Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester 1077-1108
/An introduction to Gundulf, Rochester's Bishop from Normandy, with an introductory message from St Mary's Abbey, West Malling. Featured in The Friends of Rochester Cathedral Annual Report for 2010.
The community of Anglican Benedictine nuns at West Malling rejoices to be part of the living heritage of Bishop Gundulf. We also give thanks that the link between Rochester Cathedral and Malling Abbey has been renewed through the membership of the Dean and Chapter among the Friends of Malling Abbey.
3D model of Bishop Gundulf statue inserted into the West Facade of Rochester Cathedral in 1888.
Like the worshipping community at the Cathedral, we are the spiritual heirs of Gundulf's vision, skill and focused faith. We too try to be careful stewards of the buildings he began and to continue the Benedictine pattern of worship, study, community life and hospitality that inspired his long and faithful ministry. Gundulf's motto, 'My eyes are ever toward the Lord' is as valid for us today as it was for him: to help us keep our priorities right, that we might make our respective foundations centres of prayer and oases of peace.
Mother Mary David OSB, Abbess
Gundulf the man - Bishop of Rochester 1077-1108
Gundulf was born in the diocese of Rouen in Normandy, the son of Hathguin and Adelesia. He attended school in Rouen where he later became a clerk in the cathedral. Here he came under the influence of the Archdeacon, William, with whom he travelled to Jerusalem.
On their return c1059 Gundulf entered monastic life at the abbey at Bec where he met the ex- lawyer, Lanfranc, and the spiritual Anselm, with whom he formed a life-long friendship. Lanfranc had arrived at Bec in 1039 where he became Prior and master of the new school that developed into an important centre of learning. Lanfranc appointed Gundulf sacrist and keeper of the church of St Mary the Virgin for whom he had a particular devotion. Eadmer tells us in the Vita that Gundulf also had a love for St Mary Magdalene considering that, as a reformed sinner, she was "more able to understand his needs" and have compassion on him.
During his time at Bec Gundulf's deeply felt spirituality and sense of his own rst manifested itself in the floods of tears, for which he was later to be known as "the Weeper".
In 1052 William, Duke of Normandy, (later King of England) married Matilda of Flanders without the consent of the Pope who had pronounced the proposed marriage incestuous. As a penance they had two abbeys built at Caen. One, dedicated to St Etienne, known as the Abbaye aux Hommes, (for men) and the other, dedicated to the Holy Trinity and known as the Abbaye aux Dames (for women).
In 1062 Lanfranc was appointed Abbot at William's new abbey, taking Gundulf and several monks with him. It was during the building of the abbeys that Gundulf began a friendship with Matilda. Eight years later when William turned his attention to the church in England, he elevated Lanfranc to the see of Canterbury. Once again he took Gundulf with him, appointing him to manage the archiepiscopal estates.
Lanfranc and Gundulf arrived at Canterbury in 1070 where they found a cathedral and monastery in ruins as a result of Danish raids and, in 1067, a fire. They found the monks lacking in discipline, living expensively and luxuriously on the considerable income of Christ Church and indulging in music, riding and hawking. It is easy to imagine Lanfranc and Gundulf rolling up their sleeves and setting all to order. The ruins were cleared away and a new programme of cathedral and monastery building begun, based on the design and size of St Etienne at Caen.
Lanfranc not only set the standard for ecclesiastical architecture but also for the life and liturgy of the church. Although he accepted and preserved many of the existing institutions in England Lanfranc produced his consuetudines or Statutes, based on the Rule of St Benedict and the customs of Bec, which made Christ Church a model for the rest of the country. In all this he was ably assisted for the next seven years by Gundulf, who took on much of the administration.
In 1077 Arnostus the first Norman Bishop of Rochester died after only a few months in office and was replaced by Gundulf, who arrived at Rochester to find the cathedral in much the same ruinous state as they had found Canterbury. His experience in the building of Caen and Canterbury together with his fourteen years as Lanfranc's right-hand man would have stood him in good stead. Gundulf cleared the ruins and set about building a new Norman cathedral and monastery following the pattern set up at Canterbury.
Bishop Gundulf’s Cathedral, c. 1080 AD
The floor plan of the west end comprising the Nave, major transept and Quire was established c.1080 when Justus's structure was torn down and the Cathedral rebuilt on a much grander plan as a statement of the new Norman regime.
Unfortunately little of his cathedral has survived. The only part visible today is the western end of the crypt which is similar to, although not as large as, Anselm's crypt at Canterbury. Gundulf also established a Benedictine monastery in 1083 with twenty-two monks which had risen to sixty at the time of his death. Gundulf followed the precedent set up by Lanfranc at Canterbury by standing in loco parentis to his monks to whom he was, according to his biographer Eadmer, "the example, correction and support”.
Gundulf also provided many gifts for the Priory. Among them were provisions to celebrate annually the feast of St Andrew, including 16 sucking pigs, 30 geese, 300 hens, 1,000 lampreys, 4 salmon and a basket of oats, to be divided equally between the monks and the bishop.
With hain from Fanfare atta tine moms of the cathedral rosse assions the had celebrate annually the feast of St Andrew, including 16 sucking pigs, 30 geese, 300 hens, 1,000 lampreys, 4 salmon and a basket of oats, to be divided equally between the monks and the bishop.
With help from Lanfranc and the king many of the cathedral possessions that had been appropriated by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and others were regained, enabling Gundulf to set the priory on a firm financial basis. At some time between 1086 and 1087 he made a division of the lands of the see, bestowing a liberal share of the revenue on the monastic chapter.
