Robert of Shrewsbury

Robert of Shrewsbury (died 1212) was an English cleric, administrator, and judge of the Angevin period. His career culminated in his appointment as Bishop of Bangor.

Robert seems to have had strong local connections with Shrewsbury and owned property in the town, so he may have originated in Shrewsbury or Shropshire, as his toponymic byname suggests. He had a brother called Richard, who was archdeacon of Shrewsbury, suggesting that they formed part of a local landowning family. In view of their later careers, both must have followed a course of study including literature and law, typically provided by a cathedral school.

Robert was a King's clerk and royal justice in the reign of Henry II. Some of the cases in which he was involved are known. For example, on 11 February 1189 Robert was one of the justiciars who helped settle a suit precipitated by an assize of novel disseisin concerning Lilleshall Abbey over disputed land at Hencott, north of Shrewsbury. A year or two later, he was a justiciar in a long-running case involving land at Longford.

Robert was made Dean of St Mary's College, Shrewsbury. The Victoria County History lists him as occurring as dean between 1186 and 1200, although he is unaccountably missing from the list of deans in Owen and Blakeway's account of religious houses in Shrewsbury. St Mary's was a royal free chapel and was to evolve into a Royal Peculiar, independent of the local Diocese of Lichfield. As such, it was essentially in the gift of the king and most of its medieval deans were royal clerks. Substantial additions were made to the church building during his incumbency and that of Henry of London, another royal clerk and justice who held the deanery in the early 13th century.

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