With the support of his cathedral chapter, he gave a prebend to William of Tyre, who had returned to the kingdom after studying civil law at the University of Bologna.
Historians Peter Edbury and John Rowe suggest that Bishop William, as a Lombard, was eager to recruit a Bologna graduate.
[3] When the abbot of Saint Mary of the Latins, either Rainald or Guido, appealed to Pope Alexander III against the decision of Patriarch Fulcher to assign a tithe to the Holy Sepulchre rather than to the abbey, the pope appointed Bishop William to hear the dispute as the judge-delegate.
[7] According to William of Tyre, some believed that Robert was "not responsible for his wicked act" because he had been "attacked by a sudden violent frenzy"; others claimed that he had "committed the crime through hatred of a certain chamberlain of the bishop, who, presuming too much on his lord's favor, had treated Robert and others badly".
[9] Historian Bernard Hamilton concludes that Robert was mentally ill;[6] Steve Tibble interprets this as a psychotic episode.