Gundulf also demonstrated diplomatic skills. Odo made Rochester his headquarters during his rebellion against the King in the summer of 1088 and throughout the King's consequent siege Gundulf was allowed free passage to mediate between the combatants. In 1089 Gundulf and the Bishop of Winchester were sent as the King's Commissioners to deal with the rebellion of the monks at St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury. In the same year Gundulf supported Anselm during his disputes with the King and his subsequent exile. He was also present with Anselm at the Council of London that exposed abuses in monastic life and still found time to supervise building projects in London and Colchester as well as within the diocese.
Gundulf has been called "the great builder of his age" "the Builder Bishop" and also the "First Royal Engineer". Eadmer described him as coementarius (skilled in the art of a mason). We know that he was responsible for many buildings other than Rochester Cathedral and St Andrew's Priory, both within the diocese, and without and he may have been involved, as either instigator or overseer, with many more.
Rochester Castle in the time of Odo and Gundulf, 1067-1088
Archaeologist Alan Ward discusses what we know - or what little we know - about Rochester Castle in the time of Odo and Gundulf (1067-1088).
In 1090 Gundulf founded a house of Benedictine nuns dedicated to the blessed Virgin Mary within his manor at Malling. His decision to found a nunnery may have been influenced by the example of the Abbaye aux Dames at Caen and his devotion to the cult of the Virgin. He provided the abbey with a secure future by endowing it with the manor lands and church at Malling, among other property.
In Rochester Gundulf was responsible for St Bartholomew's Hospital for lepers and, on the orders of the king, at a cost of £60, a castle.
Bishop Gundulf builds Rochester Castle for the king in return for the manor of Haddenham, c.1108-c.1114 AD
William II grants the manor of Haddenham to Bishop Gundulf for which, in return, Gundulf builds Rochester Castle.
The parish churches of Holy Trinity at Dartford and 'Saint Peter and Saint Paul at Trottiscliffe were, at least, begun by him and G M Livett has suggested that throughout the Medway Valley there were "a whole series of churches which bore the well-marked features of his other work".
At West Malling he built St Leonards Tower, for what purpose is not clear, but possibly for the protection of the abbey or, as has also been suggested, for defence against the Danes or "marauding Saxons". Two other defensive buildings were Gundulf's work. For King William he built the White Tower of the Tower of London, which was also intended as royal accommodation and still contains the Chapel of St John of Jerusalem at its south-east corner. At Colchester, the castle he built on the site of the Temple of Claudius, has the same ground plan as the White Tower. Where possible Gundulf utilised local building materials, such as Kentish Ragstone at Rochester, a hard compact grey-white limestone, which came from around Maidstone. However he turned to Normandy for tissus: for parts of the White commodation and still contains the Chapel of St John of Jerusalem at its south-east corner. At Colchester, the castle he built on the site of the Temple of Claudius, has the same ground plan as the White Tower. Where possible Gundulf utilised local building materials, such as Kentish Ragstone at Rochester, a hard compact grey-white limestone, which came from around Maidstone. However he turned to Normandy for the fine-grained limestone from Caen for parts of the White Tower.
Bishop Gundulf Statue dating to the 1888 restoration of the West Facade, depicted holding the White Tower of London.
Service to three kings and two archbishops brought him many gifts and favours, a liberal share of which he bestowed on his monks or the nuns at Malling. Neither did he forget the poor and the sick, assisting in relieving a London famine and building the hospital for lepers at Rochester.
He had a great sympathy for women, as seen in the veneration of the two Marys, his foundation of Malling Abbey and his friendship with Queen Matilda.
Gundulf's life was a balance between the spiritual and secular personified by the two great influences of his life, Anselm the spiritual philosopher and Lanfranc the ecclesiastical lawyer. His deep spirituality that led him to weep was balanced by the energetic pragmatist who organized an abbey, administered a diocese and treated with the great and the good, and was able to maintain good relationships with all.
In the Vita, Eadmer likened the two sides of Gundulf's nature to the Mary in him that worshipped at the feet of Christ and Martha who prepared the Lord's Supper.
Unlike Anselm and Lanfranc, Gundulf was not an academic. He left no great treatise, rather his legacy is written in stone. His architecture, seen in either military defences or the great flowering of ecclesiastical buildings within the diocese, owes its origins to the castles and churches of Normandy, underlining the imposition of Norman power and culture on England.
Bishop Gundulf died on 7 March 1108 having been fifty-one years as a monk, for thirty-one of which he was Bishop of Rochester. He was buried, by Anselm, his friend and Archbishop of Canterbury, in his own cathedral before the altar of the Crucifix at the east end of the nave, though its exact site is not known.
Footnote about the spelling of the name
Eadmer, Gundulf's biographer, who is believed to have known him, spelt the name with an 'f, as do the Priory charters, so I have used that spelling. This would appear to have been an ending commonly used, as in Ernulf, Cuthwolf and Beowulf. The 'ph' may have arisen (according to my own theory) among some scholars during the 'classical' revival.
Pat Salter
Sources
Archives of the Dean & Chapter of Rochester.
Archaeologia Cantiana Vols XX, XXI and XXII.
The Nuns of Malling Abbey - The Life of Gundulf.
Thomas Hugo - A Memoir of Gundulf.
R A L Smith - The Place of Gundulf in the Anglo-Norman Church.
R Thomson - The Life of Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester.
John Henry Parker, The Buildings of Bishop Gundulph', The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Review, vol CCXV.
David C Davies - William the Conqueror.
Frank Barlow - William Rufus.
Colin Flight - The Bishops and Monks of Rochester.
W St John Hope - The Priory of St Andrew.
Philip McAleer - Rochester Cathedral 604-1540.
Anne Oakley - Rochester Priory 1185-1540, Yates & Welsby, Faith & Fabric.
Martin Brett - The Church of Rochester, Yates & Welby, Faith & Fabric.
David Knowles - The Monastic in England.
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