Alexander of Lincoln
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Alexander of Lincoln (Latin: Alexander Lincolniensis) (died 1147), bishop of Lincoln, one of the most magnificent prelates of his day, was born in Blois, France, and was nephew to the famous Roger, bishop of Salisbury. He was elected to the see of Lincoln in 1123. He built several princely castles, by which he excited the jealousy of King Stephen, who besieged the baronial prelate in Newark Castle, which he took, and consigned the bishop to prison. Alexander, after some months, obtained his delivery by giving up to the king his castles and his treasures. In 1142 he went to Rome, from whence he returned to England in the quality of legate. In 1147 he died in his native country, Normandy, when on his return from a second journey to Rome. He rebuilt Lincoln cathedral after it had been destroyed by fire, and founded two monasteries. He was also an encourager of literature, and the patron of Geoffrey of Monmouth, who says of him, in the Introduction to the Prophecies of Merlin: "Non erat alter in clero sive in populo cui tot famularentur nobiles, quos ipsius mansueta pietas et brnigna largitas in obsequium ejus alliciebat."
[edit] Sources
- Rose, Hugh James [1853] (1857). A New General Biographical Dictionary, London: B. Fellowes et al.
