Walkelin | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Winchester | |
 Statue of Walkelin on the Great Screen of Winchester Cathedral | |
| Appointed | 23 May 1070 |
| Term ended | 3 January 1098 |
| Predecessor | Stigand |
| Successor | William Giffard |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 30 May 1070 by Ermenfrid |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 3 January 1098 |
| Buried | Winchester Cathedral |
| Denomination | Catholic |
Walkelin[a] (d. 1098) was the firstNormanBishop of Winchester. He began the construction ofWinchester Cathedral in 1079 and had theOld Minster demolished. He reformed the cathedral's administration, although his plan to replace the monks with priests was blocked by the Archbishop of Canterbury,Lanfranc. Walkelin was important in beginning St Giles's Fair in Winchester and was greatly active in national politics. For example, he signed theAccord of Winchester, was involved in theCouncil of London in 1075, and sought to resolve a conflict betweenAnselm of Canterbury andWilliam II. He wasregent of England for a few months at the end of his life.
Walkelin was probably not related toWilliam the Conqueror, whom he served as a royal chaplain.[1][2] Before theNorman Conquest, he was probably acanon atRouen Cathedral.[1][3]
In April 1070, at theCouncil of Winchester,papal legates deposedStigand asBishop of Winchester.[1][4] He had been excommunicated by five different popes forpluralism, as he wasArchbishop of Canterbury at the same time as being Bishop of Winchester.[4] Walkelin was nominated to be bishop on 23 May 1070 and was consecrated on 30 May by the papal legateErmenfrid.[1][2][5]
Walkelin aimed to replace themonks in the cathedral withpriests, in achapter ofcanons. Since most of the money was going to the monks, this change, for which he had royal approval, would have helped him to fund his household and any future construction projects. However,Lanfranc, a monk who had just been consecrated asArchbishop of Canterbury by a selection of bishops including Walkelin himself, opposed the change, and succeeded in blocking it.[1][6][7]
According to his successorWilliam Giffard, to raise funds in a different way, Walkelin divided the assets of thesee between himself and the monastery and appropriated some of the monks' land and patronages. Walkelin required the consent of the Prior of Winchester for these changes. However, as he had previously made his brother Simeon the prior, this consent was easier to obtain.[1]
Nevertheless, theAnnals of Winchester say that Walkelin improved the cathedral and monastery "in the devotion and number of its monks and in the buildings of the house".[8][b]
Walkelin began work on a new cathedral church, the currentWinchester Cathedral, in 1079, to replace theOld Minster.[1][8] Walkelin's project was of a monumental scale, with a length of almost 180 yards, almost unrivalled by other contemporaneous projects.[1] The construction was in aRomanesque style.[9] The current transepts, crypt and some parts of the nave of the cathedral church are from Walkelin's initial construction.[8][10] The tower collapsed in 1107 and was rebuilt with a similar design later.[8][10]
The monks moved into the completed parts of the new building in 1093, along with the relics ofSt Swithun in aferetory, allowing the demolition of the Old Minster to begin.[1][8] It is most likely that the initial construction was completed underWilliam Giffard in around 1122.[1]
TheAnnals of Winchester relate a tale about Walkelin gathering timber for the construction of the cathedral church. In 1086,William I reportedly granted Walkelin as much from a certain wood as his carpenters could take in three or four days. In response, the bishop gathered lots of carpenters and cut the whole wood down within the allotted time, angering the king. Walkelin avoided his wrath by putting on "an old cape"[c] and begging that he would retain his royal friendship and chaplaincy, even if he lost his role as Bishop of Winchester. This appeased the king, and Walkelin remained bishop. In theOxford DNB, Michael J. Franklin uses the story to suggest that Walkelin and William had a close friendship.[1][8]
Walkelin was a significant religious leader outside of his diocese. He was one of the bishops that consecratedLanfranc asArchbishop of Canterbury in 1070, attended theCouncil of London in 1075 and was a signatory of theAccord of Winchester.[7] He officiated at thetranslation of the bones ofSt Edmund,St Botolph andSt Fermin byAbbot Baldwin and theconsecration of the newabbey building atBury St Edmunds in April 1095, in place of the localBishop of Thetford,Herbert de Losinga.[11] Walkelin issued anindulgence to all who visited the shrine of Edmund.[1][11]
Like most Bishops of Winchester, Walkelin was involved in royal and secular politics. He attested many royal charters under bothWilliam I andWilliam II.[1] Walkelin was one of William II'smagnates. He appears to have been in charge of the king's financial affairs, overseeing the royal treasury in Winchester's castle.[9] He dealt with a rebellion of monks atSt Augustine's Abbey inCanterbury in 1089, alongsideGundulf of Rochester.[11] In 1096, he was in charge of a judicial circuit, hearing royal pleas.[9] He organised thegeld in 1096.[9] He tried to persuadeAnselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, to drop his demand to be allowed to travel to Rome in a dispute with William II in 1097.[1][5] After the consecration ofBattle Abbey in 1094 at which Walkelin was present, William II granted permission forSt Giles's Fair, one of the largest medieval fairs of England, which proved very important for Winchester's economy.[1] Walkelin wasregent of England along withRanulf Flambard in November 1097, during William II's trip to Rome.[1][11]
Walkelin died on 3 January 1098. According toThomas Rudborne, he was buried in the nave of the cathedral, before therood-loft, and hisepitaph was:[1][8]
| Original Latin | English Translation |
|---|---|
| Praesul Walklynus istic requiescit humatus | Bishop Walkelin rests here interred |
| Tempore Willelmi Conquestoris cathedratus | Enthroned in the time of William the Conqueror |
Walkelin's brother,Simeon, was a monk in Rouen, then thePrior of Winchester, and thenAbbot of Ely, where he began the construction of the currentEly Abbey church. Walkelin had made Simeon the Prior of Winchester. As noted above, this had helped him to divide assets between the monks and his household.[1][3][6]
Walkelin's nephew,Gerard, wasPrecentor of Rouen, thenBishop of Hereford from 1096, and finallyArchbishop of York from 1100. He wasLord Chancellor from 1085 to 1092, under both William I and William II.[1][3][12][13]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Bishop of Winchester 1070–1098 | Succeeded by |
| Early Medieval 634–1006 |
|  Arms of the Bishop of Winchester |
|---|---|---|
| High Medieval 1006–1304 | ||
| Late Medieval 1305–1501 | ||
| Early Modern 1501–1820 |
| |
| Late Modern 1820–current | ||