Conjectures on an ancient Tomb [Bishop Roger of Salisbury] in Salisbury Cathedral. By Mr . Gough. Read at the Society of Antiquaries, Feb. 22, 1770.

On the south side of the nave of Salisbury cathedral, under the fourth arch from the west, lies a monument of blue speckled marble, with the figure of a bishop in pontificalibus, his right hand lifted up to give the blessing, his left hand holding the crosier^a. On the perpendicular sides or edge all round is cut an inscription in large capitals ; and on the front of the robe, another in letters somewhat similar. The slab lay so deeply bedded in the stone foundation on which the pillars of the nave rest, that the first of these inscriptions had intirely escaped the notice of the curious, or if any had noticed it, the lower half of the letters being out of sight, rendered it unintelligible. Last summer I procured it to be raised, and the pavement disposed round it in such a manner, that it can henceforth, receive no injury, but will remain the second oldest monument in that church, if the conjectures I have formed upon it are founded in truth.

Note a. See Plate xiii. fig. 1.

Letters of the form here represented appear to have been in use among the Romans. On an altar dedicated to Mercury, found at Middleby in Scotland, and whose aera is by Baron Clerk^b fixed to the time of Julian, we see several letters included in larger ones. But they are more common in the Gothic ages. Our own country affords three instances.

Note b. Horsley Brit. Rom. p. 355. Scot. xxxv.

The first is an inscription on a leaden plate found in Lincoln minster, published by Sir William Dugdale^c, and again, with some inconsiderable difference, from Dr. Smith’s papers, by Mr. Hearne, at the end of his preface to Trivet’s Annals^d. It commemorates William D’Eincourt, who died in the court of William Rufus, 3 kal. Nov. between 1087 and 1100.

Note c. Baron, vol. I. p. 386.

The second is the epitaph of Ilbertus de Chaz, in the ruins of Monkton Farleigh priory, Wilts. It is printed in the Gentleman’s Magazine for April, 1744, and corrected in that for the following month. The letters and style correspond with this at Salisbury more than that at Lincoln. Ilbertus was a witness to the foundation charter of Humphrey de Bohun, the second of that name, who lived about the middle of the twelfth century, and still nearer the time of our monument^e.

Note d. N° iv. p. 26.

Note e. Tan. Not. Mon. 596. Dugd. Mon. Ang. I. 620, 621. Upon enquiry, in 1772, after this curious monument in order to verify it, I had the mortification to find it had lately been broken to pieces to mend the roads. I have therefore caused the Magazine copy, such as it is, to be inserted in the annext plate, fig. 2.

The third is an inscription of uncertain date, found in taking down the steeple of St. George’s church, Southwark, 1733, communicated to this Society by Mr. Ames, 1737, and; here engraved from their Minutes^f.

I make no doubt but many more might be found among us on an attentive search.

Note f. PI. xiii. fig. 3.

The instances of this kind that occur in France are of more ancient date. These are the inscriptions on the reliques belonging to the cathedral of Clermont, and the epitaph of Pope Geneiius in the church dedicated to him in that city; the former of the 7th, and the latter of the 8th century^g.

Note g. See Monf. Lancelot’s Memoirs on these two inscriptions, in Mem. de l'Acad. des Infe. vol. xii. p. 264. 12mo.

Sir William Dugdale^h calls these letters Saxon capitals. They are rather a mixture of Saxon and Roman. In the Lincoln inscription, only the X, E, and H [Note. These are represented as Saxon letters], are strictly Saxon. All the rest are made up of mixed, rude letters, which varied according to the capacity and skill of the carver, and alphabets of which I place among the desiderata of Antiquarian Science.

Note h. Loc. cit.

The buildings referred to were the castles of Devizes, Sherborn, Malmsbury, and Sarum; the first the wonder of Europe, the others not much inferior to it ; the stones so neatly jointed together as to appear like one single mass. As to the cathedral of Salisbury, the same author^m says, he rebuilt it; or, as bishop Godwin understands the words novam fecit, laid out incredible sums in carrying on and decorating it in a most sumptuous manner: for though the foundation had been laid about fifty years before, it had suffered much by lightning immediately after its dedication, A. D. 1092. He endowed two religious foundations, at Dorchester in Oxfordshire, and at Kidwelly in South Wales; and, though no scholar himfelf, settled at St. Fridefwide’s, Oxford, a convent of regular Canons, under Guimond, a learned clerk, and chaplain to Henry I.

Note m. Loc. cit.

Such was the prosperous situation of our prelate under this prince ; in which there is every thing to justify the elogia which compose his epitaph. His great influence with his sovereign, and his mutual esteem for him, is recorded in the words, Prinipibus gemma reluxit. His administration of justice intitled him to the name of Ensis justitiae. His munificence to his infant church, to that of Pater ecclesiae Salisbiriensis. His impregnable fortifications, as well as his irreproachable conduct, made that non timuit fastus potentum; as his high rank in the state made him Clava terrorque nocentum. We are to presume, that with his great wealth miseros aluit; (not to mention his religious foundations) and considering what a reverse he underwent in the next reign, dum viguit is not without its meaning. The words inscribed on the front of his robe more strongly mark the distresses of this prelate’s declining age. Affer opem, devenies in idem, is an earnest address to the sympathy of the spectators, warning them at the same time of the uncertainty of human events. The conclusion Propeque tibi gemma reluxit, seems an address to the church, reminding her of the lustre he reflected on her while he presided as bishop in her former situation at Old Sarum. My only difficulty is about the noble descent ascribed to him in the words, de ducibus, de nobilibus, primordia duxit. But he may have been the younger son of some noble family in Normandy, which the Monks may have known from evidences not noticed by general historians, or they may have introduced it here for rhyme sake.

I would draw a veil over the last and larger part of this bishop’s life. The treacheries of the human heart and the cruel reverses of fortune are disagreeable subjects to inflict upon, if they were not otherwise foreign to my design. He lived to sacrifice the interests of his patron's family to his own ambition and interest; and to be plundered by the usurper, whose cause he had espoused. After having seen his strongeft castles surrendered before his face, and heard that the wealth he had devoted to the service of his church was carried off from the very altar, he died of a broken heart, in transports of the most violent distraction and disappointment, 1139; and so, says Neubrigenfisⁿ, "vitam longo tempore splendidissimam infelicissimo sine conclusit." But he died not unrevenged. The ingratitude with which Stephen repaid his obligation to our bishop, and the rest of the clergy, involved him the next year in a civil war, which ended in restoring the succession to its proper line.

Note n. Lib. I. c. 6.