Robert of Jumièges

Robert of Jumièges was a Norman churchman who became bishop of London and then archbishop of Canterbury under Edward the Confessor. He was associated with the king’s Norman advisers and clashed with the powerful Godwin family. When Godwin returned from exile in 1052, Robert fled England and was deposed without papal approval. Norman writers later used his claims about the English succession to support William the Conqueror’s case.

Robert of Jumièges also worked as abbot, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, and Roman Catholic Bishop of London. The historical importance of Robert of Jumièges also reflects the institutional and political setting of religious authority, where doctrine, patronage and public power were often closely connected.

In K. M. Ashman’s The Challenges of a King, The arrangement offers stability, but Edward's Norman advisers—particularly Robert of Jumièges—regard the family's power as an obstacle to royal authority.