Roger le Poer

Roger le Poer
Lord Chancellor
In office 1135 – June 1139
Preceded by	Robert de Sigello
Succeeded by	Philip de Harcourt
Personal details
Born	likely after 1107
Died	after 1139
Relations	Roger of Salisbury – father Matilda of Ramsbury – mother

Roger le Poer was a medieval Lord Chancellor from 1135 until 1139 for King Stephen of England. The son of a powerful bishop, Roger owed his position to his family connections. He lost his office when his father and other relatives lost power. Arrested along with his father, Roger was used to secure the surrender of a castle held by his mother and then disappeared from history.

Roger was the son of Roger of Salisbury, Lord Chancellor for King Henry I of England and Bishop of Salisbury, and Matilda of Ramsbury. It is possible that Roger of Salisbury was married to Matilda prior to his elevation to the episcopate, but this is unlikely. Because their son Roger le Poer was described as "young" in 1139, it is most likely that he was born after his father's consecration as bishop in 1107. A biographer of Roger of Salisbury, Edward Kealey, has argued that Roger le Poer is the same person as Roger, the archdeacon of Berkshire who died in the 1160s. Another possibility, that the younger Roger was the same as Roger of Ramsbury, archdeacon of Wiltshire, is less likely, as it is known that Roger of Ramsbury was not closely related to Adelelm, the nephew or son of Roger of Salisbury. The historian Diana Greenway in the Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300 takes this view.

The younger Roger's family was a powerful one in England - not only was his father the Bishop of Salisbury, but he also held the administration of the government in his hands. The older Roger had the powers of the office of justiciar, without having actually been appointed to that office, as a continuation of the power he had held during the second part of the reign of Henry I. The elder Roger's two nephews – Nigel, who was Bishop of Ely and had previously been Lord Treasurer, and Alexander, who was Bishop of Lincoln - both held important bishoprics, and another nephew or son held the Treasurership from 1136. This was Adelelm, who may have been a full brother to Roger le Poer. The family also controlled a number of castles throughout England.William of Malmesbury, a medieval chronicler, claimed that the younger Roger's appointment as chancellor was the price demanded by the elder Roger for the bishop's support of Stephen as king after the death of King Henry I. Roger served as chancellor from 1135 until 24 June 1139.

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