Hugh of Wells

Hugh of Wells
Bishop of Lincoln
Lincoln Cathedral, with the ruined Bishop's Palace in the foreground
Elected	about 14 April 1209
Term ended	7 February 1235
Predecessor	William de Blois
Successor	Robert Grosseteste
Other posts	Archdeacon of Wells
Orders
Consecration	20 December 1209 by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury
Personal details
Died	7 February 1235 Stow Park

Hugh of Wells (Hugh de Wells, or Hugh of Welles, sometimes Hugh Troteman; 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.

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.