Paul of Caen

Paul of Caen[1] was a Norman Benedictine monk who became fourteenth Abbot of St Albans Abbey in 1077, a position he held to 1093.

[2][3] He was a nephew of Archbishop Lanfranc.

[4] Paul, former monk of the Saint-Étienne abbey in Caen,[5] was an energetic builder at the Abbey,[6] having materials from the ruins of Roman Verulamium, collected by earlier abbots Ealdred and Ealmer, to work with.

[7] He also took a firm line with older reverences, disregarding some Anglo-Saxon relics and tombs,[8] and allowing the incorporation of older religious stonework into foundations, thus paradoxically ensuring their preservation for archaeology.

[9] He encouraged the transcription of manuscripts.