Grandson of William the Conqueror, brother of King Stephen, abbot of Glastonbury, bishop of Winchester, and papal legate, Henry of Blois had few rivals in twelfth-century England for nobility, wealth, and influence. In a career that lasted more than forty years, he left a permanent mark on his abbey and cathedral, and he helped to shape the fortunes of the English church and kingdom. Though hardly ignored by scholars, Henry has not been the subject of a book-length study since Lena Voss's Heinrich von Blois, Bischof von Winchester (1129–71) (1932). No doubt this is due in part to the fact that Henry's correspondence has not survived, and no vita is known to have been written, but it also reflects the tendency to emphasize Henry's role in the civil war of Stephen's reign at the expense of other facets of his life. Edited by William Kynan-Wilson and John Munns, this collection of essays explores new perspectives on Henry's career as a participant in ecclesiastical and secular politics, an administrator, and a patron of the arts.

Although nineteenth-century scholars took a broadly positive view of Henry as a churchman who was rich, well connected, and politically engaged, but also idealistic and learned, his reputation has been in decline since the mid-twentieth century. His record in the civil war—burning his own city of Winchester and switching sides twice within the space of a few months—and his regular interventions in ecclesiastical appointments have drawn charges of opportunism, nepotism, and a lack of principle and substance. But, as Barbara Bombi argues in her chapter on his papal legation, Henry's actions in the civil war show him consistently promoting the interests of the church, championing its liberties, and implementing a reform agenda rather than simply pursuing his own interests. Munns accepts some of the charges of nepotism but argues that they are exaggerated and that Henry's record compares favorably to such contemporaries as Gilbert of London and Theobald of Canterbury.

Perhaps more damaging to Henry's reputation has been scholarly neglect of certain important dimensions of his life. One to which many contributors in this volume draw attention is the European context to Henry's career. He was educated at Cluny and, as M. J. Franklin's essay makes clear, he regularly returned to Cluny throughout his life and made significant contributions to that abbey's administration and material well-being. The communities of Glastonbury and Winchester noted Henry's achievements as a builder, and this legacy is addressed by John Crook in his chapter on his architectural heritage at Winchester Cathedral and by Martin Biddle in his chapter on Henry's great house of Wolvesey. Several contributors also emphasize Henry's intellectual horizons. Claire Donovan's chapter on the Winchester Bible shows the extent of Henry's patronage and oversight of this collaborative project, presenting important challenges to previous interpretations of its production. Kynan-Wilson discusses how Henry was recognized by contemporaries not only for his lavish taste but also for his learning and eloquence and, especially, his identification with Roman culture.

Little trace of Henry's own voice remains, though one of his two administrative treatises survives in a later work, and a number of contemporaries wrote about him. Edmund King makes the intriguing argument that two forged charters attributed to Henry give an appearance of authenticity because the Winchester monks were able to hear and mimic his voice in the years after his death. King's chapter also includes a useful reconstruction of The Deeds of William and Henry, bishops of Winchester, written by Robert, prior of Winchester. Matthew Mesley examines how William of Wycombe, Gerald of Wales, and later Glastonbury tradition judged Henry, and how they presented him as model of episcopal conduct, a defender of ecclesiastical liberties, and a successful ruler of the churches committed to his care.

These chapters in this volume do not present a uniform picture of Henry of Blois, but they do amount to a revision of previous assessments. Henry appears as a more complex figure and his achievement more significant: a prelate whose horizons extended well beyond England to Cluny, Rome, and the Mediterranean; who used his proximity to the king for the benefit of ecclesiastical liberty; and whose magnificence and expensive tastes helped to build up the churches of Glastonbury and Winchester. The contributors’ focus on such themes as Henry's administrative writings, his identity as a Cluniac, comparisons between Henry and Abbot Suger of St-Denis, and his contribution to the development of Winchester Cathedral, help to open up paths to new research. Not the least of the qualities of this collection is that it addresses issues that go beyond Henry of Blois himself: the office of legate in the twelfth century, English ideas of romanitas, the production of luxury books, episcopal practice and ideal in Anglo-Norman England. This volume presents a welcome reassessment of a hugely important figure in twelfth-century England and offers useful insights into the world he inhabited.