Roger of Salisbury

“ POOR or PAUPER, HERBERT (d. 1217) , bishop of Salisbury, was son of Richard of Ilchester, bishop of Winchester [see Richard] (Madox, Formulare Anglicanum, pp. 47, 52) . Richard Poor [q. v.] , who succeeded him as bishop of Salisbury, was his younger brother. Dr. Stubbs suggests that he was connected with Roger Poor [see Roger] , and therefore also with Roger of Salisbury and Richard FitzNeale. ”

“ S. Anselm had lived just long enough to accomplish the settlement of the investitures, but not to direct its working or experience its results. On his death early in 1109 Henry so far fell back into his brother’s evil ways as to keep the metropolitan see vacant for five years. The supreme direction of affairs in the Church as well as in the state was thus left in the hands of the party represented by Roger of Salisbury. Roger’s policy and that of his master was indeed less flagrantly insulting to religion than that of Rufus and Flambard ”

“ In ordinary course the chancellorship would have led to a bishopric, and possibly the chancellor is the Robert who was bishop of Messina, 1151–66. There is curious parallelism between the characters of Roger of Salisbury and of Robert of Salesby, as sketched by John of Salisbury. Robert was active, and without much learning, very shrewd in the administration of affairs; a man of eloquence, and one whose character commanded respect, while the splendid scale of his expenditure displayed the magnificence of his race (Policr. vii. 19) . ”

“ After five years of vacancy the metropolitan chair of Canterbury was still too vividly haunted by memories of S. Anselm for Henry and Roger to venture on trying to fill it from the ranks of the latter’s party; theyi.68 gave it to Anselm’s old friend and suffragan, Ralf, bishop of Rochester. [187] But when Ralf, who at the time of his election was already an aged man, died in 1122, the seculars, headed by Roger of Salisbury, made a successful effort to secure a non-monastic primate. ”

“ I have frequently heard Roger, bishop of Salisbury, say, that he was freed from the oath he had taken to the empress: for that he had sworn conditionally, that the king should not marry his daughter to any one out of the kingdom without his consent, or that of the rest of the nobility: that none of them advised the match, or indeed knew of it, except Robert, earl of Gloucester, and Brian Fitzcount, and the bishop of Louviers. Nor do I relate this merely because I believe the assertion of a man who knew how to accommodate himself to every varying time, as fortune ordered it ”

“ In the reign of king Henry I., when the mother church was as celebrated for her affluence as for her sanctity (two qualities which are seldom found thus united) , the daughter not yet being in existence (and I sincerely wish she never had been produced) , the fame of so much religion attracted hither Roger, bishop of Salisbury, who was at that time prime minister; for it is virtue to love virtue, even in another man, and a great proof of innate goodness to show a detestation of those vices which hitherto have not been avoided. ”

“ In this new office Roger acquitted himself so well, that Henry, on his accession, advanced him to the chancellorship, and in 1107 to the see of Salisbury. He became one of the ablest financiers of the age, and a great builder of churches and castles.
Of the principal nobles of England and Normandy, it is probable that only a few were present. Some were in the Holy Land with Robert; others, dissatisfied at the usurpation of his younger brother, remained in their respective castles, silently preparing to assert the right of the lawful heir to the throne. ”

“ The next step was to secure the goodwill and co-operation of the clergy; and in this respect his brother, the bishop, again rendered aid. Roger, Bishop of Salisbury, chief functionary of the kingdom, was secured by bribes and promises, and these two [169] ecclesiastics endeavoured to prevail upon William, Archbishop of Canterbury, to administer the royal unction to the usurper. The primate, who was a conscientious man, refused consent, and a dishonourable expedient was then resorted to to overcome his opposition. ”

“ Besides his castle-building, William of Malmesbury relates that Roger made new the cathedral of Salisbury, and adorned it so that there was none finer in England (Gesta Regum, p. 484) . Nor was Roger unmindful of the temporal welfare of his see. Through his influence with Henry I and Stephen additional endowments and prebends were obtained for the cathedral (cf. Reg. St. Osmund, vol. ii. pp. xlvii–viii; Sarum Charters, pp. 5–10) . He also annexed to his see the abbeys of Malmesbury and Abbotsbury, which after his death recovered their independence (Will. Malm. Hist. Nov. pp. 559–560) . ”

