Everything about Robert Of Selby totally explained
Robert of Selby or
Salebia (died
1152) was an Englishman, a courtier of
Roger II and
chancellor of the
Kingdom of Sicily. His name possibly indicates that he hailed from
Selby. He probably journeyed to
Sicily about
1130. In his train was
Thomas Brun.
In
1137, he was appointed governor of
Campania just a short while before the siege of
Salerno, the peninsular capital of the realm, by Count
Ranulf of Alife, Duke
Henry the Proud, and Prince
Robert II of Capua, with the troops of the
Emperor Lothair II. Robert stayed in Salerno to defend the city while Roger was in the island capital
Palermo. With the cause hopeless, Robert advised the city to surrender and beg imperial protection to prevent a sack by the eager
Pisans. The citizens did and Robert of Selby left to organise the defence of the rest of the province.
In
1143, when
Pope Innocent II refused to recognise the
Treaty of Mignano, Robert of Selby marched on papal
Benevento. The Beneventans argued that their royal charter was being violated, whereupon Robert entered the palace and the charter was never seen again.
In Summer
1144,
Pope Lucius II was barred from
Rome by the
senatores and the
patricius Giordano Pierleoni. He failed in his negotiations with Roger at
Ceprano. Robert of Selby led expeditions against the ill-defended
Papal States. Lucius' successor,
Pope Eugene III, was invited back after the deposition of Giordano, but forced out again in March
1146. Late in
1149, Robert of Selby led him back into the
Lateran with a Sicilian troop.
Robert of Selby probably acted as a sort of guardian for the young
duke of Apulia,
Roger, the son of Roger II. According to
John of Hexham, writing in
1147, Robert was "the most influential of the King's friends, a man of great wealth and loaded with honours." Likewise, in his
Policraticus, VII.19,
John of Salisbury calls him "an able administrator . . . feared by all because of his influence with the Prince, and respected for the elegance of his life . . ." A modern opinion is that of
John Julius Norwich: "Robert's administrative methods were as unorthodox as his way of life. He emerges as a far more cheerful and extrovert character than his master. . ." Perhaps Norwich had in mind the incident, recorded in the
Policraticus, of Robert negotiating three large bribes from three candidates for the vacant see of
Avella—and promptly disclosing the
simony to an assembly of bishops, who elected a worthy abbot instead. Robert collected the bribes nevertheless.
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