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Harvard Theological Review Volume 26 Issue 3-4 1933 (Doi 10.1017/S0017816000005265) Russell, J. C. - The Preferments and Adiutores' of Robert Grosseteste PDF
Harvard Theological Review Volume 26 Issue 3-4 1933 (Doi 10.1017/S0017816000005265) Russell, J. C. - The Preferments and Adiutores' of Robert Grosseteste PDF
Harvard Theological Review Volume 26 Issue 3-4 1933 (Doi 10.1017/S0017816000005265) Russell, J. C. - The Preferments and Adiutores' of Robert Grosseteste PDF
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I N MANY fields of activity Robert Grosseteste was an important figure in thirteenth-century England. Bishop of Lincoln
for nearly two decades (1235-1253), he pursued a vigorous
policy as statesman and churchman. He was already a distinguished teacher and chancellor of the University of Oxford.
His voluminous writings 1 were more acceptable to his contemporaries than those of any other author. His scientific
achievements were such that Professor Sarton has styled a
volume of his monumental History of Science, From Robert
Grosseteste to Roger Bacon. In death his memory was revered
as that of a saint.
Such a career as that of Grosseteste has naturally been the
subject of numerous biographies. The years of his episcopate
and his knowledge of philosophy and theology have bulked
large in these studies, since their sources are abundant and
good.2 In comparison the sources for the other phases of his
life are meagre. Moreover, to the nucleus of accurate data
conjectures have been added which have been repeated by
bibliographers until they have an unjustified semblance of
worth. An examination of the sources already known supplemented by the addition of new material makes possible some
revisions in the biography of Grosseteste, especially in regard
to his preferments and to his 'adiutores,' his helpers in the use
of ancient language.3
The preferments and helpers of Grosseteste are, of course,
1
A critical study of the very large number of books attributed to him is being
prepared by S. Harrison Thomson.
1
The best is probably F. S. Stevenson, Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln,
London, 1899. References to the others are in L. J. Paetow, A Guide to the Study of
Medieval History, New York, 1981, p. 464. To these should be added Luard's accounts
in the Dictionary of National Biography and in the introduction to his edition of the
letters of Grosseteste in the Rolls Series (London, 1861).
' The expression is Roger Bacon's. Opera Inedita, ed. Brewer, p. 91.
162
HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
interesting in themselves, and they are also interesting for the
clues which they give to his intellectual life. For a scholar of
his preeminence, curiously little is known of his education and
professional career. His writings contain few autobiographical
remarks, and his admirer, Roger Bacon, fails to give much information upon this subject. We are thus reduced to such hints
as are given by a study of his preferments. They suggest that
he may have studied at certain places. They enable us to examine the bibliographical tradition that Grosseteste held four
archdeaconries, a very unusual holding which would have
taken up most of his time if he had given his duties the attention which we should expect of a man of his conscience. As to
his helpers, we may question Bacon's statement that Grosseteste mastered the languages, Hebrew and Greek, late in
life. Bacon's reputation for accuracy is hardly sufficient to offset the inherent improbability that an aged prelate would have
the time or energy to devote to such a task.
A recent sketch of Grosseteste's life until he became bishop
gives the following outline (the points to which exception may
be taken are italicized):4
Grosseteste was born about 1175 at Slradbroke in Suffolk. He studied at
Oxford, and having become proficient in law, medicine, and the natural
sciences, he soon acquired distinction as a teacher at the University. Shortly
after 1208 he was appointed Master of the Oxford schools, the holder of
which office was first termed 'Chancellor' in the Legatine Ordinance of
1214.. Grosseteste then held in succession the archdeaconries of Chester,
Northampton, and Leicester until 1232, when he decided to retain only his
prebend at Lincoln. Between 1229 and 1235 he was the first reader in theology to the Franciscans. In 1235 he accepted the bishopric of Lincoln. . . .
