The Several Lives of Paulinus, Master of St Leonard's Hospital, York: Ex Uno Plures

Abstract

In 1895 Richard Holmes identified Paulinus of Leeds, the late-twelfth-century vicar of Leeds and master of St Leonard's Hospital in York, with Master Paulinus, a son of Ralph Nowell, Bishop of Orkney, who was consecrated in 1110 × 1114. Holmes' identification, though dubious on chronological grounds, has generally been accepted. But a recently published charter of Hugh du Puiset, Bishop of Durham, shows that Paulinus son of the Bishop was dead in 1184, so cannot have been the same man as Paulinus of Leeds, who was still living in 1201. The careers of these two men, and others named Paulinus, are here disentangled, and the suggestion is made that Paulinus of Leeds may have been a member of a family of hereditary priests of Leeds. The much misunderstood life of Adam of Birkin, who seems to have been a relative of Paulinus of Leeds, is also re-examined.