St. Hugh of Lincoln
Born about the year 1135 at the castle of
Avalon, near Pontcharra, in Burgundy; died at London, 16 Nov.,
1200. His father, William, Lord of Avalon, was sprung from one of
the noblest of Burgundian houses; of his mother, Anna, very
little is known. After his wife's death, William retired from the
world to the Augustinian monastery of Villard-Beno&iacirc;t, near
Grenoble, and took his son Hugh, with him. Hugh became a
religious and was ordained deacon at the age of nineteen. In
about the year 1159 he was sent as a prior to the cell, or
dependent priory, of St-Maximin, not far from his ancestral home
of Avalon, where his elder brother, William had succeeded his
father. At St-Maximin, Hugh laboured assiduously in preaching and
whatever parochial duties might be discharged by a deacon.
Becoming more and more desirous to give himself to the complete
contemplative life, he visited in company with the prior of
Villard-Beno&iacirc;t the solitude of the Grande Chartreuse. Dom Basil
was then head of the Chartreuse, and to him Hugh confided his
desire of submitting to the Carthusian rule. To test his vocation
the prior refused him any encouragement, and his own superior,
alarmed at the idea of losing the flower of his community, took
him back quickly to Villard-Beno&iacirc;t, and made him vow to give up
his intention of joining the Carthusians. He submitted and made
the promise, acting, as his historian assures us, "in good faith
and purity of intention, placing his confidence in God, and
trusting that God would bring about his deliverance"; his call to
a higher life was yet doubtful, his obedience to one who was
still his superior was a certain duty, and not a "sinful act", as
thinks his modern Protestant biographer. Realizing that his vow,
made without proper deliberation and under strongest emotion, was
not binding, he returned to the Grande Chartreuse as a novice in
1153. Soon after his profession the prior entrusted him with the
care of a very old and infirm monk from whom he received the
instruction necessary to prepare him for the priesthood. He was
probably ordained at thirty, the age then required by canon law.
When he had been ten years a Carthusian he was entrusted with the
important and difficult office of procurator, which he retained
till the year 1180, leaving the Grande Chartreuse then to become
prior of Witham in England, the first Carthusian house in that
country. It was situated in Somerset and had been founded by
Henry II in compensation for his having failed to go on the
crusade imposed as a penance for the murder of St. Thomas of
Canterbury. The first two priors had succumbed to the terrible
hardships encountered at the new foundation, where the monks had
not even a roof to cover them, and it was by the special request
of the English king that St. Hugh, whose fame had reached him
through one of the nobles of Maurienne, was made prior. His first
attention was given to the building of the Charterhouse. He
prepared his plans and submitted them for royal approbation,
exacting full compensation from the king for any tenants on the
royal estate who would have to be evicted to make room for the
building. Long delay was occasioned by the king's parsimony, but
the Charterhouse, an exact copy of the Grande Chartreuse, was at
last finished. Henry placed the greatest confidence in St. Hugh,
frequently visiting Witham, which was on the borders of Selwood
forest, one of the monarch's favourite hunting-places. The saint
was fearless in reproving Henry's faults, especially his
violation of the rights of the Church. His keeping of sees vacant
in order to appropriate their revenues, and the royal
interference in elections to ecclesiastical posts evoked the
sternest reproach from St. Hugh.
In May, 1180, Henry summoned a council of bishops and barons at
Eynsham Abbey to deliberate on the affairs of the state in
general. The filling of vacant bishoprics was determined on, and,
among others, the canons of Lincoln, who had been without a
bishop for about sixteen years, were ordered to hold an election.
After some discussion, their choice fell on the king's nominee,
Hugh, prior of Witham. He refused the bishopric because the
election had not been free. A second election was held with due
observance of canon law this time at Lincoln, and not in the
king's private chapel and Hugh, though chosen unanimously, still
refused the bishopric till the prior of the Grande Chartreuse,
his superior, had given his consent. This being obtained by a
special embassy in England, he was consecrated in St. Catherine's
chapel, Westminster Abbey, on 21 September, 1181, by Archbishop
Baldwin of Canterbury. He was enthroned in Lincoln cathedral on
29 Sept. The new bishop at once set to the work of reform. He
attacked the iniquitous forest laws, and excommunicated the
king's chief forester. In addition to this, and almost at the
same time, he refused to install a courtier whom Henry had
recommended as a prebendary of Lincoln. The king summoned him to
appear at Woodstock, where the saint softened the enraged monarch
by his ready wit, making him approve of his forester's
excommunication and the refusal of his prebend's stall. He soon
became conspicuous for his unbounded charity to the poor, and it
was long remembered how he used to tend with his own hands people
afflicted with leprosy then so common in England. He was a model
episcopate. He rarely left the diocese, became personally
acquainted with the priests, held regular canonical visitations,
and was most careful to chose worthy men for the care of souls;
his canons were to reside in the diocese, and if not present at
Lincoln were to appoint vicars to take their place at the Divine
Office. Once a year he retired to Witham to give himself to
prayer, far from the work and turmoil of his great diocese.
