Simon of Wells

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Simon of Wells (died 21 August 1207) was the Bishop of Chichester in England from 1204 to 1207. He was the son of Robert and joined the household of Archbishop Hubert Walter in 1194. His father, often called Robert of Whatley, held land in Somerset. He was likely not related to the Wells bishops Hugh of Wells or Jocelin of Wells. By 1198 he became Archdeacon of Wells and also served as Provost of Beverley and held prebends at London and Salisbury. He traveled with King John to Normandy in 1199 and 1203.

In 1201 he served as a clerk of the king’s chamber, which earned him the nickname “camera.” That year John tried to grant him the church of Faversham, but the monks of St Augustine’s Abbey Canterbury owned it and appealed to Rome, so Simon did not receive it. In 1202 Hubert Walter asked the king to allow Simon to custody Fleete Prison and to guard the heir of Robert of Leveland on crusade.

He was elected bishop of Chichester between 4 and 9 April 1204 and was consecrated on 11 July 1204. As bishop, he focused on building in Chichester, including walling the city, and recovering lost lands for the diocese. He continued to serve the king until the death of Hubert Walter, after which he appears less in royal service. He died on 21 August 1207 while returning from a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, at St Giles in the south of France. Besides his obedience to the Archbishop of Canterbury, only about twelve genuine documents survive from his episcopate.