- Gundulf of Rochester
__NOTOC__Infobox bishopbiog
name =Gundulf
religion =Catholic
See =Diocese of Rochester
Title =Bishop of Rochester
Period = 1077–1108
Predecessor =Arnost
Successor =Ralph d'Escures
ordination =
bishops =
post =
date of birth =
place of birth =
date of death =March 7 1108
place of death =Gundulf (or Gundulph) was a Norman monk who came to
England following the Conquest. He was appointedBishop of Rochester andPrior of the Cathedral Priory there; builtcastle s including Rochester,Colchester and the White Tower of theTower of London and the Priory and Cathedral Church of Rochester.Life
Gundulf was a monk of
Bec Abbey inNormandy and a friend, pupil and also chamberlain ofLanfranc . He was a monk of St. Etienne inCaen before he came to England in 1070, as one of several clergy Bec and St Etienne. [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33873 British History Online Bishops of Rochester] accessed on October 30, 2007] He was one of the most important of those chosen by Lanfranc to help him with the reorganisation of English monasticism, as Lanfranc had been charged to do, following his appointment asArchbishop of Canterbury by King William I.In 1075 at Lanfranc's instigation, King William I agreed to the appointment of Gundulf as bishop of Rochester and Gundulf was consecrated on
March 19 1077 .Powicke "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 248] Earlier that year Lanfranc had recovered much of the lands once belonging to St. Andrews Church at Rochester from the Kings half-brother Odo and when Gundulf was enthroned Lanfranc endowed much of this property back to the church. This restored income enabled Gundulf to start reconstruction work on the almost derelict church building in 1080.In 1078 King William used Gundulf's skill in the construction of the White Tower: the keep of the Tower of London; also the castle at Colchester which was started around 1080.Fact|date=June 2008 Sometime around 1092 Gundulf founded the abbey of St Mary's, at
West Malling , Kent for Benedictine nuns.Burton "Monastic and Religious Orders" p. 94] He was also responsible for the founding of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in Rochester.In 1083 the Cathedral Priory of St. Andrew the Apostle was founded at Rochester with Gundulf as Prior. He personally purchased a great deal of property for his house and also acquired other properties as the Priory found continued favour with the Norman kings. Together with Archbishop Lanfranc he began the construction of the monastery buildings and continued work on the church. Later Gundulf had the relics of St. Paulinus, a previous Bishop of Rochester, housed in a silver shrine at the church. By the time of Gundulf's death on
7 March 1108 the nave and western front of the church had been completed.Memory
One of the guilds at Bennett Memorial Diocesan School was named after him by Lady Bennett.
ee also
*
List of bishops of Rochester Notes
References
* [http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33873 British History Online Bishops of Rochester] accessed on October 30, 2007
*
* Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961Further reading
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Persondata
NAME=Gundulf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Gundulf of Rochester; Gundulph
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Bishop of Rochester
DATE OF BIRTH=
PLACE OF BIRTH=
DATE OF DEATH=March 7, 1108
PLACE OF DEATH=
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