Hugh of Lincoln, St

Hugh of Lincoln, St (1140-1200). Bishop. Born in Burgundy and educated in a convent at Villard-Benoît, Hugh was ordained deacon at 19 and subsequently made prior of a smallholding at Saint-Maximin. He became a Carthusian in 1160 after visiting the Grand Chartreuse. Known for his holiness, in 1175 he was asked by King Henry II to become abbot of the first Carthusian monastery in England at Witham (Som.). In 1186, Hugh was elected to the see of Lincoln, beginning the rebuilding of the cathedral soon after. He is said to have had remarkable concern for lepers, tending them with his own hands and often sharing a meal from the same dish. Hugh condemned the persecution of the Jews which spread throughout England in 1190-1. Twenty years after his death he was canonized by Pope Honorius III, the first Carthusian saint.