Theobald of Bec

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Theobald of Bec
Archbishop of Canterbury
Enthroned unknown
Ended April 18, 1161
Predecessor William de Corbeil
Successor Thomas Becket
Consecration January 8, 1139
Birth name Theobald
Died April 18, 1161
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Theobald (Tedbald) (died April 18, 1161) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1139 to 1161. He was a Norman by birth, but his exact birth date is unknown. King Stephen of England chose him to be Archbishop of Canterbury in 1138. The dispute of the primacy over the Welsh hierarchy was ended in his reign when Pope Eugene III decided in 1148 in favour of Theobald. Among other issues that Theobald faced was a subordinant bishop who contested his authority, Henry of Blois, who was Bishop of Winchester.

Serving during The Anarchy of Stephen's reign, Theobald was able to force peace on the king by refusing to consecrate Stephen's son and heir. After the death of Stephen's son Eustace, Stephen recognised his rival Henry of Anjou as his heir. Stephen named Theobald regent of the kingdom after Stephen's death. Theobald is also remembered as the patron of his successor Thomas Becket. A number of other future bishops and archbishops served as clerks for Theobald, including Roger de Pont L'Evêque, John Belmeis, John de Pageham, Bartholomew Iscanus, William de Vere, and William of Northall.

Contents

[edit] Early life

The ruins of the Abbey of Le Bec Hellouin, Eure, Haute Normandie, France, in 2005
The ruins of the Abbey of Le Bec Hellouin, Eure, Haute Normandie, France, in 2005

His family was from the area around Thierville near Le Bec-Hellouin, in the Risle River valley.[1] He may even have been a distant relative of his successor Thomas Becket, who also came from the same area of Normandy.[2] He was a Norman by descent and became a Benedictine monk at Bec late in the late eleventh or early in the twelfth century. In 1127 he was made prior of Bec, and abbot in 1137.[3] While still in Normandy, he made an intense study of eccleisiastical or canon law, and continued that study once he was elected Archbishop.[4] He had a brother Walter, who was also a priest.[5]

King Stephen chose Theobald in 1138 to fill the vacant archbishopric of Canterbury. Theobald was chosen by Stephen instead of Stephen's brother Henry, Bishop of Winchester, who had helped Stephen gain the throne of England. Stephen feared that if Henry was archbishop, Henry would be too strong and would attempt to control the king.[6] The election took place on December 24, and Stephen was present with the papal legate, Alberic of Ostia and a small group of barons and bishops, but Henry was absent overseeing the ordination of deacons. Clearly, Stephen had arranged the election's timing so that Henry was absent. Henry felt that Theobald had been elected not only because Theobald was not Henry, but because Waleran of Meulan was lay patron of Bec, and thus was attempting to put his own man in one of the most powerful positions in England. Waleran and his twin brother Robert, Earl of Leicester were Henry's chief rivals as chief advisor to Stephen, and Henry disliked both of them intensely.[3] Certainly Theobald was pious and well educated, but he had only just become abbot the year before, and his election was probably based not only on him not being Henry, but on the reputation of his monastery, which had already produced two archbishops of Canterbury, Lanfranc and Anselm.[7] Theobald had no important family connections that advanced his career nor did he have many clerical allies.[8]

[edit] Archbishop of The Anarchy

[edit] Election

Theobald was consecrated on January 8, 1139 by the legate, Alberic of Ostia.[9] He went to Rome for his pallium[10] and took part in the Second Lateran Council.[11] As archbishop his behavior was moderate in comparison to his main rival, Henry of Blois.[7]

Pope Eugene III confirmed the primacy of Canterbury over the four Welsh sees.
Pope Eugene III confirmed the primacy of Canterbury over the four Welsh sees.

