Hugh of Wells

Hugh of Wells (died 7 February 1235) was a medieval Bishop of Lincoln. He began his career in the diocese of Bath, where he served two successive bishops, before joining royal service under King John of England. He served in the royal administration until 1209, when he was elected to the see, or bishopric, of Lincoln. When John was excommunicated by Pope Innocent III in November 1209, Hugh went into exile in France, where he remained until 1213.

When he returned to England, he continued to serve both John and John's son King Henry III, but spent most of his time in his diocese. He introduced new administrative methods into the diocese, as well as working to improve the educational and financial well-being of his clergy and to secure the canonisation of his predecessor Hugh of Avalon as a saint in 1220. Although the medieval writer Matthew Paris accused Hugh of being opposed to monastic houses and monks, there is little evidence of the bishop being biased, and after his death on 7 February 1235 parts of his estate were left to religious houses, including nunneries.

Early life

Hugh was the son of Edward of Wells and elder brother of Jocelin of Wells, Bishop of Bath. Hugh's year of birth is unknown, but he was probably an old man at his death in 1235. The fact that he never left his residence from March 1233 until his death implies that he was impaired from old age. He first appears as a witness on documents of Reginald fitzJocelin, the Bishop of Bath in the late 1180s. After fitzJocelin's death in 1191, Hugh continued in the service of the next bishop, Savaric FitzGeldewin. By the end of the 1190s, Hugh was a canon of Wells Cathedral. Although Hugh's brother Jocelin was given the title of magister, implying that he attended a university, Hugh is never called magister, making it unlikely that he ever received much schooling.

Hugh was a keeper of the king's seal, serving as deputy to Simon of Wells, the Archdeacon of Wells who was Keeper of the Great Seal from around 1199 to 1204. Hugh was a royal clerk in the chancery, the royal secretariat, and was named Archdeacon of Wells sometime before 25 April 1204. He held prebends in the diocese of Lincoln and diocese of London as well. His service in the chancery would have involved him in Hubert Walter's administrative innovations during his term as Chancellor. and the right to collect taxes and fines in two hundreds in Somerset. He also served as the royal custodian of the diocese of Lincoln while the see was vacant between 1200 and 1203, collecting the revenues of the see, most of which went to the king while a see was without a bishop. In 1205 and 1206, Hugh was royal custodian for the diocese of Bath, which was similarly vacant. Hugh and his brother Jocelin had continued to support King John until this, two years after many of their fellow bishops had deserted the king, but by late in the year, Hugh left the king's service and went into exile. at Melun. Soon after his return from the council, Hugh served as a royal judge, serving as one of the justices of the eyre for Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and Derbyshire in 1218 and 1219. In 1226 he was once more a royal justice. Later, he was employed by King Henry III as an ambassador, helping negotiate with King Louis VIII of France over the status of Normandy and Poitou. Hugh also worked to secure the canonisation of his predecessor Hugh of Avalon as a saint, which occurred in 1220. Besides these activities, Hugh was active in his diocese, including supervising the various monastic houses within it. In 1227, a visitation to Eynsham Abbey resulted in Hugh deposing the abbot. Although the chronicler Matthew Paris accused Hugh of being biased against monks and nuns, there is little evidence that Hugh singled out monks for persecution. One reason for Paris' dislike of the bishop may have been the fact that the chronicler's own abbey of St Alban's had to compromise with Hugh over two legal disputes, dealing with the right to appoint to various benefices. largely on the basis of his surviving documents dealing with this, known as the Liber Antiquus. Further research has shown that a number of the vicarages he was once assumed to have founded were instead earlier foundations that Hugh either augmented or reassessed. The bishop also worked to improve the conditions of the poorer clergy in his diocese, attempting to ensure that all the clergy in his diocese had enough to live on. Previously, it was thought that Hugh had sent out a set of articles of inquiry to his diocesan clergy,

Death and legacy

Hugh died on 7 February 1235, students and teachers at Oxford University, Jewish converts and the poor on the episcopal manors.