Medieval Britain 1066–1509, Year 11: Lanfranc, kings and popes, monasteries and language (Norman England option)

Stigand

HintHe had been excommunicated by several popes.

The whyLanfranc replaced him. Stigand's lands and wealth were taken by William and he was imprisoned at Winchester. Reformers criticised pluralism, holding more than one Church post, as corrupt.

St Stephen's, Caen

HintNot Bec, where he had earlier been a monk.

The whyLanfranc was an Italian scholar who had been a monk at Bec before he became abbot at Caen. He became William's key adviser on Church matters, and the king and archbishop worked closely together.

Primacy over the whole English Church

HintYork's archbishop would not at first promise him obedience.

The whyThe Chronicle records Thomas of York refusing to swear obedience to Canterbury in 1070, and the dispute ran on. A council at Winchester in 1072 confirmed the primacy Lanfranc wanted.

Being married

HintReformers wanted priests to live more like monks.

The whyMonks were already celibate, so this reform was aimed at ordinary priests. Lanfranc's wider aim was to free the Church from corruption and to modernise and reorganise it.

Many were replaced by Normans

HintThink about who William trusted.

The whyMany English office-holders were removed or kept until they died and then replaced by foreigners. By 1095 no bishopric was held by an Englishman. Not everything changed: the English Church kept its basic structure and liturgy.

Anselm

HintHe was a scholar-monk who had been abbot of Bec.

The whyWilliam II delayed filling the archbishopric after Lanfranc died in 1089. Anselm was named only in 1093, when the king was seriously ill, and the two men then quarrelled. Anselm later argued with Henry I about investiture.

Who had the right to choose and install bishops and abbots: kings or the pope

HintA bishop was both a churchman and a landholder under a ruler.

The whyThe dispute was fiercest between the pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV. It ended in 1122 with the Concordat of Worms. In England the quarrels were milder, and a compromise on investiture was reached in 1107.

A papal banner

HintIt is an object, not a document.

The whyThe claim comes from the Norman writer William of Poitiers and may have been made to strengthen William's case. William adopted the reformers' programme, and the English Church was brought into line with the reforming popes' ideas.

Gregory VII

HintHe was born Hildebrand.

The whyThe Dictatus Papae set out the pope's claims over the Church and rulers. Gregory's quarrel with the Emperor Henry IV led to Henry's famous humiliation at Canossa in 1077.

He left the posts empty and kept their income

HintThink about who gets the money when nobody holds the job.

The whyHe delayed filling the archbishopric of Canterbury for several years after Lanfranc died, taking its income meanwhile. The Church was very wealthy, so such vacancies were worth a great deal to the crown.

The Cluniacs

HintThe order took its name from the abbey where it began.

The whyEnglish monasteries grew in number and size under the Normans, and Norman abbots replaced English ones. The Cluniacs were part of the wider reform movement in the Church.

Saint Benedict's

HintAn Italian monk of the sixth century.

The whyMonasteries had followed the Rule of Saint Benedict for centuries. Lanfranc did not invent it, but he revived it and used it to support Norman control.

They held large estates given to them by the king and Norman lords

HintThink about gifts from the powerful.

The whyIndividual monks owned nothing, but the monastery as a whole held land, and Norman monasteries often became very wealthy. The Chronicle says William built a great minster for monks, endowed it well, and that many other monasteries were built in his reign.

Latin

HintThink of a language of scholars and the Church.

The whyDomesday is written in Latin, in a highly abbreviated form. After the Conquest Anglo-Norman replaced English as the language of the ruling classes, though English did not disappear.

Anglo-Norman (Norman French)

HintIt was a northern dialect from across the Channel.

The whyNorman French words entered English, and William himself never developed a working knowledge of English. It is not known how far French spread among the lower classes.