ROBERT GROSSETESTE
163
ally assigned to it, 1209, is apparently based upon two conjectures, both probably wrong.6 A comparison of it with other
Lincoln charters shows that it must be of the time of Hugh I
(1186-1200); probably it is to be placed before Roger de Rolveston became dean in 1195 and even before William de Monte
was made chancellor a few years earlier; possibly it is even of
the years 1186-1189.7 In this list of witnesses the name, Master
Robert Grostete, occupies the last place. He was probably a
person then of no great importance, hardly a canon since his
name follows those of the rural deans, but possibly the scribe
of the charter.8 Grosseteste was thus a master at least sixty
years and possibly sixty-five years before his death, if we accept the charter transcript as trustworthy.9 We have, however,
Bacon's testimony that Grosseteste lived to a great age.10 The
date of his birth, if he was at Lincoln and a master by 1189
must be placed at least as far back as 1170 and possibly earlier.
Stradbroke as his birthplace seems a very late conjecture.11
For a long time the letter of Gerald of Wales congratulating
Bishop William de Vere of Hereford (1186-1199) upon taking
Master Robert Grosseteste into his household and acquaint (1) That the Bishop Hugh of the charter is Hugh II (1209-1235) and (2) that
Grosseteste was archdeacon of Chester in 1210.
7
There are fifteen names in the list including two abbots, a prior, and two (rural)
deans, all with their titles: the absence of title is therefore of some significance. Since
Simon of Sewell was treasurer of Lichfield by 1205, there would be no cause for listing
him among canons of Lincoln in the time of Hugh II (1209-1235). See C. W. Foster,
ed., The Registrant Antiquissimum of the Cathedral Church of Lincoln, I, 254. Roger
de Rolveston apparently became archdeacon of Leicester in 1189, succeeding Hamo,
who became dean in that year. MS Cotton, Vesp. E xx, fol. 33V in the British Museum.
Sometimes archdeacons' titles were omitted in Lincoln charters before 1200, so that
the charter may be after 1189. Four of the witnesses appear together in the same order
in a charter in which Hamo appears as archdeacon of Leicester: therefore before 1189.
British Museum, MS Reg. 11 B ix, fol. 27T.
8
For evidence of the custom of placing the scribes' names last, see my 'The Significance of Charter Witness l i s t s in Thirteenth Century England,' New Mexico Normal
University Bulletin, August, 1930, pp. 11 f.
There is a possibility that 'Robert Grosseteste' is a copyist's error for some other
R. Grosseteste, such as the Richard or Ralph mentioned below.
10
'Solus dominus Robertus propter longitudinem vite sue,' etc. Compendium
Studii Philosophic ed. Brewer, London, 1859, p. 472.
11
H. R. Luard, ed. Flores Historiarum (Matthew of Westminster), London, 1890,
I, p. xlvi.
164
ROBERT GROSSETESTE
165
In one respect Grosseteste's scholarly achievements have
probably been overestimated, as in the following statement.19
Grosseteste is, nevertheless, the first Englishman to assimilate the new
learning of Aristotle and the Arabs. His commentaries on the Posterior
Analytics, the Sophistic Elenchi, the Physics, and the Metaphysics (no
longer extant) are the earliest originating in the Christian Occident.
166
HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
When he resigned his livings in the autumn of 1232 because of
illness, he stated in a letter that he was retaining a prebend
in Lincoln cathedral, which seems to have been the church of
St. Margaret of Leicester.25 Of his other preferments but one
is certain, the church of Abbotsley, to which he was presented
by the bishop of Lincoln on 25 April, 1225.26
In the record of his presentation to Abbotsley and as a witness of a charter of Hugh Foliot, bishop of Hereford (12191234) his name appears without title.27 Since the title, archdeacon, is normally given together with the name of the archdeaconry in the documents, the lack of such designation creates
the presumption that the person did not hold the office. For
want of positive evidence Wharton's suggestion that Grosseteste
was archdeacon of Chester in 1210 and the unsupported statement that he was archdeacon of Northampton in the Fasti
Ecclesiae Anglicanae are not convincing.28 For his holding of
the archdeaconry of Wiltshire stronger evidence has been
alleged.
