Roger of Salisbury

The rise and the struggle for investor

In his youth, Roger was a clergyman in a small church in Normandy , near Caen . According to legend ^[1] , Henry Bocklerk , the future king of England , having once visited this church, was amazed at the speed with which Roger reads liturgical books during the Mass , and took him to the service. Obviously Roger did not have any regular education, but early discovered the talent of the administrator. Immediately after the accession of Heinrich Bocklerc to the English throne, in 1101 the king appointed Roger Chancellor of England. A year later, at the direction of the King, Roger was elected Bishop of Salisbury. At this time, a struggle broke out in the country for investorism between Henry I and Anselm , Archbishop of Canterbury . Roger fully supported the king and accepted from him secular investment in the land holdings of the Salisbury Bishopric even before his ordination . In response, Anselm, supported by the pope , refused to recognize Roger and several other bishops who had homage to the king, and in 1105 the pope excommunicated them. Only after long negotiations, in 1107, the parties came to a compromise: Anselm recognized the bishops appointed by the king, who in return renounced the right to secular investment. In the same year, Roger was ordained according to church canon by Bishop of Salisbury.

At the head of the royal administration

By the end of the 1100s, Roger took one of the central places in the administration of King Henry I, becoming his right hand and the de facto head of the apparatus of government. He was appointed supreme judge and during the private and lengthy trips of Henry I to Normandy replaced the king in England. His administrative talents were highly valued by the king, and his innovations contributed to improving the efficiency of public administration. It is with the name of Roger of Salisbury that the establishment in England of the Chamber of the Chessboard , the supreme organ of financial management and control and the Supreme Court of Finance, is connected. The first documentary information about the Chamber dates back to 1110 , later similar bodies were created in the Norman Duchy and Scotland . Roger of Salisbury was also probably the initiator of the creation of traveling vessels , did a lot for the development of such a management tool as court orders and implemented a number of other measures that streamlined the central and local administration in England.

The bishop's influence was so great that, according to the general opinion of contemporaries, in terms of his power, he was the second person after the king in England. This is confirmed by the fact that many court orders and royal orders of that time along with the signature of Henry I bear the signature of Roger of Salisbury. Roger's nephews, Bishops of Ely and Lincoln , also occupied important positions in the central administration of the state, and his son Roger le Poet was appointed Chancellor of England in 1135 . William de Corbeil , Archbishop of Canterbury since 1123, was also a protege of Roger of Salisbury. Particularly strong control was established over the country's financial management bodies: relatives of Roger of Salisbury held the post of Lord Treasurer of England and led the Chessboard Chamber until the end of the 12th century .

The leading role of Roger in the management system of England during the reign of Henry I allowed him and his family to accumulate great wealth. On the orders of the bishop, luxurious castles were built in Divisis and Cherburn , which, according to William of Newburgh , claimed to be the most "incomparable" in the kingdom. Roger's nephews also erected several fortified castles on the territory of their bishoprics and organized their own detachments of armed knights, which displeased the clergy and the hereditary aristocracy of the country. Roger himself, although he was a clergyman, did not comply with the rules of celibacy and openly lived with his mistress Matilda Ramsbury , from whom he had an illegitimate son.

Fall

By the time of the death of King Henry I in 1135, Roger of Salisbury almost completely controlled the state administration of the country. Although back in 1127, Roger recognized the daughter of Henry I, Empress Matilda, and he persuaded the English aristocracy to take the oath of allegiance to England, but, being a political opponent of the growing influence of the Anjou dynasty , he withdrew from the support of Matilda after her marriage to Geoffrey of Anjou . Immediately after the death of Henry I, Roger of Salisbury sided with Stephen Bloisch , and it was the support of Roger, as well as the Church of England, that ensured Stephen's unhindered accession to the royal throne.

However, the influence and wealth of Roger and his family displeased a significant part of the English barons, especially the house of de Beaumont , headed by brothers Robert and Valeran . With the outbreak of the civil war in England between supporters of King Stephen and Empress Matilda in 1139, the nephews of Roger, Bishops Ile and Lincoln Nigel and Adelelm, were accused of intention to go to the side of Matilda. Taking advantage of the skirmish on the streets of Oxford , in which the people of the bishop participated, King Stephen arrested Roger of Salisbury and ordered him to hand over the locks controlled by Roger and his family. After a short defense, the castle of Devises, which was defended by Bishop Ili, surrendered to the king. Stefan's troops quickly occupied the rest of Roger's possessions and seized his vast wealth. However, this aroused the indignation of the English church. Under pressure from Heinrich Winchester, the king was forced to free Roger. Despite this, a significant part of the English clergy became disillusioned with the king and took the side of Empress Matilda, which caused an aggravation of the civil war in the country and contributed to the defeat and capture of Stephen in 1141 .

Bishop Roger died shortly after his release in Salisbury.

• William of Newburgh . History of England (Russian)
• Kealey EJ Roger of Salisbury, viceroy of England. - Berkeley: University of California Press, - 1972.
• Poole AL From Domesday Book to Magna Carta 1087-1216. - Oxf. 1956.