, or Earnulph, or Ernulph, bishop of Rochester in the reign of king Henry I, was
, or Earnulph, or Ernulph, bishop of
Rochester in the reign of king Henry I, was a Frenchman
by birth, and for some time a monk of St. Lucian de
Beauvais. Observing some irregularities among his brethren, which he could neither remedy nor endure, he resolved to quit the monastery but first he took the advice
of Lanfranc archbishop of Canterbury, under whom he had
studied in the abbey of Bee. That prelate, who was well
acquainted with his merit, invited him over into England,
and placed him in the monastery of Canterbury, where he
lived till Lanfranc’s death. Afterwards, when Anselm
came into that see, Arnulph was made prior of the monastery of Canterbury, and afterwards abbot of Peterborough,
and to both places he was a considerable benefactor, having
rebuilt part of the church of Canterbury, which had fallen
down, and also that of Peterborough, but this latter was
destroyed by an accidental fire, and our prelate removed
to Rochester before he could repair the loss. In 1115, he
was consecrated bishop of that see, in the room of Radulphus or Ralph, removed to the see of Canterbury. He
sat nine years and a few days, and died in March 1124,
aged eighty-four. He is best known by his work concerning the foundation, endowment, charters, laws, and other
things relating to the church of Rochester. It generally
passes by the name of Textus Roffensis, and is preserved in.
the archives of the cathedral church of Rochester. Mr.
Wharton, in his Anglia Sacra, has published an extract of
this history, under the title of “Ernulphi Episcopi Roffensis Collectanea de rebus Ecclesise Roffensis, a prima
sedis fundatione ad sua tempora. Ex Textu Roffensi,
quern composuit Ernulphus.
” This extract consists of
the names of the bishops of Rochester, from Justus, who
was translated to Canterbury in the year 624, to Ernulfus
inclusive benefactions to the church of Rochester; of the
agreement made between archbishop Lanfranc, and Odo
bishop of Bayeux how Lanfranc restored to the monks
the lands of the church of St. Andrew, and others, which
had been alienated from them how king William the son
of king William did, at the request of archbishop Lanfranc,
grant unto the church of St. Andrew the apostle, at Rochester, the manor called Hedenham, for the maintenance
of the monks and why bishop Gundulfus built for the
king the stone castle of Rochester at his own expence
a grant of the great king William Of the dispute between
Gundulfus and Pichot benefactions to the church of
Rochester. Oudm is of opinion, our Arnulph had no hand
in this collection; but the whole was printed, in 1769, bj
the late Mr. Thorpe, in his “Registrum Roffense.
”