Along with the archdeaconry of Wiltshire he is said to have
held the rectory of Calne: both in the diocese of Salisbury. At
Calne, according to the story, he was followed by St. Edmund
Rich. Such a succession of great men makes a pleasant tale
which one is naturally sorry to destroy. The only basis for it
is that, in an account of a difficulty over tithes at Berwick
" Luard, ed. Roberti Grosseteste Episcopi . . . Epistole, 1861, Rolls Series, p. 43:
' Noveris quoque quod omnes redditus quos habui, resignavi, preter prebendam quam
habeo in ecclesia Lincolniensi.'
Rotuli Hugonis de Welles, Lincoln, II, p. 238: 'Ecclesie sancte Margarete extra muros patronus dominus Lincolniensis et est prebenda Lincolniensis.'
Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, p. 391: 'Magister R. Grosseteste quondam rector ejusdem ecclesie (S. Margarete).'
Rotuli Hugonis de Welles, III, p. 48.
17
W. A. Leighton, 'Extracts from the Cartulary of Haghmon Abbey, co. Salop,'
Transactions of the Shropshire Archeological and Natural History Society, New
Series, I, 1878, p. 182. The editor gives Dan R. G.; Dan presumably stands for
'dominus.' In the presentation R. G. is given as deacon, which cannot be a mistake
for archdeacon since for the latter the whole title is included. The title, if any, seems
to be preferred to the holy orders. See op. cit., I l l , pp. 15, 16, 24, 100.
28
Wharton, Anglia Sacra, I, p. 457; his statement that Grosseteste was made bishop
of Lincoln about 1250 is sufficient indication of his haziness about the bishop's life.
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae, Oxford, 1844, II, p. 55.
ROBERT GROSSETESTE
167
Basset of about 1220, the archdeacon of Wiltshire is twice given
the name, Robert Grosseteste, which is clearly a mistake for
Richard.29 Even in that document the name appears five
times as Richard, while all the references in the Salisbury cartulary call the archdeacon R. or Richard.30 This Richard may
have been a relative of Robert, but the only evidence seems to
be the similarity of an unusual name Grosseteste.31
Grosseteste, it seems, held no important ecclesiastical position until 1229. Probably he was the first chancellor of Oxford
(by 1221);32 the bishop of Lincoln may only have acknowledged
him as Master of the Schools.33 How much earlier he was chancellor or teacher at Oxford is unknown: 1208 and 1214 are apparently conjectures.34 Upon becoming archdeacon in 1229
Grosseteste seems to have performed his duties in person.35
Probably, then, he did not become lecturer to the Franciscans
until he resigned his preferments in 1232.
"Grosseteste did not know Greek and Hebrew well enough
to translate by himself," said Roger Bacon, " but he had many
helpers." M If the helpers can be identified the time in his life
28
W. H. R. Jones and W. D . Macray, Charters and Documents, etc. of Salisbury,
London, 1891, Rolls Series, pp. 111-118.
10
W. H. R. Jones, The Register of S. Osmund, London, 1884, Rolls Series, I, p. 380;
II, pp. 16, 180, 133.
n
Richard's name appears as a witness of a charter of Bishop Herbert Foore of
Salisbury of about 1198. Brit. Mus. MS Cotton, Claudius C. ix, fol. 182r, 184r. There
may have been a contemporary Ralph Grosseteste. He appears in two documents
as a papal delegate appointed by Pope Innocent III in a dispute involving the priory
of Worcester. Worcester Cathedral, Muniments B 406 (as Master Ralph Grosseteste),
and in MS A, iv (Reg. I) of the same cathedral (as Master R. Grosseteste).
32
H . E . Salter, Mediaeval Archives of the University of Oxford, Oxford, 1920, I,
p. 10.
33
H . E . Salter, Snappe's Formulary and Other Records, Oxford, 1924, p. 52. B u t
not out of ill will apparently, since the bishop was patron of all the preferments which
Grosseteste is known t o have held.
34
T h a t he was a professor of theology a t Oxford seems clear from evidence preserved b y Tanner, Bibliotheca Britannico-Hibernica, p . 847.
