Robert of Melun ( – 27 February 1167) was an English scholastic Christian theologian who taught in France, and later became Bishop of Hereford in England. He studied under Peter Abelard in Paris before teaching there and at Melun, which gave him his surname. His students included John of Salisbury, Roger of Worcester, William of Tyre, and possibly Thomas Becket. Robert was involved in the Council of Reims in 1148, which condemned the teachings of Gilbert de la Porrée. Three of his theological works survive, and show him to have been strictly orthodox.
Robert returned to England in 1160, and was appointed Bishop of Hereford in 1163. King Henry II of England appointed him to the see, or bishopric, and was influenced in his decision by Pope Alexander III and Thomas Becket. Following his consecration, Robert became involved in the dispute between Becket and the king, during which he generally took the king's side. He also served as a papal and a royal judge.
Early life
Robert was born in England, probably in about 1100. Nothing else is known of his background. He owed his name to the place where he taught, Melun in France. Robert studied under Peter Abelard and Hugh of St. Victor in Paris, where in 1137 he succeeded Abelard as a teacher in the school on Montagne Ste-Geneviève. John of Salisbury and William of Tyre were among his pupils in Paris. King Henry II of England's cousin, Roger of Worcester, later the Bishop of Worcester, was another of Robert's students. He probably also taught Thomas Becket, later Archbishop of Canterbury, although this is not certain.
Robert went to Melun in 1142 to direct a school, He took part in the condemnation of Gilbert de la Porrée at the Council of Reims in 1148, A fellow scholar, Herbert of Bosham, described Robert as a great teacher, who "sent forth from himself, like rays of his light, a great and learned host of students".
Appointment to Hereford
After teaching as a master of arts in Paris for over forty years, Robert was recalled to England by King Henry II in 1160, and was appointed Bishop of Hereford in 1163. He was consecrated at Canterbury on 22 December by Archbishop Thomas Becket. and a few medieval sources say he was consecrated sometime in 1164. There is some evidence Pope Alexander III had a hand in Robert's election, as Becket in 1166 reminded Robert and Roger of Worcester they both owed their episcopates to Alexander.
Little evidence of Robert's activities survives from his time as bishop, although it is known he acted as a papal judge-delegate in 1165. Five documents survive from his time at Hereford, as well as confirmations of gifts by previous bishops to Llanthony Priory, which he augmented with another grant of tithes.
Role in the Becket dispute
In 1163, a conflict arose between the king and the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, over the rights of the king in the English church. At a council held at Westminster in October 1163, the king and Becket contended over the question, with the bishops supporting Becket against the king. Robert was involved in the conflict not only as a bishop-elect, but as an envoy to Becket from the pope, as he accompanied Philip of Aumone, a French abbot, who was sent by Alexander to Becket after the Council of Westminster to urge Becket not to inflame the situation. Robert went with Philip, probably because it was hoped he would be able to influence Becket.
Robert was present in January 1164 when the king summoned a council of the barons and the bishops to Clarendon, where the king demanded both groups swear to uphold the royal rights of Henry's grandfather, King Henry I, without any reservations or conditions. Although Becket at first attempted to resist, he eventually submitted, and then forced the other bishops to swear also. In October 1164, Becket was accused of denying justice to a royal vassal, tried at a council held at Northampton, and was found guilty although he did not accept the sentence. During the trial, Robert attempted to moderate Becket's behaviour, by persuading him from having his archiepiscopal cross, a symbol of spiritual authority, carried in front of him when he entered the court, which would be an insult to the king.
Early in Becket's exile, Robert received a papal censure for not doing more to support Becket. In summer 1165, Robert accompanied Gilbert Foliot, the Bishop of London, on a papal mission to King Henry, to convey to the king Pope Alexander's complaints about the king's behaviour. The king was preventing his subjects from visiting or appealing to the papacy, and Alexander wished to protest against this, and against the king's treatment of Becket. In 1166, Becket tried to convince Robert to switch sides, writing to Robert in conciliatory tones. John of Salisbury, a supporter of Becket's, prevailed upon two French academics to write to Robert, criticising him for hypocrisy.
In October 1166, Becket ordered Robert and Roger of Worcester to attend him in France, so they could give him guidance on his dispute with the king. When they informed the king of their intended journey, he forbade them from leaving England. Nevertheless, they attempted to sneak out of the country in February 1167. They were apprehended on 2 February, and ordered to remain in England not only in the king's name, but also in Alexander's.
Theology
Robert's theology is expressed in his three surviving works, the Quaestiones de divina pagina, Quaestiones de epistolis Pauli, and the unfinished Sententiae. The dating of the works is problematic, but it appears the first two works were composed between 1145 and 1157. The Sententiae was revised twice, probably during the 1150s and the 1160s. Robert's views of the glossators, and their main work Glossa Ordinaria was that they had shortened their glosses to such a point that they made them unintelligible. Robert was also known as a logician, and John of Salisbury named him one of the leading disputatores,