Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 29.djvu/403

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Jocelin
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Jocelin

Northampton, and according to Hoveden made a speech declaring that his church was the special daughter of the Roman church, and consequently free from archiepiscopal supervision. Benedict Abbas, however, omits all mention of this speech; its authenticity is the more doubtful since it was of no value as a reply to the ancient pretensions of the see of York in Scotland, for the privilege of ‘specialis’ had only been granted to Glasgow in the previous year (Hoveden, i. Pref. pp. lvi–lvii; Haddan and Stubbs, Councils and Eccles. Docs. ii. 43). In 1178 the election to the see of St. Andrews was disputed between John Scot and Hugh the chaplain. Archbishop Roger of York interfered, and in 1181 put Scotland under an interdict. Thereupon William the Lion sent Jocelin to Rome to obtain absolution; the mission was successful in its object, and Jocelin also brought back the golden rose as a present from Pope Lucius III to the Scottish king. The dispute as to St. Andrews, however, continued till 1188, and Jocelin took a leading part in the negotiations between pope and king (ib. ii. 251–72). Between 1181 and 4 July 1197, when the completed portion was consecrated, Jocelin enlarged and rebuilt the cathedral of Glasgow, which had been destroyed by fire. The crypt is his work, and the choir, lady-chapel, and central tower were commenced by him. Jocelin also increased the number of prebendaries and canons in the cathedral. He died at Melrose on 17 March 1199, and was buried there on the north side of the choir. He is described as moderate and courteous.

[Chron. Melrose (Bannatyne Club); Roger of Hoveden (Rolls Ser.); Gordon's Scotichronicon, ii. 473–4.]

C. L. K.

JOCELIN de Brakelond (fl. 1200), chronicler of St. Edmunds Abbey, was a native of Bury St. Edmunds, where two ancient streets were called Brakelond. He became a member of the convent in 1173, having passed his novitiate under the tuition of Samson of Tottington, then master of the novices, to whose care he had specially been commended. Samson having been elected abbot in 1182, Jocelin was appointed his chaplain, and was his constant companion by day and night for six years. In 1198 and 1200 he was guest-master, and afterwards almoner, an office which he held in 1212. He is described by a contemporary monk of St. Edmunds as remarkably religious and mighty in word and deed. He wrote a chronicle of the abbey from 1173 to 1202, giving first a general sketch of the disordered state of affairs during the last years of Abbot Hugh, who died in 1180, and then a minute account of the proceedings relating to the election of Abbot Samson, and of the means by which Samson raised the abbey to a condition of prosperity. Incorporated in his chronicle is the story of Henry of Essex [q. v.], written at his request by one of his brother monks. Jocelin was a careful observer, shrewd, and quick-witted; and the life-like picture which he draws of Abbot Samson inspired Carlyle to write his striking essay on the abbot in his ‘Past and Present’ in 1843. Jocelin's style is clear, energetic, and familiar. He quotes from Virgil, Horace, and Ovid, and once inserts with acknowledgment a short passage from the ‘Imagines Historiarum’ of Ralph de Diceto (comp. Cronica Jocelini, p. 97, and Radulphi de Diceto Opera, i. 401). The only complete manuscript of the Chronicle now extant is Harl. MS. 1005. It was for the first time edited for the Camden Society by J. G. Rokewood in 1840, and has been reprinted by Mr. T. Arnold in his ‘Memorials of St. Edmunds Abbey,’ i. (Rolls Ser.) 1890. It has been translated, with notes by T. E. Tomlins, under the title ‘Monastic and Social Life in the Twelfth Century,’ &c., 1843. Bale, who says that Jocelin was educated at Cambridge, erroneously ascribes to him an extant tract, ‘De Electione Hugonis Abbatis,’ Harl. MS. 1005, fol. 165 (Rokewood). Jocelin records (p. 12) that he wrote an account of the miracles which followed the burial of St. Robert [see under Hugh, Saint, of Lincoln, d. 1255], a boy alleged to have been slain by the Jews at Bury St. Edmunds in 1181. This work is not known to be extant.

[The two editions of Jocelin's Chronicle noted above; Bale's Scriptt. p. 259, ed. 1559; Carlyle's Past and Present, pp. 51–156, ed. 1857.]

W. H.

JOCELIN or JOSCELIN (fl. 1200), hagiographer, was a Cistercian monk of the abbey of Furness in Lancashire, and was one of the monks brought from Furness, towards the close of the twelfth century, by John de Curci to the new monastery founded by him at Down in the north of Ireland. Jocelin was author of: 1. ‘The Life and Miracles of Saint Walthen, or Waltheof, of Melrose,’ compiled under direction of Patrick, abbot of the Cistercian establishment there, printed in the ‘Acta Sanctorum,’ 3 Aug., and dedicated by Jocelin to William, king of Scotland, and his son Alexander. 2. A life of David, king of Scotland, which is only known by extracts in Fordun's ‘Scotichronicon,’ lib. vi. 3. ‘A Life of Saint Kentigern,’ dedicated to Jocelin [q. v.], bishop of Glasgow from 1174 to 1199, preserved in Brit. Mus. MS. Cott. Vitellius,