Robert of Jumièges was the first Norman Archbishop of Canterbury. He had previously served as prior of the Abbey of St Ouen at Rouen in Normandy. He was a good friend and adviser to the king of England, Edward the Confessor. He made attempts to recover lands lost to the powerful Godwin, Earl of Wessex. The rift between Robert and Godwin culminated in Robert’s deposition and exile in 1052. He died in exile at Jumiéges sometime between 1052 and 1055.
About Robert of Jumièges in brief
Robert of Jumièges was the first Norman Archbishop of Canterbury. He had previously served as prior of the Abbey of St Ouen at Rouen in Normandy. He was a good friend and adviser to the king of England, Edward the Confessor, who appointed him Bishop of London in 1044, and then archbishop in 1051. Robert’s time as archbishop lasted only about eighteen months. He made attempts to recover lands lost to the powerful Godwin, Earl of Wessex, and refused to consecrate Spearhafoc, Edward’s choice to succeed him. The rift between Robert and Godwin culminated in Robert’s deposition and exile in 1052. The archbishop died in exile at Jumiéges sometime between 1052 and 1055. Robert was probably involved in the first Romanesque building in England, the church built in Westminster for Edward theconfessor, now known as Westminster Abbey. His treatment by the English was used by William the Conqueror as one of the justifications for his invasion of England. Robert became friendly with Edward theConfessor, a claimant to the English throne, while Edward was living in exile in Normandy, probably in the 1030s. Robert accompanied Edward the confessor on Edward’s recall to England in 1042 to become king following Harthacanute’s death. He brought many Normans with him to England, and seems to have spent much time in their company. When Archbishop Eadsige of Canterbury died in October 1050, the post remained vacant for five months.
The Life of Edward, a hagiographical work on King Edward’s life, claimed that Robert was the most powerful confidential adviser to him. Robert seems to has favoured closer relations with Normandy, and the duchy and its duke, and spent 25 years in exile there before his return to England. He is buried in the church of Saint Ouen, near Rouen, in the Normandy village of Saint-Jean-de-Lauré, where he was abbot from 1037 to 1051, and is buried with his family. He died in 1055, and his remains were found in the village of St Owen, Normandy, in what is now the town of Normandy, France, in a field of white sand. The exact date of his death is unknown, but it is thought to have been between 1055 and 1060. He may have been buried in JumiÉges Abbey, near Rouen, Normandy. His alternate surname probably derived from champart, a term for the part of a crop paid as rent to a landlord. His family background is otherwise unknown, and Robert’s origin and family background are otherwise unknown. His daughter was Edward’s queen, and two of his sons were elevated to earldoms of Saint Saint-Owen. His son was also a monk, a kinsman of Godwin and a monk at Canterbury, but were over-ruled when he was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury.
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