Simon of Wells (died 1207) was a medieval

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's sea ...

Life

Simon was the son of Robert and was in the household of Hubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1194.Greenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 7: Bath and Wells: Archdeacons: Wells
' His father was usually known as Robert of Whatley and held land in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

. Some sources state that he was related to the brothers Hugh of Wells

bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

and

Jocelin of Wells Jocelin of Wells (died 19 November 1242) was a medieval Bishop of Bath (and Glastonbury). He was the brother of Hugh de Wells, who became Bishop of Lincoln. Jocelin became a canon of Wells Cathedral before 1200, and was elected bishop in 120 ...

bishop of Bath and Wells The Bishop of Bath and Wells heads the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells in the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the overwhelmingly greater part of the (ceremonial) county of Somerset and a small area of D ...

, but this is unlikely.Mayr-Harting "Wells, Simon of" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' By 1198 he was

Archdeacon of Wells The Archdeacon of Wells has been a senior clergy position in the Church of England Diocese of Bath and Wells sin the English reformation, before which it was part of the Roman Catholic Church. The post, having oversight over the archdeaconry of We ...

. He was also Provost of Beverley and a prebend of London and Salisbury.Greenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 5: Chichester: Bishops
' He was in

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 ...

with King

John of England John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Emp ...

in both 1199 and 1203, when the king was campaigning against King Philip Augustus of France. By 1201 he was serving the king as a clerk of the chamber, or ''camera'', which led to one of his names. Also in 1201, King John tried to give him the church of Faversham, but the church was owned by the monks of St Augustine's Abbey

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

. The monks appealed to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and kept Simon from receiving the church. The next year, in 1202, Hubert Walter asked the king to allow Simon to have custody of Fleete Prison, as well as being the guardian of the heir of Robert of Leveland, who was going on crusade.Young ''Hubert Walter'' p. 64 He was elected to the

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between 4 April and 9 April 1204, and consecrated on 11 July 1204.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 239 After Simon's election he concentrated on building in his cathedral city, walling

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

, and recovering lost lands of the diocese. He did continue to work for the king up until the death of Hubert Walter, but after that event he no longer appears in royal service. He died 21 August 1207 while returning from pilgrimage to

Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...

St Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

in the south of France. Besides his profession of obedience to the archbishop of Canterbury, 12 genuine documents survive from his episcopate.Mayr-Harting "Introduction" ''Acta'' p. 39

Notes

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References

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simon of Wells 1207 deaths Bishops of Chichester Archdeacons of Wells 13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Year of birth unknown