“ He was entertained there by Robert of Salisbury (or Selby) , the English chancellor of King Roger. Meanwhile his relatives and partisans in Yorkshire had revenged his wrongs by burning and plundering Fountains Abbey, the centre of the Cistercian opposition to him (Walbran, p. 101) . ”

“ He died in 1099, and in spite of his tomb being removed to the cathedral in 1226 and a stately shrine erected later, a stone with no inscription but a date of doubtful authenticity—MXCIX—is all that commemorates him there to-day.
The next bishop was Roger, who was elected in 1102, consecrated in 1107, and died in 1139. If his fame as an ecclesiastic is not so assured as that of his illustrious predecessor, in architecture and in secular history he has left a decided mark. ”

“ If, however, we assume it represents Bishop Jocelin, one of the house of Bohun, a great Norman family, and compare the effigy with the seal of that bishop, the later theory that deprives Bishop Roger of this much discussed monument will probably be chosen as the most acceptable. In a record at least three centuries old his burial-place is said to be near the chapel of St. Stephen; and in a plan of the Cathedral, dated 1773, and in Price's account, 1774, a plain slab with a cross upon it, in a shallow recess of the wall east of the north aisle, is assigned to Bishop Roger. ”

“ Salisbury (Roger, bishop of) . His castle and treasures seized by king Stephen, xvi. 68. Originally a poor curate in Normandy, but advanced by Henry I to the highest rank, 69. One of the first who swore fealty to Maude, and among the first who revolted to Stephen, ibid. Fell a sacrifice in his old age to the riches he had amassed for its support, ibid.
Sancroft (abp) . Ode to him, xviii. 395. Defended from an imputation of bishop Burnet's, iv. 384. ”

“ Still more overwhelming news met the fugitive king on reaching Conway. Instead of a fine army, there lay Salisbury with only 100 men, and destitute of all provisions. While Richard had delayed his coming, adverse influences had been brought to bear on Salisbury's host; disheartening rumours were circulated amongst the troops, and, in spite of Salisbury's tears and entreaties, they rapidly dispersed. ”

“ But of Salisbury they have a very clear image: inexpressibly rich as it is in sights, in wonders, full of people—hundreds of people in the streets and market-place—they can take it all in and know its meaning. ”

“ Both were a great deal happier in their house-parties at Hatfield, where they could receive their personal friends. Here they could be in close touch with every one, and enjoy the play of minds which was the favourite entertainment of both. Lady Salisbury herself was a brilliant talker, quick, spontaneous, and epigrammatic, without any suggestion of premeditation. ”

“ In thirteen battles Salisbury o'ercame;
Henry the Fifth he first train'd to the wars;
Whilst any trump did sound, or drum struck up,
His sword did ne'er leave striking in the field.
Yet livest thou, Salisbury? though thy speech doth fail,
One eye thou hast, to look to heaven for grace:
The sun with one eye vieweth all the world.
Heaven, be thou gracious to none alive,
If Salisbury wants mercy at thy hands! ”

“ In the Continental wars and domestic struggles in which Englishmen indulged during the fifteenth century, Salisbury was recognized as a man of military prowess and political influence. But almost ere reaching middle age his fame grew pale before that of his eldest son, Richard Neville, who espoused the heiress of the Beauchamps, who, in her right, obtained the earldom of Warwick, and who, as time passed on, became celebrated throughout Europe as the king-maker. ”

“ If we think it feeble, it will be because we cannot see strength where it has been brought to perfect poise and ease. If our verdict is 'banal,' it will be because we cannot tell the commonplace from the simply and exactly right, or we do not know how rare the latter is—because we long for eccentricity as a proof of personality, and need what the French call emphase to impress us; there is no over-emphasis about Salisbury, neither in its effect as a whole, nor in any of its parts, neither in its design, nor in its treatment. ”

