Roger was a cousin of King Henry III of England, although the exact relationship is unclear.[1] Roger was born c. 1215, and may have been a son of William de Longespee, uncle of Henry III. Little is known of his early career, and he first appears in 1257 as a canon of Lichfield and a papal chaplain.[2] He was elected in January 1257, and consecrated on 10 March 1258.[3] His election was probably due to the influence of Richard of Cornwall, King Henry's brother, whom Roger later accompanied to Germany, where Richard had been elected king.[2]
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-56350-X.
Moorman, John R. H. (1955). Church Life in England in the Thirteenth Century (Revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. OCLC213820968.