35
Rotuli Hugonis de Welles, II, pp. 208,321. In the time of Grosseteste an 'official'
of the archdeacon of Leicester is mentioned only once (p. 312), and that citation does
not make it clear whether the official was Robert's or an earlier archdeacon's. The
rolls state when officials did the work.
* Opera Inedita, ed. Brewer, pp. 91, 472: 'Grecum et hebreum non scivit sufficienter, ut per se transferred sed habuit multos adiutores.' An interesting illustration of the
168
in which he was most interested in translation may be determined or at least conjectured. Some persons have already been
called his helpers: Adam Marsh, Thomas of Wales, Nicholas
of St. Albans, and John of Basingstoke.37 There is no direct
evidence that the first two were of as much assistance to him
as the other two. Some additional facts may be added about
Nicholas and John, and two other men may be conjectured to
have also been 'adiutores.' The special interest of the other
two, William of Arundel and William de Mara, is that they
were acquainted with Hebrew.
John of Basingstoke turns up as a witness of a charter of
Isabelle de Lucy (between 1216 and 1228), an item which seems
to have no connection with the rest of his known career.38 His
academic life has long been known through Matthew Paris'
enthusiastic description.39 Like many other young Englishmen
he had gone to Paris to study, but unlike most of them he proceeded to Athens. There he is alleged to have had as instructor
a youthful prodigy not yet twenty but already a scholar and
a seer, Constantia by name. There also, he had heard of a
famous book, the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs. Upon
returning to England he had recommended the book to Grosseteste who had sent for it. Basingstoke appeared as archdeacon of Leicester on 1 April 1235, that is, so shortly after
Grosseteste's election as bishop that it is a question whether
way in which Grosseteste acquired books of the Greeks remains in a note on MS 7 of
Pembroke College, Cambridge, 'Memoriale Magistri Roberti Grosseteste pro exameron
basilii.' As M. R. James explains in the library catalogue, "The hand in which this is
written is, I believe, Grosseteste's own. The meaning is that the monks (of Bury St.
Edmunds) gave him a copy of Basil's Hexaemeron + a rare book which they had, and
got this in exchange."
v
L. Baur, Die Philosophic des Robert Grosseteste, Miinster, 1917, p. 42.
Upon the translation of the Ethics by Grosseteste, Professor Powicke has a noteworthy article in the Proceedings of the British Academy, XVI, 1980.
88
British Museum, MS Egerton 2104a, fol. 80r. The date is furnished by the name
of another witness, Philip de Falkenberg, archdeacon of Huntingdon. Le Neve (II,
p. 49) indicates that another person was archdeacon in 1216, while Philip died in November or December, 1228; Calendar of Close Rolls, 1227-31, p. 122, Calendar of
Patent Rolls, 1225-32, p. 231. The other witnesses are Robert de Lucy, Mr. Geoffrey
de Lucy, Mr. Richard de 'Herclawe,' Richard Makerel and Nicholas de Seleburne,
chaplain. Basingstoke was already a master.
39
Chronica Majora, Rolls Series, V, pp. 284-287.