In July, 1188, he went on an embassy to the French king, and was
in France at the time of Henry's death. He returned the following
year and was present at Richard I's coronation; in 1191 he was in
conflict with Longchamp, Bishop of Ely and justiciar, whose
unjust commands he refused to obey, and in 1194-5 was a prominent
defender of Archbishop Geoffrey of York, in the dispute between
that prelate and his chapter. Hugh was also prominent in trying
to protect the Jews, great numbers of whom lived in Lincoln, in
the persecution they suffered at the beginning of Richard's
reign, and he put down popular violence against them in several
places. In Richard I Hugh found a more formidable person to deal
with than his predecessor had been. His unjust demands, however,
he was resolute in opposing. In a council held at Oxford, in
1198, the justiciar, Archbishop Hubert, asked from the bishops
and barons a large grant of money and a number of knights for the
king's foreign wars. Hugh refused on the ground that he was not
bound to furnish money or soldiers for wars undertaken outside of
England. His example was followed by Herbert of Salisbury, and
the archbishop had to yield. Richard flew into one of his fits of
rage, and ordered the confiscation of Hugh's property, but no one
dared to lay hands on it. The saint journeyed to Normandy, met
Richard at Chateau-Gaillard and, having won the monarch's
forgiveness and admiration by his extraordinary courage,
proceeded to rebuke him fearlessly for his faults his infidelity
to his wife, and encroachments on the Church's rights. "Truly",
said Richard to his courtiers, " if all the prelates of the
Church were like him, there is not a king in Christendom who
would dare to raise his head in the presence of a bishop." Once
more St. Hugh had to oppose Richard in his demands. This time it
was claim for money from the chapter of Lincoln. Crossing again
to Normandy he arrived just before the king's death, and was
present at his obsequies at Fontevrault. He attended John's
coronation at Westminster in May, 1199, but was soon back in
France aiding the king in the affairs of state. He visited the
Grande Chartreuse in the summer of 1200 and was received
everywhere on the journey with tokens of extraordinary respect
and love. While returning to England he was attacked by a fever,
and died a few months afterwards at the Old Temple, the London
residence of the bishops of Lincoln. The primate performed his
obsequies in Lincoln cathedral, and King John assisted in
carrying the coffin to its resting-place in the north-east
transept. In 1220 he was canonized by Honorius III, and his
remains were solemnly translated in 1280 to a conspicuous place
in the great south transept. A magnificent golden shrine
contained his relics, and Lincoln became the most celebrated
centre of pilgrimage in the north of England. It is not known
what became of St. Hugh's relics at the Reformation; the shrine
and its wealth were a tempting bait to Henry VIII, who
confiscated all its gold, silver and precious stones, "with which
all the simple people be moch deceaved and broughte into greate
supersticion and idolatrye". St. Hugh's feast is kept on 17
November. In the Carthusian Order he is second only to St. Bruno,
and the great modern Charterhouse at Parkminster, in Sussex, is
dedicated to him.
Like most of the great prelates who came to England from abroad,
St. Hugh was a mighty builder. He rebuilt Lincoln cathedral,
ruined by the great earthquake of 1185 and, though much of the
minister which towers over Lincoln is of later date, St. Hugh is
responsible for the for the four bays of the choir, one of the
finest examples of the Early English pointed style. He also began
the great hall of the bishop's palace. St. Hugh's emblem is a
white swan, in reference to the beautiful story of the swan of
Stowe which contracted a deep and lasting friendship for the
saint, even guarding him while he slept.
Magna Vita S. Hugonis Epis Linconiensis, ed. Dimock (London, 1864); Giraldus Cambrenis, Opera, VII, ed. Dimock (London, 1877); Chronicles of Henry II, Richard I and John, ed. Howlett (London, 1885); Roger of Hoveden, Historia, ed. Stubbs (London, 1870); Thurston, The Life of St. Hugh of Lincoln (London, 1898); Perry, Life of St. Hugh of Lincoln (London, 1879); Adams, Political History of England 1066-1216 (London, 1905); Stephens, History of the English Church from 1066-1272 (London, 1904).
R. URBAN BUTLER
In memory of my mother, Shirley O'Brien Blizzard
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VII
Copyright © 1910 by Robert Appleton Company
Online Edition Copyright © 1999 by Kevin Knight
Nihil Obstat, June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York