver Anthony Priddis Alistair Magowan (acting) Richard Frith Alistair Magowan (acting) Richard Jackson

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