Life
Stillington was Archdeacon of Taunton (1450-1465) and Archdeacon of Berkshire (1464-1465) when he was made Keeper of the Privy Seal from 1460 to 1467.
Stillington was selected as Bishop of Bath and Wells on 30 October 1465, and was consecrated on 16 March 1466. He was appointed Lord Chancellor on 20 June 1467 and held the office until 29 September 1470, when Henry VI was restored to the throne. After the return of Edward IV, he was reappointed to his former office and held it until 18 June 1473, when Edward dismissed him.
In 1478, Stillington spent some weeks in prison, apparently as a result of some association with the disgraced George, Duke of Clarence. His imprisonment was possibly due to similar revelations as the one he later made in 1483.
After Edward's death in April 1483, Stillington was a member of the council of the boy-king Edward V. Some time in June, a clergyman, identified as Stillington only by the writings of the French diplomat Philippe de Commines (who referred to him as "ce mauvais evesque"), divulged to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the Lord Protector, that the marriage of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville had been invalid due to Edward's earlier betrothal to Lady Eleanor Talbot. This led to their children being declared illegitimate and the Duke of Gloucester ascending the throne.
After Henry VII defeated Richard III at Bosworth in 1485, he immediately had Stillington imprisoned again. Henry had the bigamy charge against Edward IV reversed, and married Edward's daughter, Elizabeth of York.
Some years after Stillington's second release, he became involved in the plot to place the impostor Lambert Simnel on the throne in 1487. After finding refuge at Oxford University, he was eventually handed over to the king and died in prison.
Read more about this topic: Robert Stillington
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