Reynelm (died 1115) was a medieval

Bishop of Hereford The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. Until 1534, the Diocese of Hereford was in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and two of its bishop ...

Life

Reynelm's origins are unknown, but Gundulf of Rochester, the

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester, Kent, Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Rochester Cathedral, Cathedral Chur ...

, may have been his patron, as a letter of 1101 implies that Gundulf ordained him a priest.Barrow "Reinhelm" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' He was the chancellor to Queen Matilda of England, wife of King Henry I before 3 September 1101. He was also

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

of the church of Rochester. He was nominated to the see of Hereford around Christmas of 1102 and invested, or given the symbols of the office along with the

temporalities Temporalities or temporal goods are the secular properties and possessions of the church. The term is most often used to describe those properties (a '' Stift'' in German or ''sticht'' in Dutch) that were used to support a bishop or other religious ...

of the see, with the bishopric by the king. Anselm, the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

, refused to consecrate Reynelm then, because Reynelm had been invested by the king. The archbishop and the king were involved in the

Investiture Crisis The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest (, , ) was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops ( investiture), abbots of monasteries, and the Pope himself. A series ...

, where the church objected to the secular powers giving the symbols of ecclesiastical office to clerics. King Henry then persuaded the

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 the ...

to consecrate the bishops that had been elected but whom Anselm refused to consecrate because they had been invested by the king.Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec'' pp. 248–249 Reynelm refused to be consecrated by

Gerard Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other Germanic name, early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful ...

, the Archbishop of York,Barlow ''English Church'' p. 80 and the king exiled Reynelm from England in retaliation.Hollister ''Henry I'' pp. 166–167 Reynelm resigned the temporalities back into the king's control before 29 March 1103 because of concerns over having received investiture by the king. Reynelm was consecrated by Archbishop Anselm on 11 August 1107,Barrow ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 8: Hereford: Bishops'' at Canterbury. Reynelm made a written profession of obedience to Anselm also.Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec'' p. 309 The profession is the only charter or other document to survive from his episcopate. He probably was responsible for the rebuilding of

Hereford Cathedral Hereford Cathedral, formally the , is a Church of England cathedral in Hereford, England. It is the seat of the bishop of Hereford and the principal church of the diocese of Hereford. The cathedral is a grade I listed building. A place of wors ...

as a Romanesque cathedral. Reynelm also assisted at the consecration of

Llanthony Priory Llanthony Priory () is a partly ruined former Augustinians, Augustinian priory in the secluded Vale of Ewyas, a steep-sided once-glaciated valley within the Black Mountains, Wales, Black Mountains area of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Mo ...

in the see of Llandaff in 1108. Reynelm died in October 1115, either on the 27th or the 28th,Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 250 of gout. He was buried in Hereford Cathedral, but the effigy on his tomb dates from the 14th century.

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* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Reynelm Bishops of Hereford 12th-century English Roman Catholic bishops 1115 deaths Burials at Hereford Cathedral Year of birth unknown