__NOTOC__ Robert de Limesey (died 1117) was a medieval cleric. He became

Bishop of Chester The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York. The diocese extends across most of the historic county boundaries of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its see in the ...

in 1085, then his title changed to

Bishop of Coventry The Bishop of Coventry is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Coventry in the Province of Canterbury. In the Middle Ages, the Bishop of Coventry was a title used by the bishops known today as the Bishop of Lichfield. The presen ...

when the see was moved in 1102.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 253 Robert was a chaplain to King

William I of England William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

before the king nominated Robert to the see of Chester on 25 December 1085.Barlow ''English Church'' p. 64 He may have come from a baronial family, as his surname derives from a territorial location.Barlow ''William Rufus'' pp. 178–179 Robert was consecrated in 1086. At some point during the last years of Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, Robert took over the abbey of Coventry as the seat of his bishopric, and managed to establish himself there permanently after Lanfranc's death. Coventry was a wealthy abbey, richer than Chester, and by making Coventry the cathedral, Robert increased the revenue of his see by a large amount.Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 132 In 1102, Robert was one of the bishops, along with Gerard, Archbishop of York and Herbert de Losinga, the

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 ...

, who returned from Rome and told King Henry I of England that Pope

Paschal II Pope Paschal II ( la, Paschalis II; 1050 1055 – 21 January 1118), born Ranierius, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was cre ...

had told them privately that Henry could invest bishops as in the past, provided they were good men. This was during the height of the Investiture Crisis, and the pope later denied the story.Barlow ''English Church'' pp. 299–300 Robert had been part of a royal delegation to the papal curia to seek a resolution to the dispute between the king and archbishop Anselm of Canterbury over lay investiture. Robert also had business of his own at Rome, as he had sought permission from the pope to relocate his see from Chester to Coventry.Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 150 Robert's effort to secure papal permission for the relocation of his see was successful.Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan'' p. 241 But, not only did the pope deny Robert's story, Pascal

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

all three bishops.Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan'' p. 244 Along with William Giffard, Bishop of Winchester;

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

, Bishop of Worcester;

Ralph Luffa Ralph de Luffa (or Ralph Luffa (died 1123) was an English bishop of Chichester, from 1091 to 1123. He built extensively on his cathedral as well as being praised by contemporary writers as an exemplary bishop. He took little part in the Investit ...

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 ...

; Gerard, Archbishop of York; and Herbert de Losinga, Robert in 1106 wrote to Anselm, who was then in exile over the investiture crisis, asking the archbishop to return to England.Cantor ''Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture'' pp. 255–256 and footnote 134 In 1106, with the settlement between the pope and the king, the pope pardoned Robert and the other bishops.Barlow ''English Church'' p. 301 Robert died on 1 September 1117.

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