“ He attended Henry and his queen, Catherine of France, on their entry into Paris with King Charles and Duke Philip of Burgundy on 1 Dec. (Wavrin, v. ii. 325) . In January 1421 he was at the parliament held by Henry at Rouen, and there did homage for the earldom of Perche. When the king returned to England shortly afterwards, Salisbury remained in France to support the Duke of Clarence (Chastellain, p. 204) . ”

“ Enter Salisbury.
Now, by my sword, well hast thou fought today.
SALISBURY.
By th’ mass, so did we all. I thank you, Richard.
God knows how long it is I have to live,
And it hath pleased him that three times today
You have defended me from imminent death.
Well, lords, we have not got that which we have;
’Tis not enough our foes are this time fled,
Being opposites of such repairing nature.
YORK.
I know our safety is to follow them;
For, as I hear, the King is fled to London
To call a present court of parliament.
Let us pursue him ere the writs go forth.
What says Lord Warwick? ”

“ Three days later whilst surveying the city from a window in Tourelles he was wounded by a cannon-shot, and died on the 3rd of November 1428. Salisbury was the most skilful soldier on the English side after the death of Henry V. Though employed on diplomatic missions both by Henry V. and Bedford, he took no part in politics save for a momentary support of Humphrey, duke of Gloucester, during his visit to England in 1427–1428. He was a patron of John Lydgate, who presented to him his book The Pilgrim (now Harley MS. 4826, with a miniature of Salisbury, engraved in Strutt’s Regal Antiquities) . ”

“ Re-enter CHARLES, ALENCON, and REIGNIER
CHARLES. Who ever saw the like? What men have I!
Dogs! cowards! dastards! I would ne'er have fled
But that they left me midst my enemies.
REIGNIER. Salisbury is a desperate homicide;
He fighteth as one weary of his life.
The other lords, like lions wanting food,
Do rush upon us as their hungry prey. ”

“ The great point to which the attention of the stranger is at once drawn is, of course, the grand peculiarity of Salisbury, the ‘silent finger’ of its spire. This is the loftiest in England, rising 400 feet above the pavement (Chichester said, but very doubtfully, to have been built in imitation of it, is 271 feet in height; Norwich 313 feet) and its summit is 30 feet above the top of St. Paul’s.”— (R. J. K.)
Dean Stanley said that Westminster is all-glorious within and Salisbury, all-glorious without. ”

“ Warning his mother by letter of his purpose, he took the road by Reading and Salisbury, in which city, arrived late at night, he heard what did but increase his desire to be at Royston, so that with moonrise he was again in the saddle, riding all that night alone; for his servant's horse had reached Salisbury clean foundered, and, nags being mighty scarce from the needs of two armies lately in the field at no great distance, he was forced to leave the man behind until he could be mounted. ”

“ To me, these gigantic remains of Druid superstition were of surpassing interest: and while my friend explained to me the various theories of their origin and use, I found the actual inspection of this old scene of horrible idolatry, the rather fascinating, because from its still existing altar, one can just descry over the hills in the horizon, the needle-like point of the spire of Salisbury. I never felt before, that England had once been Pagan, and that the Gospel had conquered it, and made it all that Salisbury is, as compared with this accursed temple of the idol Bel. ”

“ The Dauphin, with one Joan la Pucelle join'd,
A holy prophetess new risen up,
Is come with a great power to raise the siege.
[Here SALISBURY lifteth himself up and groans]
TALBOT. Hear, hear how dying Salisbury doth groan.
It irks his heart he cannot be reveng'd.
Frenchmen, I'll be a Salisbury to you.
Pucelle or puzzel, dolphin or dogfish,
Your hearts I'll stamp out with my horse's heels
And make a quagmire of your mingled brains.
Convey me Salisbury into his tent,
And then we'll try what these dastard Frenchmen dare.
Alarum. Exeunt
SCENE 5. ”

“ Salisbury was a wise and valiant man, not, indeed, to be ranked with patriotic statesmen, such as William the earl-marshal and Hubert de Burgh, but far superior to most of the nobles of his day, and sincerely attached to the interests of the royal house from which he came, faithful as long as it was possible to his brother John, and a good servant to his young nephew Henry. ”