Robert de Chesney

Robert de Chesney
Robert de Chesney was a medieval English Bishop of Lincoln. Educated at Oxford or Paris, Chesney was Archdeacon of Leicester before his election as bishop in December 1148. He served as a royal justice in Lincolnshire, and was an early patron of Thomas Becket. Although shown favour by King Stephen of England, including the right to a mint, Chesney was present at the coronation of King Henry II of England in 1154 and went on to serve Henry as a royal justice. In about 1160 Chesney became embroiled in a dispute with St Albans Abbey that was eventually settled when the abbey granted him land in return for his relinquishing any right to oversee the abbey. He was active in his diocese; more than 240 documents relating to his episcopal career survive. They show him mediating disputes between religious houses and granting exemptions and rights in his diocese. Chesney bought a house in London to serve as an episcopal residence, constructed an episcopal palace in Lincoln, and founded a religious house outside the city. He died in December 1166 and was buried in Lincoln Cathedral.