Robert of Holy Island (or Robert de Insula; died 1283) was a medieval

Bishop of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...

. Robert was the son of

crofter A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable, and usually, but not always, with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has tenure and use of the land, typically as a tenant farmer, especially in rural area ...

s and was a native of the island of

Lindisfarne Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...

.Moorman ''Church Life'' p. 25 He had a brother, Henry, who became Robert's executor. He became a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

at Durham, where he served as

sacrist A sacristan is an officer charged with care of the sacristy, the church, and their contents. In ancient times, many duties of the sacrist were performed by the doorkeepers ( ostiarii), and later by the treasurers and mansionarii. The Decretals ...

from 1265 to 1269. He was

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

of Durham's dependent

monastic cell A cell is a small room used by a hermit, monk, nun or anchorite to live and as a devotional space. Cells are often part of larger cenobitic monastic communities such as Catholic and Orthodox monasteries and Buddhist vihara, but may also form sta ...

Finchale Priory Finchale Priory () sometimes referred to as Finchale Abbey was a 13th-century Benedictine priory. The remains are sited by the River Wear, four miles from Durham, England. It is a Grade I listed building. Early history Godric was born about ...

by 1272. Robert was sent as a representative of the Durham

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

to the

Second Council of Lyon :''The First Council of Lyon, the Thirteenth Ecumenical Council, took place in 1245.'' The Second Council of Lyon was the fourteenth ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church, convoked on 31 March 1272 and convened in Lyon, Kingdom of Arl ...

in 1274."Robert of Holy Island", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' He was elected to the

see of Durham The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham s ...

on 24 September 1274.Greenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Durham: Bishops
' He was consecrated on 9 December 1274 at York. While Robert was bishop, in 1281 the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

William Wickwane William de Wickwane (died 1285) was Archbishop of York, between the years 1279 and 1285. Life Wickwane's background is unknown, as is his place of education, but he was referred to as ''magister'' so he probably attended a university.Dobson " ...

, declared that he was going to inspect the cathedral chapter at Durham. The monks claimed an exemption from oversight by the archbishops of York and were supported by Robert as bishop. When the archbishop attempted to enter the cathedral chapter in June 1281, he found the doors shut and locked. Both sides sued each other and the resulting litigation dragged on for years. In fact, it was never technically resolved and is one of the longest law cases on record. Robert died on 7 June 1283Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 242 at

Bishop Middleham Bishop Middleham is a village in County Durham, in England. The population of the parish as taken at the 2011 census was 1,275 It is close to Sedgefield. History Bishop Middleham lies in a dry valley about 9 miles (14 km) south-east of Du ...

. He was buried in the chapter house at

Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...

on 10 June 1283. In the 19th century, a grave identified as his was excavated in the chapter house.Carver "Early Medieval Durham" ''Medieval Art and Architecture'' p. 13

Citations

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robert of Holy Island Bishops of Durham 13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops People from Northumberland 1283 deaths English Benedictines Year of birth unknown