David Bates, a biographer of William the Conqueror, suggests that William wished to put Samson forward for the bishopric of Le Mans following the death of Bishop Arnold on 29 November 1081. However the account by Orderic of this event says that Samson convinced William that another candidate, Hoel, was much worthier, based on his humble and pious nature. Bates writes “Since Samson did eventually become a bishop, succeeding Wulfstan at Worcester in 1095, he was probably being disingenuous.”[2]
In 1096 Samson was elected bishop of Worcester; he was ordained as a deacon and priest on 7 June 1096 and consecrated as bishop on 8 June 1096.[1] Being a bishop did not prevent him from fathering a daughter, Isabelle of Douvres, and two sons who also became bishops. His son Richard was bishop of Bayeux from 1108 to 1133, and his son Thomas was archbishop of York from 1108 to 1114.[3] Samson's daughter, Isabelle of Douvres was known for her liaison with Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester. Their illegitimate son was Richard, who was bishop of Bayeux from 1135 to 1142.
It has been suggested that Samson may possibly have been the scribe who oversaw the compilation of Domesday Book[4] by the historian V. H. Galbraith.[5]
Chaplais, Pierre (1987). Holt, J. C. (ed.). William of Saint-Calais and the Domesday Survey. Domesday Studies: Papers Read at the Novacentenary Conference of the Royal Historical Society and the Institute of British Geographers, Winchester 1986. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press. pp. 65–77. ISBN0-85115-477-8.
Clanchy, C. T. (1993). From Memory to Written Record: England 1066–1307 (Second ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN978-0-631-16857-7.
Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-56350-X.