Soon after his election, he selected his brother Walter to be archdeacon of Canterbury, and in 1148 promoted Walter to be Bishop of Rochester.[5] He also attended the council held by Stephen in June 1139 that deprived Roger of Salisbury, Bishop of Salisbury, and his nephews Nigel of Ely, Bishop of Ely, and Alexander of Lincoln, Bishop of Lincoln of their castles.[12]

In 1140, Bernard, Bishop of St David's contested the right of Theobald to consecrate the candidate for the bishopric, or see of Bangor, Maurice, and instead asserted that St. David's should be considered an archbishopric and that Bernard should receive a pallium. This went against the last half-century of precedent that Canterbury had jurisdiction over the four Welsh sees, a precedent that dated back to Anselm's days when Anselm had consecrated Urban as Bishop of Llandaff in 1107. However, Pope Eugene decided in 1148 in favour of Canterbury.[13]

In 1141, after the Battle of Lincoln, with Stephen in captivity in Bristol, Theobald did not immediately join the Empress. He claimed that he needed to talk to Stephen before switching his oath of fealty. After consulting with Stephen, he secured permission to accept the current conditions, and then joined Henry of Blois at Winchester in April for a legatine council held to depose Stephen and crown Empress Matilda. However, the attendance at the council was sparse and they were unable to crown the Empress because she did not hold London or Winchester.[14]

[edit] Difficulties with Henry of Blois

King Stephen from a late medieval painting
King Stephen from a late medieval painting

Theobald suffered difficulties because of the position of Henry of Winchester, his suffragan bishop, as papal legate. Henry supported the appointment of William FitzHerbert as archbishop of York, which Theobald opposed.[15] However, while at Paris in May 1147 to meet with the pope, Theobald's visit coincided with a visit by Count Geoffrey V of Anjou, Empress Matilda's husband.[15]

When Pope Eugene III summoned the English bishops to the Council of Rheims in April 1148, the king forbade them all to go, appointing three bishops (those of Chichester, Hereford and Norwich) but Theobald was specifically refused permission to go.[15] However Theobald defied the king and went, sneaking away in a fishing boat. Though he saved the king from excommunication by begging the pope to allow Theobald time to persuade the king to make amends. However, Stephen was not impressed and confiscated Theobald's property and banished the archbishop. The pope then put England under interdict, which was disregarded except in Canterbury. However, Theobald set himself up in Framlingham, which was held by Earl Hugh Bigod, an adherent of the Empress. While at Framlingham, Theobald conducted the ecclesiastical business of England, which was a direct threat to Stephen's power.[15] Theobald had many reasons for going to the council without the king's permission, the main ones being the need to obey the pope's order commanding his attendance, and the other reason being to keep the papacy from favoring Henry Murdac, who had recently been selected as Archbishop of York, and was known to be close to Eugene, who was also a Cistercian like Murdac.[16]

Henry of Blois lost his legateship when Pope Celestine II became pope, but it was not until around 1150 that Theobald was named legate by Eugene III, perhaps owing to the exhortations of St. Bernard.[11] Theobald was to hold the legatine powers in England until his own death in 1161.[9] Celestine II also wrote to Theobald "forbidding him to allow any change to be made in the position of the English crown, since the transfer of it had been justly denounced, and the matter was still under dispute."[17] This became the papal policy, and was a significant change in papal policy from the recognition of Pope Innocent II.[18]

In 1151 Theobald held a legatine council in London.[19] The next year, the archbishop refused to crown Eustace, the king's eldest son, and again was exiled by Stephen.[20] Although Theobald claimed papal authority, it was more probable that the bishops had no desire to prolong the civil war.[21] While in Normandy in 1153 he reconciled Henry of Anjou to Stephen, resulting in the Treaty of Wallingford, securing for Henry the succession to the throne. Pope Eugene III forced Stephen to reverse the sentence of banishment, and Theobald returned to his see.[22]Later it was mainly Theobald and Henry of Blois who negotiated the treaty ending the civil war, as neither Stephen nor Henry of Anjou were interested in a compromise.[23]

[edit] After Stephen

The archbishop crowned Henry II, depicted in Cassell's History of England (1902).
The archbishop crowned Henry II, depicted in Cassell's History of England (1902).

