Gilbert Foliot

Gilbert Foliot was a medieval English monk and prelate. He was Abbot of Gloucester, Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London. He may have sympathised with the Empress Matilda’s claim to the throne. He died in 1163, and was succeeded by his son John Foliot.

About Gilbert Foliot in brief

Gilbert Foliot was a medieval English monk and prelate. He was Abbot of Gloucester, Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London. Born about 1110, Foliot became a monk of Cluny, probably in about 1130. He may have sympathised with the Empress Matilda’s claim to the throne. Foliot accompanied Theobald of Bec, the Archbishop of Canterbury, to a papal council at Reims in 1148. He later claimed to have opposed this appointment, and supported Henry during the king’s dispute with the new archbishop. Becket excommunicated Foliot on two occasions, the second of which precipitated the archbishop’s murder. For a short period following Becket’s death the papacy kept Foliot excommunicate, but he was quickly absolved and allowed to resume his episcopal functions. He also wrote sermons and biblical commentaries, two of which are extant. He is buried in St Paul’s Cathedral, London. He died in 1163, and was succeeded by his son John Foliot, who was later Bishop of Leicester. He had a son and a daughter, but nothing is known of his second child. His last surviving child was the daughter of Henry I’s late father, Henry I, but following her death in 1139 he had nothing to do with the affairs of his father’s court. He wrote letters in support of Matilda even after Stephen’s release from prison in 1143. He helped to fabricate some charters to gain advantage in a dispute with Archbishops of York.

He acted as an envoy for the king on a number of diplomatic missions related to this dispute and wrote letters against Becket which were circulated widely in Europe. In about 1145 Foliot intervened to secure the release of a knight to whom he was related, Roger Foliot. His relations with other ecclesiastics in his family included Robert de Chesney and two earlier Bishops of London, Richard de Beaumis the elder and Richard de beaumis  the younger. He studied law at Bologna, then at Oxford or Exeter, and he also acquired a knowledge of rhetoric as well as the liberal arts. He attended the Second Lateran Council, called by Pope Innocent II on 4 April 1139. He became Prior of Abbeville, a Cluniac house, then Prior of Robert Clunna, and then Abbot at Gloucester Abbey. He held two posts as prior in thecluniac order before being promoted to Abbot. After his tenure as abbot he acquired additional land for the abbey, and may have helped to Fabricate Some charters attesting property ownership. He supported Henry of Anjou’s son, who eventually became King Henry II of England in 1154. His uncles included Robert Foliot and Reginald, a later bishop of Evesham Abbey. His cousin Miles was a cousin, but their precise relationship is unknown. He referred to Richard of Ilchester, laterishop of Winchester, as a kinsman.

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