Alexander of Lincoln

Alexander of Lincoln was a medieval English Bishop of Lincoln. He was a member of an important administrative and ecclesiastical family. Alexander was the nephew of Roger, a Bishop of Salisbury and Chancellor of England under King Henry I. He founded a number of religious houses in his diocese and was an active builder and literary patron. During his episcopate he began the rebuilding of his cathedral, which had been destroyed by fire.

About Alexander of Lincoln in brief

Alexander of Lincoln was a medieval English Bishop of Lincoln. He was a member of an important administrative and ecclesiastical family. Alexander was the nephew of Roger, a Bishop of Salisbury and Chancellor of England under King Henry I. He served in his uncle’s diocese as an archdeacon in the early 1120s. Unlike his relatives, he held no office in the government before his appointment as Bishop ofincoln in 1123. He founded a number of religious houses in his diocese and was an active builder and literary patron. During his episcopate he began the rebuilding of his cathedral, which had been destroyed by fire. He also secured the submission of St Albans Abbey to the diocese. Alexander died in England in early 1148 and was buried in Lincoln Cathedral. He is buried alongside his cousin Nigel, who was also a bishop. Alexander also had a nephew William, and a great-nephew named Robert de Alvers. Alexander’s birthdate is unknown, but he was educated at Laon, under the schoolmaster Anselm of Laon. His mother’s name, Ada, is known from the Lincoln Cathedral libri memoriales, or obituary books. Alexander is buried with his brother David in Lincoln, and his great- nephew Richard FitzNeal, who later became Treasurer of England and Bishop of London. His great-uncle Roger le Poer, who became Chancellor ofEngland, was a cousin, as was Roger’s son Adelelm who was recorded as Roger’s nephew but perhaps was his son.

It is possible, although unproven, that Nigel was really Alexander’s brother rather than his cousin. The historian Martin Brett feels that Alexander probably served as a royal chaplain early in his career, although no sources support this conjecture. He owed his appointment to his uncle’s influence with KingHenry I; the Peterborough version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle noted that Alexander’s appointment to the episcopsate was done entirely for the love of Roger. Although Alexander was a frequent witness to royal charters and documents, there is no evidence that he held an official position as his bishop, unlike his relatives. Alexander founded seven nunneries and used the medieval mystic Christina of Markyate and nuns as a hermit at St AlbANS Abbey, which he consecrated himself. He was the patron of medieval chroniclers Henry of Huntingdon and Geoffrey of Monmouth, and also served as an ecclesiastical patron of the medieval hermit Christina and Gilbert of Sempringham, founder of the Gilbertines. Alexander was imprisoned together with his uncle Roger in 1139. He subsequently briefly supported Stephen’s rival, Matilda, but by the late 1140s Alexander was once again working with Stephen. He spent much of the late 201140s at the papal court in Rome, but died in late 1148. He had a son, Richard Fitz Neal, wholater became Treasurer  and Bishop of England.

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