Theobald was present at Stephen's deathbed in October 1154, and Stephen named Theobald regent of the kingdom until Henry arrived to take up his crown.[24] Two months later Theobald crowned Henry and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine on December 19, 1154[25][26] at Westminster.[27]

Theobald's household was not monastic in character, although he himself was a monk. As he settled into the role of archbishop, he seems to have left most of his monastic habits behind, although he continued to have a monk as a companion. His nephews and brother benefited from his nepotism.[28] Throughout his pontificate he had continual trouble with the monks of Canterbury Cathedral. He also had conflicts with St Augustine's Abbey over the profession of the abbots of obedience to the archbishop. The abbey claimed exemption from the archbishops' oversight due to owing obedience direct to the pope. Papal documents held at Rome backed the abbey, but there were no English royal charters that gave the abbey its liberty from the archbishops. Theobald attempted to clear up the confusion by legal actions both at Rome and in England, but the record was mixed. The documents at Rome clearly favoured the abbey, but at a Royal Council held at Northampton in 1157, Henry II ruled in favour of Theobald. This was just one event in the long history of dispute between Canterbury and St. Augustine's.[29]

Theobald died on April 18, 1161 and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral.[30] In 1787 his lead coffin was found in Canterbury.[31] Theobald was, in the words of Frank Barlow, "an upright man, but quick tempered, and sometimes spoke far too rashly."[32]

[edit] Patronage

The archbishop was a patron to the future St Thomas Becket, pictured here suffering martyrdom.
The archbishop was a patron to the future St Thomas Becket, pictured here suffering martyrdom.

Theobald's household included many young men of ability, including his successor Thomas Becket. Theobald was instrumental in the early spread of Roman law to England, inviting the Bologna-schooled jurist Vacarius to join his administration and advise on legal matters.[33] Theobald was instrumental in fostering the teaching of canon law in England, and the conflict that later arose between Henry II and Thomas Becket had its roots in conflicts that were exposed during Theobald's time in office.[34]

An interesting charter of Theobald from about 1152 shows the usual household staff that surrounded him. It was witnessed by the archbishop's crossbearer, three of Theobald's nephews and the clerk who presumably was in charge of them, a chancellor, two chaplains who were monks, a butler, sidpenser, chamberlain, steward, cook, usher, porter and marshall.[35] Theobald also at about the same time granted a mill to his baker named William and some lands to his cook William and the cook's heirs.[36]

Theobald was the patron of three eminent men: Becket, Vacarius, and John of Salisbury.[6] Vacarius was an Italian who at first taught in Theobald's household, and later moved to Oxford to teach Roman law there.[37] Others who studied for a time in Theobald's household were Roger de Pont L'Evêque, later Archbishop of York, John Belemis, later Archbishop of Lyons,[38] John de Pageham, who was later Bishop of Worcester, Bartholomew later Bishop of Exeter, William of Northall later Bishop of Worcester, and William de Vere later Bishop of Hereford.[39]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Barlow Thomas Becket p. 11
  2. ^ Barlow Thomas Becket p. 23
  3. ^ a b Davis King Stephen 1135-1154 p. 27
  4. ^ Knowles The Monastic Order in England" p. 516
  5. ^ a b Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 401
  6. ^ a b Barlow The English Church 1066-1154 pp. 94-97
  7. ^ a b Appleby The Troubled Reign of King Stephen pp. 60-61
  8. ^ Matthew King Stephen p. 87
  9. ^ a b Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 411
  10. ^ Barlow The English Church 1066-1154 p. 38
  11. ^ a b Barlow The English Church 1066-1154 pp. 110-112
  12. ^ Appleby The Troubled Reign of King Stephen p. 72
  13. ^ Duggan "From the Conquest to the Death of John" pp. 101-102
  14. ^ Davis King Stephen p. 52
  15. ^ a b c d Davis King Stephen pp. 101-103
  16. ^ Matthew King Stephen pp. 197-201
  17. ^ quoted in Davis King Stephen p. 62
  18. ^ Davis King Stephen p. 62
  19. ^ Barlow The English Church 1066-1154 p. 131
  20. ^ Crouch The Normans p. 273
  21. ^ Huscroft Ruling England 1042-1217 p. 135
  22. ^ Barlow The English Church 1066-1154 pp. 100-102
  23. ^ Davis King Stephen p. 118
  24. ^ Crouch The Normans p. 278
  25. ^ Warren Henry II p. 53
  26. ^ Powell The House of Lords in the Middle Ages p. 73
  27. ^ Barlow Thomas Becket p. 42
  28. ^ Barlow Thomas Becket p. 32
  29. ^ Knowles The Monastic Order in England p. 588
  30. ^ Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 232
  31. ^ Bartlett England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings p. 595
  32. ^ Barlow Thomas Becket p. 36
  33. ^ Helmholz Oxford History of the Laws of England v.1 p. 121
  34. ^ Duggan "From the Conquest to the Death of John" pp. 85-88
  35. ^ DuBoulay The Lordship of Canterbury p. 252
  36. ^ DuBoulay The Lordship of Canterbury p. 258
  37. ^ Lyon A Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval England p. 186
  38. ^ Poole Domesday Book to Magna Carta p. 196
  39. ^ Barlow Thomas Becket pp. 30-31