ROBERT GROSSETESTE
169
he was appointed by the previous bishop.40 In one of his letters Grosseteste speaks of the archdeacon in terms which seem
to imply intimacy,41 and with another archdeacon, William of
Arundel, he represented the bishop in a dispute in 1241.a He
died in 1252, a year before Grosseteste.43
In the translation of the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs
Bishop Grosseteste had the assistance of Nicholas Grecus, by
birth and education a Greek.44 He was given as a benefice the
church of Dachet by the monastery of St. Albans in 1239 or
1240, which he held until his death in 1279.45 We should like
to suggest that he was a son of the Master Aristotle who appears in England about the end of the twelfth century, but our
only evidence is a charter which has as two of its witnesses
Master Aristotle and his son, Nicholas.46
By 6 April 1236, already a master, he appears on the episcopal
rolls of Lincoln as one of the bishop's clerks.47 He was promoted to be a canon of Lincoln by 14 September 1246 and was
still serving in 1278.48 His collaboration in translation probably
placed him on terms of intimacy with the bishop so that it is
not surprising that he was sent to Rome to assist in securing the
canonization of Grosseteste during the papacy of Alexander
IV (1254-1261).49 Another Greek, Master Robert, appears in
40
170
HARVARD THEOLOGICAL REVIEW
the records, but as yet there seems no evidence to associate him
with either Nicholas Grecus or Grosseteste.50
Only occasionally does such an administrative order as a
royal mandate to a sheriff give a clue to literary history. A
clue is evident in a letter close of 28 June 1240 by which the
king ordered the sheriff of Huntingdon to allow the archdeacon
of Huntingdon to have a Jew with him to help in the translation of a certain tract for the conversion of the Jews.81 An
archdeacon in the diocese of Lincoln in 1240 interested in Hebrew might well be among the 'adiutores' who helped the bishop
'extract much from the glosses of the Hebrews.'62 A letter
of Adam Marsh states that a certain 'interpretatio Biblie' corrected by this archdeacon, William of Arundel, about which
John of Basingstoke had asked had not been given to the friars
minor of Oxford.53 'Interpretatio Biblie' usually designated a
glossary giving the meaning of Hebrew words in the Bible. One
other notice arouses our interest. Among the events of March
and April 1246 Matthew Paris records the following obituary:64
Et circa idem tempus mag. Robertus de Harundel, qui in Hebreo idiomate fuerat peritissimus et multa de Hebreo in Latinum fideliter transtulerat
humanis rebus exemptus, mundum salutavit.
ROBERT GROSSETESTE
171
From the fifth to the twelfth year there are occasional references to him, but in the last year his successor, Roger of Raveningham is mentioned twice.66 Since Grosseteste dated his episcopal year from sometime within the first twenty-six days of
February, probably from the death of his predecessor, following
the custom of English royalty, the twelfth year of his episcopate
included the period, February 1246 to February 1247." Since
the death of 'Robert of Arundel' fell within this same period
the identity of the two seems probable.
William de Mara, an English Franciscan who possessed an
exceptional knowledge of Greek and Hebrew, is the other
scholar who may have been one of the bishop's 'adiutores' in
languages. An English Franciscan skilled in those languages
was almost certainly educated in the Oxford school of the order
which was in close touch with Grosseteste.88 Although de
Mara's career reached its zenith nearly thirty years after Grosseteste's death, a series of sermons still extant shows that he
preached at Lincoln in the decade, 1260-1270. His career, thus
pushed back toward the time of Grosseteste, may be brought
within the bishop's time if we may identify him with the
deacon of the same name presented to a living in the diocese of
Lincoln in 1250 or 1251, or with the official of the same name
who presented the deacon.89 One or the other of these men or
perhaps a third held several livings from 1259 to 1274 in the
same diocese.60 The Franciscan had a magnificent career at
Gilbert. In 1236 a Master W. de Arundel was canon of Exeter; British Museum, Add.
Charter 13970. Le Neve, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae, I, p. 400, indicates a William of
Arundel as precentor of Exeter in 1242.
Eotuli Roberti Grosseteste, p. 269, V year; pp. 272,273, VI year; p. 277, VII year;
p. 289, XI year; p. 290, XII year. Roger on pp. 290, 291.
*7 A charter dated on the kalends of February, 1249 is given as of the fourteenth
episcopal year, while another of 27 February, 1249 and a third of 7 March, 1249 are
of the fifteenth year; Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, pp. 112, and 118. A charter of the
second year is dated 1236 in the margin (p. 394), which is less reliable than the other.
Hugh of Welles died on the seventh or eighth of February; Matthew Paris, Chronica
Majora, III, p. 806; S. Pegge, The Life of R. Grosseteste, London, 1793, p. 35.
58
For de Mara, see Lamare, Guil. by E. Longprls in the Diet, de theologie catholique, VIII, cols. 2467-2469, Paris, 1909.
" Rotuli Roberti Grosseteste, p. 497 for the deacon, pp. 495, 499, 501 for the archdeacon of Oxford.
* Rotuli Ricardi de Gravesend, p. 236 (admission to Syrington rectory in 1259-
172