Hugh of Lincoln, St (1140–1200). Bishop. Born in Burgundy and educated in a convent at Villard-Benoît, Hugh was ordained deacon at 19 and subsequently made prior of a smallholding at Saint-Maximin. He became a Carthusian in 1160 after visiting the Grand Chartreuse. Known for his holiness, in 1175 he was asked by King Henry II to become abbot of the first Carthusian monastery in England at Witham (Som.) (built as part of his penance for the murder of Thomas Becket). He reproached Henry for keeping sees vacant to enrich royal coffers and as a result, in 1186, Hugh was elected to the see of Lincoln, vacant for some time. In 1192 Hugh undertook the rebuilding of the cathedral at Lincoln, a project which continued long after his death. He is said to have had remarkable concern for lepers, tending them with his own hands and often sharing a meal from the same dish. Hugh condemned the persecution of the Jews which spread throughout England in 1190–1. He had a sharp clash with Henry over ecclesiastical patronage, and later refused to help Richard I fund his war with Philip Augustus in 1198 (the first time an English king had been refused a levy). Hugh died in 1200 after undertaking a diplomatic mission to France for King John, and his funeral was attended by the primate of all England, 14 bishops, 100 abbots, an archbishop from Ireland, and another from Dalmatia, Gruffydd ap Rhys from south Wales, King William the Lion of Scotland, and King John of England. Twenty years after his death he was canonized by Pope Honorius III, the first Carthusian saint.

Sandra M. Dunkin