Gundulf
Gundulf (c.1024–1108). Bishop of Rochester. Born in Normandy, Gundulf became a monk at Bec, where he formed friendships with both Lanfranc and Anselm. Anselm called him ‘first among my friends’ and wrote that ‘thy spirit and mine can never bear to be absent from each other’. In 1070 when Lanfranc became archbishop of Canterbury, he brought over Gundulf as an administrator and had him elected to the bishopric of Rochester in 1076. Gundulf changed it from a secular to a monastic church and began rebuilding the cathedral. William the Conqueror employed him to supervise the construction of the White Tower. In 1093 he wrote to the monks at Bec urging them not to oppose Anselm's appointment as archbishop of Canterbury. Gundulf remained on good terms with both Rufus and Henry I and had sufficient authority to beseech Rufus in 1093 to lead a better life, though he received a ribald answer. He was one of the most saintly and respected of post-Conquest bishops.
J. A. Cannon
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Gundulf