Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln
9 October -- Commemoration
If celebrated as a Lesser Festival,
Common of Pastors, page 483
Robert Grosseteste (meaning 'large-head') was born at
Stradbroke in Suffolk in about 1175. He studied at
Oxford and Paris and held
various posts until, after a grave illness, he returned to
Oxford, where he taught at the Franciscan house of studies.
He became Bishop of Lincoln in 1235, then the largest
English diocese, which received from him a thorough
visitation soon after his arrival. He met opposition in his
attempts at vigorous reforms in the shape of his dean and
chapter in the cathedral at Lincoln, who saw themselves as
beyond his jurisdiction. The affair was settled in 1245
when the pope issued a bull giving the bishop full power
over the Chapter. Robert attended the Council of Lyons that
year and also travelled to Rome a few years later. His
wide-ranging interests covered mathematics, optics and many
of the sciences; he translated large numbers of theological
works from Greek and wrote his own theological commentaries
and philosophical works. He died on this day in the year
1253.