{{Infobox Christian leader |type=Bishop | name =Roger Niger | image = | religion =Catholic | title = Bishop of London | elected = 1228 | consecration =10 June 1229 | ended = 29 September 1241 | predecessor = Eustace of Fauconberg | successor = Fulk Basset | other_post =Archdeacon of Colchester | birth_date = c. 1173 | birth_place =probably Maldon, Essex | death_date =29 September 1241 | death_place =London }}

'''Roger Niger''' (died 1241) was a thirteenth-century cleric who became Bishop of London. He is also known as '''Saint Roger of Beeleigh'''.

==Life== [[File:Beeleigh1536.jpg|thumb|upright=1.05|right|A plan of Beeleigh Abbey in Essex, showing the location of the shrine that housed Saint Roger's heart]] In 1192 Niger was named a canon of St Paul's Cathedral, London, and he held the prebend of Ealdland in the diocese of London. In 1218 he was promoted to Archdeacon of Colchester.<ref name=BHOArchDColchester>Greenway ''[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/fasti-ecclesiae/1066-1300/vol1/pp18-20 Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 1, St. Paul's, London: Archdeacons: Colchester]''</ref> He was elected Bishop of London in 1228, and was consecrated bishop on 10 June 1229.<ref name=Handbook258>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 258</ref><ref name=BHOLondon>Greenway ''[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/fasti-ecclesiae/1066-1300/vol1/pp1-4 Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 1, St. Paul's, London: Bishops]''</ref>

Niger died on 29 September 1241<ref name=Handbook258/> or on 2 October 1241<ref name=BHOLondon/> and during his burial in Old St Paul's Cathedral, there was an eclipse of the sun. There was a tomb memorial to him in the quire there.<ref>"Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral" Sinclair, W. p93: London; Chapman & Hall, Ltd; 1909</ref> His heart was taken to Beeleigh Abbey near Maldon in Essex. Both sites became places of pilgrimage and he was referred to as a saint, although no formal canonisation has been located. He was, however, called a saint by at least one Pope. In 1391, Pope Boniface IX granted relaxation to penitents visiting and giving alms to Beeleigh Abbey on the anniversary of his death.<ref>Page and Round (ed.) "[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=39853 House of Premonstratensian Canons: Abbey of Beeleigh by Maldon]" ''History of the County of Essex: Volume 2''</ref>

==Citations== {{reflist|40em}}

==References== {{refbegin}} * {{cite book |author1=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4=Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology|edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X }} * {{cite book |author=Greenway, Diana E. |section=Archdeacons: Colchester |title= Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300|volume=1, St. Paul's, London|section-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/fasti-ecclesiae/1066-1300/vol1/pp18-20 |access-date= 29 October 2007|publisher=Institute of Historical Research |year=1968}} * {{cite book |author=Greenway, Diana E. |section=Bishops |title= Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300|volume=1, St. Paul's, London|section-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/fasti-ecclesiae/1066-1300/vol1/pp1-4 |access-date= 29 October 2007|publisher=Institute of Historical Research |year=1968}} * {{cite encyclopedia |editor1=Page, William |editor2=Round, J. Horace |title = House of Premonstratensian Canons: Abbey of Beeleigh by Maldon |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=39853 |encyclopedia =A History of the County of Essex Volume 2 |year=1907|publisher=Victoria County History |location=London |access-date= 18 March 2007}} {{refend}}

==Further reading==

* Nunn, S. P. ''St Roger of Beeleigh'', Maldon Archaeological and Historical Group

{{s-start}} {{s-rel|ca}} {{s-bef | before=Eustace of Fauconberg}} {{s-ttl| title=Bishop of London|years=1228–1241}} {{s-aft | after=Fulk Basset }} {{s-end}}

{{Bishops of London}} {{Archdeacons of Colchester}} {{authority control}}

{{Use British English|date=August 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2017}}

{{short description|13th-century Bishop of London}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Niger, Roger}} Category:1170s births Category:1241 deaths Category:Bishops of London Category:Archdeacons of Colchester Category:13th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Category:13th-century Christian saints Category:Medieval English saints