Robert of Jumieges

d. c.1055. Archbishop of Canterbury, 1051-52. Prior of St. Ouen, Rouen, and then abbot of Jumièges, he befriended in Normandy the exiled English royal claimant, Edward the Confessor,* and went to England with Edward when the latter became king in 1042. Robert established himself as one of the king's closest advisers and the leader of the Norman group at court. He was bishop of London (1044-51) and archbishop of Canterbury (1051-52), and he might have been responsible for modeling Edward's Westminster Abbey on the abbey church at Jumièges. It has been suggested that while Robert was on his way to receive his pallium from the pope in 1051 he also visited William of Normandy to tell him that Edward was recognizing him as his heir. In 1051 Robert's political rival, Godwin, the king's father-in-law and the leader of the English party at court, rebelled and was exiled, only to return in 1052, when Robert fled to Rome. He died at Jumièges a few years later.