Samson (bishop of Worcester)

Tomb / grave marker of Sampson, in the floor of Worcester Cathedral

Samson
Bishop of Worcester
Elected	1096
Term ended	5 May 1112
Predecessor	Wulfstan II
Successor	Theulf
Previous post(s)	Treasurer of Bayeux
Orders
Ordination	7 June 1096
Consecration	8 June 1096
Personal details
Died	5 May 1112
Denomination	Roman Catholic

Samson (died 5 May 1112) was a medieval English clergyman who was Bishop of Worcester from 1096 to 1112.

Life

Samson was a royal chaplain and a canon and treasurer of the diocese of Bayeux.^[1]

In the Domesday Book Samson is referred to as the chaplain and is recorded as holding St Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton and considerable properties in southern Staffordshire, most of which he sublet to either the canons of St Peter's or to other clergy.^{[citation needed]}

David Bates, a biographer of William the Conqueror, suggests that William wished to put Samson forward for the bishopric of Le Mans following the death of Bishop Arnold on 29 November 1081. However the account by Orderic of this event says that Samson convinced William that another candidate, Hoel, was much worthier, based on his humble and pious nature. Bates writes “Since Samson did eventually become a bishop, succeeding Wulfstan at Worcester in 1095, he was probably being disingenuous.”^[2]

In 1096 Samson was elected bishop of Worcester; he was ordained as a deacon and priest on 7 June 1096 and consecrated as bishop on 8 June 1096.^[1] Being a bishop did not prevent him from fathering a daughter, Isabelle of Douvres, and two sons who also became bishops. His son Richard was bishop of Bayeux from 1108 to 1133, and his son Thomas was archbishop of York from 1108 to 1114.^[3] Samson's daughter, Isabelle of Douvres was known for her liaison with Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester. Their illegitimate son was Richard, who was bishop of Bayeux from 1135 to 1142.

It has been suggested that Samson may possibly have been the scribe who oversaw the compilation of Domesday Book^[4] by the historian V. H. Galbraith.^[5]

Samson died on 5 May 1112.^[6]

Citations

1. British History Online Bishops of Worcester accessed on 3 November 2007
2. Bates, David (2016). William the Conqueror. Yale English monarchs. New Haven (Conn.): Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11875-9.
3. Spear "The Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy" Journal of British Studies p. 5
4. Chaplais "William of Saint-Calais" Domesday Studies pp. 68–70
5. Clanchy From Memory to Written Record p. 102
6. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 278

References

• British History Online Bishops of Worcester accessed on 3 November 2007
• Chaplais, Pierre (1987). Holt, J. C. (ed.). William of Saint-Calais and the Domesday Survey. Domesday Studies: Papers Read at the Novacentenary Conference of the Royal Historical Society and the Institute of British Geographers, Winchester 1986. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. pp. 65–77. ISBN 0-85115-477-8.
• Clanchy, C. T. (1993). From Memory to Written Record: England 1066–1307 (Second ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-0-631-16857-7.
• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
• Spear, David S. (1982). "The Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy, 1066–1204". Journal of British Studies. XXI (2): 1–10. doi:10.1086/385787. S2CID 153511298.

Further reading

• Galbraith, V. H. (1967). "Notes on the Career of Samson, Bishop of Worcester (1096–1112)". The English Historical Review. 83 (322): 86–101. doi:10.1093/ehr/lxxxii.cccxxii.86. JSTOR 559525.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Wulfstan	Bishop of Worcester 1096–1112	Succeeded by Theulf