Robert of Jumièges - Royal Advisor

Royal Advisor

The Life of Saint Edward claims that while Godwin was in exile Robert tried to persuade King Edward to divorce Edith, Godwin's daughter, but Edward refused and instead she was sent to a nunnery. However, the Life is a hagiography, written soon after Edward's death to show Edward as a saint. Thus it stresses that Edward voluntarily remained celibate, something unlikely to have been true and not corroborated by any other source. Modern historians have felt it more likely that Edward, at Robert's urging, wished to divorce Edith and remarry in order to have children to succeed him on the English throne, although it is possible that he merely wished to be rid of her, without necessarily wanting a divorce.

During Godwin's exile, Robert is said to have been sent by the king on an errand to Duke William of Normandy. The reason for the embassy is uncertain. William of Jumièges says that Robert went to tell Duke William that Edward wished William to be his heir. The medieval writer William of Poitiers gives the same reason, but also adds that Robert took with him as hostages Godwin's son Wulfnoth and grandson Hakon (son of Sweyn). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is silent on the visit however, so it is uncertain whether Robert visited Normandy or not, or why he did so. The entire history of the various missions which Robert is alleged to have made is confused, and complicated by propaganda claims made by Norman chroniclers after the Norman Conquest in 1066, leaving it unclear if Robert visited Normandy on his way to receive his pallium or after Godwin was in exile, or if he went twice or not at all.