GROSSETESTE, ROBERT, a celebrated English prelate of the middle ages, was b. at Stradbrook, in Suffolk, in the latter part of the 12th c. He studied at Oxford, and subsequently at Paris. On his return to England, he obtained a great reputation as a divine. and was the first lecturer in the Franciscan school at Oxford. In 1235 he was elected bishop of Lincoln, and at once commenced in the most vigorous fashion the reformation of abuses in his diocese. The most conspicuous and offensive ecclesiastical sin in Grosseteste's days was the conduct of the pope (Innocent IV.) in the matter of church appointmeats. It was common for his holiness to make grants of vacant benefices in England to Italians, and other foreigners, Many of whom, it would appear, never showed face in this country at all, but contented themselves with drawling the revenues of their office. This was intolerable to a man like Grosseteste, and he set him self strongly against it, incurring, by his boldness, a temporary suspension from the exercise of his episcopal functions, and a continual menace of excommunication. One of these transactions in the year 1253 has been the subject of much controversy. It is alleged by some writers that Innocent wrote to Grosseteste, ordering his nephew, au Italian youth, to be promoted to the first canonry that should be vacant in the cathedral of Lincoln, accompanying his injunctions with threats. .The bishop was filled with indignation, and at once addressed a letter either to the pope or his agents, in which he declares, that "if an angel from heaven commanded him to obey a mandate so absurd and sinful, he would not do it," and compares the nepotism of the pope to the sin of Lucifer and anti-Christ. Innocent, according to these writers, was violently enraged at his opposition; he excommunicated Grosseteste, and even appointed a successor to the bishopric, but in this instance the thunder of the Vatican was harmless. Grosseteste quietly appealed to the tribunal of Christ, and troubling himself no more about the matter, continued to discharge his episcopal functions. The general feeling of the Eng lish nation sustained him; the clergy of his diocese went on obeying him as if nothing had happened; and at his death, Oct. 9, 1253, archbishop Bouiface conducted the
funeral services. But Dr. Lingard (ii. p. 502) has shown that the mandate came not from the pope, but from the nuncio; that Innocent, on receiving Grosseteste's reply, not only rescinded the order, but adopted measures for the reform of these abusive appoint ments; and that the story of his having died under a sentence of excommunication rests on very questionable authority. Grosseteste is commonly regarded as one of the "reformers before the reformation." It is assumed that because lie quarreled with the head of the church on a matter of discipline, he must have been a "Protestant." But nothing could be further from the fact than such an assumption. He belonged to that class of minds who look at truth not from the side of doctrine, but of practice. He would have accepted, with acquiescence, any new doctrine from the Vatican, but a knavish trick was not to be endured, even at the hands of an angel from heaven! It is in the last degree futile, therefore, to claim him as a precursor of men like Luther, or Calvin, or Knox. In politics he was a constitutionalist, and a friend of Simon do Montfort, heartily interested in the preservation and extension of such liberty as Eng land then enjoyed. His learning was prodigious, almost inspiring awe among his con. temporaries. Latin, Greek, Hebrew, French, mathematics, medicine, and music were among his attainments. His knowledge of the Scriptures is also particularly lauded. Grosseteste was one of the most voluminous authors that England ever produced. Tho list of his works, as given by Dr. Pegge, of which only a few have been published, occupies 25 closely printed pages in quarto. For an intelligent estimate of his life and character, see Mr. Brewer's Monuntenta Fran,ciscana, and the collection of his letters edited by Mr. Luard, and published (1862) under the title, Roberti Grosseteste Episcopi quondam Lincolniensis Epistoke.