[edit] References

  • Appleby, John T. (1995). The Troubled Reign of King Stephen 1135-1154. New York: Barnes & Noble. ISBN 1-56619-848-8. 
  • Barlow, Frank (1979). The English Church 1066-1154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church. New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-50236-5. 
  • Barlow, Frank (1986). Thomas Becket. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-07175-1. 
  • Bartlett, Robert C. (2000). England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075-1225. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-822741-8. 
  • Crouch, David (2007). The Normans: The History of a Dynasty. London: Hambledon & London. ISBN 1-85285-595-9. 
  • Davis, R. H. C. (1990). King Stephen 1135-1154, Third Edition, New York: Longman. ISBN 0-582-04000-0. 
  • DuBoulay, F. R. H. (1966). The Lordship of Canterbury: An Essay on Medieval Society. New York: Barnes & Noble. 
  • Duggan, Charles (1965). "From the Conquest to the Death of John". The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages (Reprint edition 1999). Sutton Publishing. p. 63-116. ISBN 0-7509-1947-7. 
  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology, Third Edition, revised, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 232. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
  • Helmholz, R. H. (2004). Oxford History of the Laws of England 1. Oxford University Press. 
  • Huscroft, Huscroft (2005). Ruling England 1042-1217. London: Pearson/Longman. ISBN 0-582-84882-2. 
  • Knowles, David (1976). The Monastic Order in England: A History of its Development from the Times of St. Dunstan to the Fourth Lateran Council, 940-1216, Second Edition, reprint, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-05479-6. 
  • Lyon, Bryce Dale (1980). A Constitutional and Legal History of Medieval England, Second Edition, New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-95132-4. 
  • Matthew, Donald (2002). King Stephen. London: Hambledon & London. ISBN 1-85285-514-2. 
  • Poole, Austin Lane (1955). From Domesday Book to Magna Carta, 1087-1216, Second Edition, Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-821707-2. 
  • Powell, J. Enoch; Wallis, Keith (1968). The House of Lords in the Middle Ages: A History of the English House of Lords to 1540. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. 
  • Warren, W. L. (1973). Henry II. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-03494-5. 

[edit] Further reading

  • Barlow, Frank "Theobald (c.1090–1161)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Oxford University Press, 2004 Online Edition
  • Hook, W. F., Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, ii. c. vi. (London, 1862)
  • Norgate, Kate, England under the Angevin Kings, vol. i. (London, 1887)
  • Vita Theobaldi printed in J. A. Giles, Lanfranci Opera, vol. i. (Oxford, 1844)

[edit] External links

Roman Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
William de Corbeil		 Archbishop of Canterbury
1139–1161		 Succeeded by
Thomas Becket
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Anglican
Persondata
NAME Theobald of Bec
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tedbald
SHORT DESCRIPTION Abbot of Bec; Archbishop of Canterbury
DATE OF BIRTH
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH April 18, 1161
PLACE OF DEATH