Nigel (bishop of Ely)

Nigel came from an ecclesiastical family; his uncle Roger of Salisbury was a bishop and government minister for King Henry I. Nigel was educated on the continent before becoming a royal administrator. He served as Treasurer of England under King Henry, before being appointed to the see, or bishopric, of Ely in 1133. His tenure was marked by conflicts with the monks of his cathedral chapter, who believed that Nigel kept income for himself.

About Nigel (bishop of Ely) in brief

Nigel was an Anglo-Norman Bishop of Ely. He came from an ecclesiastical family; his uncle Roger of Salisbury was a bishop and government minister for King Henry I. Nigel was educated on the continent before becoming a royal administrator. He served as Treasurer of England under King Henry, before being appointed to the see, or bishopric, of Ely in 1133. His tenure was marked by conflicts with the monks of his cathedral chapter, who believed that Nigel kept income for himself that should properly have gone to them. Nigel rebelled and deserted to Stephen’s rival Matilda, but eventually reconciled with Stephen. He never regained high office under Stephen. Nigel’s second tenure as treasurer saw him return the administration to the practices of Henry I, but he withdrew from much of his public work after around 1164, following an attack of paralysis. He was succeeded as treasurer by his son, Richard fitzNeal, whom he had trained in the operations of the Exchequer, or Treasury of England. Most modern historians believe that Nigel was brother to Alexander of Lincoln, later Bishop of Lincoln. But this relationship is not specifically attested in the sources, which merely state that both were Roger’s nephews. Nigel attended the consecration of Bernard as Bishop of St David’s at Westminster in 111, and may have returned to England from Laon by 1112. From the time of his return until around 1120 he attested a number royal charters. Nigel seems to have held that office from around 112, and he was already a receiver, or auditor and administrator, in the treasury of Normandy.

In 1131, though he was listed in a papal letter, which establishes that he held any office he held, rather than by papal order, he is listed as the treasurer of Normandy rather than the bishop of the see of London. The date of his appointment is unclear, as he became a bishop, but it is likely to have been some time around 1100. His father was likely that his father was Roger’s brother Humphrey. It is likely that he was brought up in England, which in 1066 had been conquered by the Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror. His middle son, William Rufus, inherited the Kingdom of England, and the Duchy of Normandy passed to his eldest son, Robert Curthose. The youngest son, Henry, received a grant of money, which he used to purchase a lordship in Normandy. The brothers fought amongst themselves for the next twenty years; the initial conflict was between RufUS and Robert, but after Rufuses’ death in 1100 Henry, who succeeded Rufu as King of England,. Eventually, in 1106, Henry captured Robert, imprisoned him for life, and took control of Normandy and took Control of Normandy in 1087. After the death of William RUFus in 1100, Henry became king of England and became Henry II. He held a prebend, an ecclesiastic office in the cathedral, and one of the offices of archdeacon in the diocese of salisbury.

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