Roger Norreis

Roger Norreis
Abbot of Evesham
Church	Evesham Abbey
Appointed	1190
Term ended	1213
Predecessor	Adam de Senlis
Successor	Randulf
Orders
Consecration	1190
Personal details
Died	between 1223 and 1225
Buried	Penwortham Priory

Roger Norreis (died between 1223 and 1225) was a medieval Abbot of Evesham in England. He was a controversial figure installed in several offices against opposition. In his appointment to Evesham he was accused of immoral behaviour and failing to follow monastic rules. In 1202 Norreis became embroiled in a dispute with his monks and his episcopal superior the Bishop of Worcester; litigation and argumentation lasted until his deposition in 1213. He then was appointed prior of a subsidiary monastic house of Evesham but was deposed within months then re-appointed to the office five years later.

Norreis has been described by modern historians as being unsuited for the religious positions to which he was appointed and by one of being completely unsuitable to hold any kind of spiritual role. Nevertheless, even his most severe contemporary critic, Thomas of Marlborough, one of his own monks at Evesham, conceded that Norreis was energetic, entertaining, and enterprising; during his time as abbot of Evesham Abbey he managed to complete the crossing tower of the monastic church. Roger Norreis died between 1223 and 1225.

Norreis was a native of northern England and his family was probably of Norse origin. He was a monk at Christ Church Priory, the cathedral chapter of Canterbury Cathedral; when he became a monk is unknown. In 1187 he was appointed treasurer of the priory, and in that role was sent by the cathedral chapter to King Henry II of England to plead their case against Baldwin of Forde, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop and his monks were in dispute over Baldwin's plan to found a collegiate church at Hackington in honour of Thomas Becket which most of the monks opposed because they feared it would diminish the prestige of their priory.

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