Herman (bishop)

For other bishops of this name, see Herman (name).
Herman
Bishop of Salisbury
Church Roman Catholic Church
Province Canterbury
Appointed 1075
Term ended 20 February 1078
Successor Osmund
Orders
Consecration c. 1045
Personal details
Died 20 February 1078
Previous post

Herman or Hereman[1] (Latin: Hermannus or Herimannus; died 1078) was a medieval cleric who served as the bishop of Ramsbury and Sherborne before and after the Norman conquest of England. In 1075, he oversaw their unification and translation to Salisbury (then at Old Sarum).[2] He died before the completion of the new cathedral.

Herman was a native of Flanders[3] (Lotharingia).[1] As chaplain of Edward the Confessor, he was named bishop of Ramsbury shortly after 22 April 1045. He visited Rome in 1050, where he attended a papal council with his fellow English bishop Ealdred.[4] He was named abbot of Malmesbury Abbey by King Edward in 1055[5] and planned to move his seat there as well,[6] apparently in the hope of increasing the income from his poor see.[7] The king revoked this position after three days, however, when the monks and Earl Godwin objected.[6]

Herman then abandoned Ramsbury to the administration of Ealdred and traveled to the continent to become a monk at the abbey of St Bertin at Saint-Omer.[5] He returned three years later when the bishopric of Sherborne fell vacant; he was elected, faced no opposition from King Harold,[5] and resumed administration of Ramsbury around 1058 or 1059.[1] He later moved the see to the royal fortress at Salisbury.[8] Approval for this translation and the unification of his sees was given at the council held at London between 1074 and 1075.[1]

Herman was a patron of Goscelin of Saint-Bertin, a noted medieval historian and musician.[9]

Herman died on 20 February 1078.[8]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 4 British History Online Bishops of Salisbury accessed on 30 October 2007
  2. He was sometimes called the "Bishop of Wiltshire".
  3. William of Malmesbury, Gesta Pontificum Anglorum, § 83 cap.6: Regnabat iam tunc Edwardus, qui Hermanno capellano suo, natione Flandrensi, continuo pontificatum donandum putauit.
  4. Smith "Court and Piety" Catholic Historical Review p. 574
  5. 1 2 3 Royal Berkshire History. "Herman (d. 1078)". Nash Ford Publishing, 2005.
  6. 1 2 Dolan, John Gilbert. "Malmesbury" in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Vol. IX. Encyclopedia Co. (New York), 1913.
  7. Burton, Monastic and Religious Orders, pp. 14–15.
  8. 1 2 Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 222
  9. Williams English and the Norman Conquest pp. 134–135

References

External links

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Bertwald (bishop)
Bishop of Ramsbury
1045–1055
Succeeded by
Ealdred (administrator)
Preceded by
Ealdred (administrator)
Bishop of Ramsbury
1058–1075
United and translated
to Salisbury
Preceded by
Ælfwold II
Bishop of Sherborne
1058–1075
New title Bishop of Salisbury
1075–1078
Succeeded by
Osmund
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, January 29, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.