Tomb marker - Sampson Bishop of Worcester

Samson (died 5 May 1112) was a medieval English clergyman who was

Bishop of Worcester A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

from 1096 to 1112.

Life

Samson was a Royal Chaplain and a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

and Treasurer of the

diocese of Bayeux The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baiocensis et Lexoviensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Bayeux et Lisieux'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and is ...

.British History Online Bishops of Worcester
accessed on 3 November 2007 In the ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'' Samson is referred to as the chaplain and is recorded as holding

St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton St Peter's Collegiate Church is located in central Wolverhampton, England. For many centuries it was a chapel royal and from 1480 a royal peculiar, independent of the Diocese of Lichfield and even the Province of Canterbury. The collegiate chu ...

and considerable properties in southern

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, most of which he sublet to either the canons of St. Peter's or to other clergy. In 1096 Samson was elected

; he was ordained as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

and

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

on 7 June 1096 and consecrated as

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

on 8 June 1096. Being a bishop did not prevent him from fathering a daughter, Isabelle of Douvres, and two sons who also became bishops. His son

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

was Bishop of Bayeux from 1108 to 1133, and his son

Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the Ap ...

was

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 ...

from 1108 to 1114.Spear "The Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy" ''Journal of British Studies'' p. 5 Samson's daughter, Isabelle of Douvres was known for her liaison with

Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester Robert FitzRoy, 1st Earl of Gloucester (c. 1090 – 31 October 1147 David Crouch, 'Robert, first earl of Gloucester (b. c. 1090, d. 1147)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 200Retrieved ...

. Their illegitimate son was

, who was

Bishop of Bayeux The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baiocensis et Lexoviensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Bayeux et Lisieux'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and is ...

from 1135 to 1142. It has been suggested that Samson may possibly have been the scribe who oversaw the compilation of Domesday BookChaplais "William of Saint-Calais" ''Domesday Studies'' pp. 68–70 by the historian

V. H. Galbraith Vivian Hunter Galbraith (15 December 1889 – 25 November 1976) was an English historian, fellow of the British Academy and Oxford Regius Professor of Modern History. Early career Galbraith was born in Sheffield, son of David Galbraith, ...

.Clanchy ''From Memory to Written Record'' p. 102 Samson died on 5 May 1112.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 278

Citations

References

British History Online Bishops of Worcester
accessed on 3 November 2007 * * * *

Life

Citations

References

Further reading