Bartholomew Iscanus

Bartholomew of Exeter (died 1184) was a medieval Bishop of Exeter. He came from Normandy and after being a clerk of the Archbishop of Canterbury, was made Archdeacon of Exeter in 1155. He became Bishop of Exeter in 1161. Known for his knowledge of canon law, he was involved in the Becket controversy after the appointment of Thomas Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury. After Becket's death, although he was frequently at the royal court, he mainly attended to his diocese. A number of works by him survive, including sermons and treatises on law and theology.

Early life

Bartholomew was a native of Normandy, and was probably born in Millières, a village in the Cotentin near Lessay and Périers.Barlow "Bartholomew" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' He was a clerk of Theobald of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury before becoming Archdeacon of Exeter in 1155. He was a correspondent of John of Salisbury,Warren ''Henry II'' p. 435 footnote 1 as he and John had been clerks for Theobald along with Thomas Becket.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 31 Contemporaries considered Bartholomew an excellent theologian and canon lawyer.Warren ''Henry II'' pp. 436–437 In 1159, Bartholomew took part in a synod held at London to decide between the rival claims of Popes Alexander III and Victor IV.Knowles ''Episcopal Colleagues'' p. 28 At some point in his career, he taught at the law school at Paris.Weigand "Transmontane Decretists" ''History of Medieval Canon Law'' pp. 174–175

Election to Exeter

After the death of Robert of Chichester, the see of Exeter was vacant for a year before a local Gloucestershire family urged King Henry II of England to put forward one of their members as a candidate for the see. Henry did suggest the family member, Henry FitzHarding, to the cathedral chapter, but Archbishop Theobald objected that FitzHarding was unqualified. Instead, Theobald suggested Bartholomew, and eventually the king was persuaded and Bartholomew was elected. He was consecrated bishop after 18 April 1161, at Canterbury Cathedral by Walter, the Bishop of Rochester.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 64 Theobald had wished to consecrate Bartholomew himself before Theobald died, but could not because the king was abroad in Normandy and the bishop-elect had to swear fealty to the king before he could be consecrated.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 71 After his consecration, Bartholomew gave the archdeaconry of Exeter to the disappointed royal candidate.

Time as bishop

During the Becket controversy between King Henry and Thomas Becket, the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Bartholomew refused to cooperate with either side, which caused the archbishop to scold him as a bad friend.Warren ''Henry II'' p. 550 At the start of the dispute, Bartholomew was sent with a royal deputation to Sens to ask the pope to send papal legates to England to settle the quarrel. Thereafter, he avoided being drawn into the controversy, until 1170. When Roger of York crowned Henry the Young King later that year, Bartholomew was said to be present.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' pp. 206–207 In September 1170, Pope Alexander III suspended Bartholomew from office for attending the coronation, along with a number of other bishops.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 216 After Becket's murder in late 1170, John of Salisbury took refuge with Bartholomew until John was elected Bishop of Chartres in 1176.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 262 Shortly after a settlement of the dispute was reached in 1172, Henry wrote to Bartholomew saying that "I shall abolish all new customs introduced in my reign against the churches of my land (which I consider to be few or none)",Quoted in Barber ''Henry Plantagenet'' p. 163 which signaled Henry's intentions of mostly ignoring the settlement.Barber ''Henry Plantagenet'' p. 163 Bartholomew was restored to his office before 21 December 1171, when he helped restore Canterbury Cathedral to use for religious ceremonies.

Early in his episcopate, Bartholomew attended Alexander III's council at Tours in 1163, along with a number of other English bishops. Bartholomew often acted as a judge-delegate for the papacy in cases that had been appealed to Rome.Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 90 Alexander described Bartholomew, in company with Richard of Dover, another leading papal judge, as the "twin lights illuminating the English Church".Quoted in Duggan "From the Conquest to the Death of John" ''English Church and the Papacy'' p. 113 In his diocese, Bartholomew is known to have visited the parishes, conducting a visitation to inquire into the management or mismanagement of church affairs.Cheney ''From Becket to Langton'' p. 167 He also gave vestments and decorative objects to his cathedral church. After Becket's death, Bartholomew attended the royal court regularly between 1171 and 1179, but most of his efforts went towards administering his bishopric.

Death and legacy

Bartholomew died on 15 December 1184,Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 246 and was probably buried in Exeter Cathedral. A relief in Exeter has been identified as possibly Bartholomew's effigy for his tomb.Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 599 A contemporary writer, Gerald of Wales, said that Bartholomew was better educated in Roman law than in canon law. The historian Austin Lane Poole said of him that he "kept out as much as possible out of secular politics, and used islearning and practical abilities whole-heartedly for the welfare of the church."Poole ''Domesday Book to Magna Carta'' p. 222 During his bishopric, he advanced the career of Baldwin of Forde, as it was Bartholomew who made Baldwin archdeacon.Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 317 He had two nephews, Jordan and Harold, who were part of his household while he was at Exeter.

At some point in his career, he wrote a ''Penitentiale'', or penitential, which true to his canon lawyer training, quotes canon law extensively.Brooke ''English Church and the Papacy'' pp. 111–112 This was based on the works of Ivo of Chartres, Burchard of Worms, Gratian, and Peter Lombard, among other authors. Besides his penitential, Bartholomew also wrote works on the doctrines of free will and predestination, entitled either ''De libero arbitrio'' or ''De fatalitate et fato'', a collection of over a hundred sermons, and a work against Jews, entitled ''Dialogus contra Judaeos''. So far, only the penitential has been printed. A sermon on the death of Becket by Bartholomew was seen by John Bale in the 16th century at Oxford, but it has not survived to the present.Sharpe ''Handlist of Latin Writers'' pp. 69–70

Citations

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Further reading

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External links

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Entry for Bartholomew
in George Oliver's ''Lives of the Bishops of Exeter''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bartholomew Iscanus
Bishops of Exeter
12th-century English Roman Catholic bishops
Anglo-Normans
1184 deaths
Burials at Exeter Cathedral
Year of birth unknown