Osbert of Clare (died in or after 1158) was a monk, elected prior of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...

and briefly abbot. He was a prolific writer of letters, a hagiographer and a forger of

charters A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

Life

Osbert was born towards the end of the eleventh century at Clare, Suffolk. 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 at a priory located in

Clare Castle Clare Castle is a high-mounted ruinous medieval castle in the parish and former manor of Clare in Suffolk, England, anciently the ''caput'' of a feudal barony. It was built shortly after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 by Richard Fi ...

. In 1090

Gilbert Fitz Richard Gilbert Fitz Richard (–), 2nd feudal baron of Clare in Suffolk, and styled "de Tonbridge", was a powerful Anglo-Norman baron who was granted the Lordship of Cardigan, in Wales . Life Gilbert, born before 1066, was the second son and an heir ...

gave the church in the castle to the Abbey of Our Lady of Bec in Normandy, making it an

alien priory Alien priories were religious establishments in England, such as monasteries and convents, which were under the control of another religious house outside England. Usually the mother-house was in France.Coredon ''Dictionary of Medieval Terms'' ...

and a dependency of Bec. In 1124 Gilbert's son,

Richard Fitz Gilbert de Clare Richard fitz Gilbert de Clare (died 15 April 1136) 3rd feudal baron of Clare in Suffolk, was an Anglo-Norman nobleman. A marcher lord in Wales, he was also the founder of Tonbridge Priory in Kent. Life Richard was the eldest son of Gilbert Fit ...

, moved the Benedictines to a new foundation about two miles west of Clare in Stoke-by-Clare. Under the patronage of the powerful de Clare family, it was one of the wealthiest monastic houses in Norman England. Osbert was elected prior of St Peter's Abbey, Westminster. In the 1130s, he wrote liturgical texts for the feast of

Saint Anne According to Christian apocryphal and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the canonical gospels. In writing, Anne's name and that of her husband Joachim come o ...

for

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire, England, situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Bless ...

. During a vacancy of the

See of London The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England. It lies directly north of the Thames. For centuries the diocese covered a vast tract and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the nor ...

, Osbert undertook to introduce at Westminster, the Anglo-Saxon Feast of the Conception of Mary, which had been removed from the liturgical calendar by

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 the ...

. A number of monks objected against this since it had not been sanctioned by Rome. Whereupon the matter was brought before the Council of London in 1129. The synod decided in favour of the feast, and Bishop Gilbert of London adopted it for his diocese. Thereafter the feast spread in England, but for a time retained its private character. Osbert was a friend of

Anselm of Canterbury Anselm of Canterbury, OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also called ( it, Anselmo d'Aosta, link=no) after his birthplace and (french: Anselme du Bec, link=no) after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher and theologian of th ...

, and had a deep appreciation of Anglo-Saxon saints and spirituality. Among his works is a biography of

Eadburh of Winchester Eadburh (or Edburga) (born 921/924, died 15 June 951/953) was the daughter of King Edward the Elder of England and his third wife, Eadgifu of Kent. She lived most of her life as a nun known for her singing ability. Most of the information abo ...

, daughter of

Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin ...

and

Eadgifu of Kent Eadgifu of Kent (also Edgiva or Ediva) (in or before 903 – in or after 966) was the third wife of Edward the Elder, King of Wessex. Biography Eadgifu was the daughter of Sigehelm, Ealdorman of Kent, who died at the Battle of the Holme in 902. ...

, and a nun at

St Mary's Abbey, Winchester St. Mary's Abbey, also known as the ''Nunnaminster'', was a Benedictine nunnery in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded between 899 and 902 by Alfred the Great's widow Ealhswith, who was described as the 'builder' of the Nunnaminster in ...

.Ridyard, Susan J., ''The Royal Saints of Anglo-Saxon England. A Study of West Saxon and East Anglian Cults'', Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought 4. Cambridge University Press, 2008

Works

By 1138, he had reworked the '' vita Ædwardi regis'' of Westminster Abbey. He himself composed a ''Life'' of St Eadburh of Winchester for Pershore Abbey and a ''Life'' of St Æthelberht of East Anglia, dedicated to Gilbert Foliot sometime after 1148. *Letters, ed. E.W. Williamson, ''The letters of Osbert of Clare. Oxford, 1929. Reprinted in 1998. *Charters, ed. by E. Mason, J. Bray, and D. J. Murphy (eds.). ''Westminster Abbey charters, 1066–c.1214''. RS 25. London, 1988. *''Vita Edburgae'', MS. Laud Misc. 114, f. 85–120 (

Bodleian The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the sec ...

, Oxford), ed. S.J. Ridyard, ''The Royal Saints of Anglo-Saxon England. A Study of West Saxon and East Anglian Cults''. Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought 4. Cambridge, 2008. 253 ff (Appendix). * Some extracts are printed in ''Vita Ædwardi regis'' "The Life of King Edward", ed. and tr. F. Barlow, ''The Life of King Edward who Rests at Westminster Attributed to a Monk of Saint-Bertin''. 2nd ed. Oxford, 1992. The full text was edited by

Marc Bloch Marc Léopold Benjamin Bloch (; ; 6 July 1886 – 16 June 1944) was a French historian. He was a founding member of the Annales School of French social history. Bloch specialised in medieval history and published widely on Medieval France ...

, "La vie de S. Édouard le Confesseur par Osbert de Clare." ''Analecta Bollandiana'' 41 (1923): 5–131;

References

{{Authority control Christian hagiographers 12th-century Latin writers 12th-century English people Abbots of Westminster 1158 deaths Year of birth unknown 12th-century English writers

Life

Works

Further reading

References