Gilbert Foliot
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Gilbert Foliot was a medieval English monk and prelate, successively Abbot of Gloucester, Bishop of Hereford and Bishop of London. Born to an ecclesiastical family, he became a monk at Cluny Abbey in
Interior view of Hereford Cathedral. The lower sections predate Foliot's time as bishop.
Pope Innocent II (left) from a mosaic in Rome
Matilda's seal
12th-century depiction of Becket with King Henry II
Hilary of Chichester
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Hilary was a bishop of Chichester in England. English by birth, he studied canon law and worked in Rome as a papal clerk. During his time there, he became acquainted with a number of ecclesiastics, in
Gilbert Foliot
…to Stephen. He was consecrated Bishop of Hereford on 5 September 1148 at Saint-Omer by Archbishop Theobald. The other English bishops present at Reims—Hilary of Chichester and Josceline de Bohon—refused to help with the consecration, claiming it was contrary to custom for an English bishop to be consecrated outside England…
The interior of Chichester Cathedral, showing the Romanesque stonework. The interior was reworked after a fire in 1187, but the basic structure dates from before Hilary's episcopate.
The ruins of Battle Abbey
The martyrdom of Thomas Becket, from a stained glass window in Canterbury Cathedral. Hilary was an opponent of Becket's.