Herbert de Losinga (died 22 July 1119) was the first

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher. The see is in t ...

. He founded

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Norwich, Norfolk, dedicated to the Holy and Undivided Trinity. It is the cathedral church for the Church of England Diocese of Norwich and is one of the Norwich 12 heritage sites. The cathedr ...

in 1096 when he was

Bishop of Thetford The Bishop of Thetford is an episcopal title which takes its name after the market town of Thetford in Norfolk, England. The title was originally used by the Normans in the 11th century, and is now used by a Church of England suffragan bishop. ...

Life

Losinga was born in

Exmes Exmes is a former commune in the Orne department in north-western France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Gouffern en Auge.Argentan Argentan () is a Communes of France, commune and the seat of two Canton in France, cantons and of an arrondissement in France, arrondissement in the Orne Departments of France, department in northwestern France. Argentan is located NE of Rennes ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, the son of Robert de LosingaDoubleday and Page ''Houses of Benedictine monks: New Minster, or the Abbey of Hyde'' pp. 116–122 (died June 1098) Losinga was educated in Normandy, and took his vows at

Fécamp Abbey The Abbey of the Holy Trinity at Fécamp, commonly known as Fécamp Abbey (french: Abbaye de la Trinité de Fécamp), is a Benedictine abbey in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime, Upper Normandy, France. The abbey is known as the first producer of bénéd ...

in Normandy, of which he eventually became prior. While serving in this office he was invited to England by the king,

William Rufus William II ( xno, Williame; – 2 August 1100) was King of England from 26 September 1087 until his death in 1100, with powers over Normandy and influence in Scotland. He was less successful in extending control into Wales. The third so ...

, who appointed him abbot of

Ramsey Abbey Ramsey Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in Ramsey, Huntingdonshire (now part of Cambridgeshire), England. It was founded about AD 969 and dissolved in 1539. The site of the abbey in Ramsey is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument. Most of the abbey's ...

. Losinga was consecrated

in 1090 or 1091.British History Online Bishops of Norwich
accessed on 29 October 2007 He received the appointment having paid the king a sum of £1,900 pounds, as part of a deal in which Herbert's father was made Abbot of

New Minster, Winchester The New Minster in Winchester was a royal Benedictine abbey founded in 901 in Winchester in the English county of Hampshire. Alfred the Great had intended to build the monastery, but only got around to buying the land. His son, Edward the Eld ...

.Quennell ''Cathedral Church of Norwich'' p. 6 In 1094 he went to Rome to ask for forgiveness from Pope Urban for this act of

simony Simony () is the act of selling church offices and roles or sacred things. It is named after Simon Magus, who is described in the Acts of the Apostles as having offered two disciples of Jesus payment in exchange for their empowering him to im ...

. On his return he transferred the see from Thetford to Norwich, in accordance with the decree of

Lanfranc Lanfranc, OSB (1005 1010 – 24 May 1089) was a celebrated Italian jurist who renounced his career to become a Benedictine monk at Bec in Normandy. He served successively as prior of Bec Abbey and abbot of St Stephen in Normandy and ...

's synod of 1075, that bishops should have their sees in the principal town of the diocese.Quennell ''Cathedral Church of Norwich'' p. 94 In addition to Norwich Cathedral, Losinga was responsible for founding St Margaret’s Church in

King’s Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, nor ...

; the Church of St Nicholas in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of ...

; and

Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a selective English independent day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as a ...

. Losinga visited Rome for a second time in 1116, representing the king in a dispute between the monarch and Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury. It may have been on the return journey that he fell severely ill at Placentia (modern Piacenza); other sources suggest he suffered this illness on a possible third journey to Rome, which he did not complete, instead awaiting his fellow ambassadors at Placentia, before returning to England with them.Quennell ''Cathedral Church of Norwich'' p. 98 One of Losinga's last public appearances was at the funeral of Queen Matilda on

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. Tr ...

1118. He died on 22 July 1119Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 261 and was buried before the high altar of Norwich Cathedral. Fourteen sermons and 57 letters written by Losinga have survived.Wollaston ''Norwich Cathedral'' p. 22

Citations

References

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External links

Herbert Losinga
from a self-published website {{DEFAULTSORT:Losinga, Herbert De 11th-century births 1119 deaths 11th-century English Roman Catholic bishops 12th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Bishops of Norwich Bishops of Thetford (ancient) Burials at Norwich Cathedral Founders of English schools and colleges Normans in England Abbots of Ramsey