Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 29.djvu/443

 and moved his see thither. He further bought from the king for 500l. the city of Bath, which had lately been burnt. The office of abbot thus became merged in that of the bishop, the prior and monks became the bishop's chapter, and the bishop became the lord of the city. John loved the society of learned men, and finding his monks, who were probably for the most part Englishmen, slow-witted, despised them, and took away their possessions; but in 1106, when he had got together a new body of monks, he gave them back what he had taken, and also granted the convent an estate near Bath, consisting of part of the present Bath Easton, Warley, and Claverton, which he had purchased for 60l. He rebuilt the church of Bath, which had become his cathedral church, and gave it many ornaments. The bases of some Norman columns at the east end of the present church are fragments of his work. Meanwhile at Wells he destroyed the dormitory, refectory, and cloister which his predecessor, [q. v.], had built for the canons that they might live according to the Lotharingian plan, forced them to live among the laity, and out of the materials, and on the site, of the destroyed buildings raised himself a house. Against the will of the canons he delivered part of their estates of the annual value of 30l. into the hands of Hildebert, his steward, who appears to have been his brother; the lands were held by Hildebert and his heirs as provosts of the canons, and they paid each canon a fixed yearly sum out of the profits. Bishop John was present at the dedication of the Cathedral at Old Sarum on 5 April 1092, and at the dedication of the abbey church of Battle on 11 Feb. 1094. He visited [q. v.], bishop of Durham (d. 2 Jan. 1096), in his last illness. On 15 Oct. 1097, while he was attending the king's council at Winchester, Archbishop [q. v.] sent for him and two other bishops, and appealed to them to listen to what he had to say on his side. They answered that they must consult with the other bishops. He obtained three confirmations of the grant of the city of Bath from Henry I, and one from Robert, duke of Normandy. In 1102 he was present at the synod of Westminster, and on 11 Aug. 1107 assisted Anselm at the consecration of five bishops at Canterbury. He died in old age on 29 Dec. 1122, having been suddenly seized after dinner on Christmas day with a pain in the heart, and was buried in the presbytery of his church at Bath. The enclosures round the chief mineral springs in the city are believed to have been built by him, And he is said to have founded two baths there. He was a man of cheerful and courteous disposition.



JOHN (d. 1147), bishop of Glasgow, was a man of learning, who was entrusted with the education of, brother of of Scotland. In 1115 he was chosen by his former pupil while Earl of Cumberland to be first bishop of Glasgow on the restoration of the see. John, alarmed at the savagery of his diocese, was minded to go to Jerusalem, and somewhat unwillingly consented to his consecration by Pope Paschal II (Reg. Episc. Glasg. i. 6). Like other Scottish bishops of the day John was soon involved in a struggle against the pretensions of the see of York, and eventually, in 1122, suspended him. John appealed to Rome, and when the appeal was decided against him went on to Jerusalem, where he acted as suffragan to the patriarch. Next year Calixtus II ordered him to return. In 1125 John went to Rome to seek the pallium for St. Andrews, but without success. Thurstan was also present, and took occasion to accuse John before the pope of disobedience, and of deserting his diocese. Honorius censured John, and fixed a day in the following year for the hearing of the dispute; but a postponement was agreed to at the intercession of King David (, ap. Script. Decem. 1719). At last the struggle led to the erection of the new see of Carlisle, and the consequent curtailment of the nominal extent of the diocese of Glasgow. John thereupon withdrew once more, on this occasion to Tiron in Picardy, where he remained as a monk till 1138. In that year Alberic, the papal legate, visited Scotland, and finding John was absent without license, and had left no representative, ordered him to return (, p. 99, Surtees Soc.) King David had a great regard for John, and in 1129 made him his chancellor, but the bishop did not long retain