View source for Robert Stillington

{{short description|15th-century Bishop of Bath and Wells and Chancellor of England}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| name        = Robert Stillington
| title       = [[Bishop of Bath and Wells]]
| image       = 
| alt         = 
| caption     = 
| religion      = Catholic
| appointed = 30 October 1465
| term_end = May 1491
| predecessor = [[Thomas Beckington]]
| successor   = [[Richard Foxe]]
| ordination     = 
| ordinated_by   = 
| consecration   = 16 March 1466
| consecrated_by = 
| birth_date    = about 1405
| birth_place   = Nether Acaster, Yorkshire, England
| death_date    = before June 1491
| death_place   = 
| previous_post = 
}}

'''Robert Stillington''' (about 1405 – May 1491) was an English cleric and administrator who was [[Bishop of Bath and Wells]] from 1465 and twice served as [[Lord Chancellor]] under King [[Edward IV of England|Edward IV]]. In 1483, he was instrumental in the accession of King [[Richard III of England|Richard III]], which led to later reprisals against him under King [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]].

==Life==
Stillington was [[Archdeacon of Taunton]] (1450–1465) and [[Archdeacon of Berkshire]] (1464–1465)<ref>Kingsford "Stillington, Robert" ''[[Dictionary of National Biography]]''</ref> when he was made [[Lord Privy Seal|Keeper of the Privy Seal]] from 1460 to 1467.<ref name=Handbook95>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'', p. 95.</ref>

Stillington was selected as Bishop of Bath and Wells on 30 October 1465, and was consecrated on 16 March 1466.<ref name=Handbook228>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'', p. 228.</ref> He was appointed Lord Chancellor on 20 June 1467 and held the office until 29 September 1470, when [[Henry VI of England|Henry VI]] was restored to the throne. After the return of Edward IV, he was reappointed to his former office and held it until 18 June 1473, when Edward dismissed him.<ref name=Handbook87>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'', p. 87.</ref>

In 1478, Stillington spent some weeks in prison, apparently as a result of some association with the disgraced [[George, Duke of Clarence]]. It has been suggested that he gave Clarence information about the king's prior [[common law]] association with a mistress [[Lady Eleanor Talbot]], information that would have put Clarence in a position to claim the throne for himself.<ref>Paul Murray Kendall "Richard the Third", pp.257-258; 459; 554.</ref>

After Edward's death in April 1483, Stillington was a member of the council of the boy-king [[Edward V of England|Edward V]]. Some time in June, a clergyman, identified as Stillington only by the writings [''Mémoires'', book VI chapter 17] of the French diplomat [[Philippe de Commines]], who referred to him as ''levesque de Bas'' (bishop of Bath) and ''ce mauvais evesque'' (this bad bishop), told [[Richard III of England|Richard, Duke of Gloucester]], the [[Lord Protector]], that the marriage of Edward IV and [[Elizabeth Woodville]] had been invalid on the grounds of Edward's earlier marriage to [[Lady Eleanor Talbot]] at which he claimed to have officiated. That led to Elizabeth Woodville's children by Edward IV being declared illegitimate and the Duke of Gloucester ascending the throne as Richard III.

After [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] defeated Richard III at [[Battle of Bosworth Field|Bosworth]] in 1485, he immediately had Stillington imprisoned again. Henry had the bigamy charge against Edward IV reversed and married Edward's daughter, [[Elizabeth of York]].

Some years after Stillington's second release, he became involved in the plot to place the impostor [[Lambert Simnel]] on the throne in 1487. After finding refuge at [[Oxford University]], he was eventually handed over to the king and imprisoned.<ref name=Handbook228/> He was buried in a chapel of his own founding, since demolished, at [[Wells Cathedral]].<ref>''Dictionary of National Biography''</ref>

==Citations==
{{Reflist|40em}}

==References==
* {{cite book |author1=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4=Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }}
* {{cite DNB|wstitle=Stillington, Robert |last=Kingsford |first=Charles Lethbridge |volume=54}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-off}}
{{s-bef| before=[[Laurence Booth]] }}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Lord Privy Seal]]  | years=1460–1467}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Thomas Rotheram]]}}
{{s-bef|rows=2| before=[[George Neville, archbishop of York|George Neville]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Lord Chancellor]] | years=1467–1470}}
{{s-aft | after=[[George Neville, archbishop of York|George Neville]] }}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Lord Chancellor]] | years=1471–1473}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Lawrence Booth]] }}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef| before=[[Thomas Beckington]]}}
{{s-ttl | title=[[Bishop of Bath and Wells]]  | years=1466–1491}}
{{s-aft | after=[[Richard Foxe]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{House of York Lord Chancellors}}
{{Bishops of Bath and Wells}}
{{Authority control}}

{{Use British English|date=July 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stillington, Robert}}
[[Category:15th-century English Roman Catholic bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of Bath and Wells]]
[[Category:Archdeacons of Taunton]]
[[Category:Archdeacons of Berkshire]]
[[Category:Lord chancellors of England]]
[[Category:Lords Privy Seal]]
[[Category:1420 births]]
[[Category:1491 deaths]]