Ralph d'Escures
Ralph d'Escures (also known as Radulf[1]) (died 20 October 1122) was a medieval abbot of Séez, bishop of Rochester, and then archbishop of Canterbury.
Ralph suffered a stroke on 11 July 1119 and was left partially paralysed and unable to speak clearly from that time until his death on 20 October 1122.
A surviving English translation of a sermon delivered by Ralph is preserved in a manuscript in the British Library.
[2] He may have been involved in the mediating the surrender of Robert of Bellême at Shrewsbury in 1102, for some chroniclers state that it was Ralph who delivered the keys of the castle to King Henry I of England.
[15] The king had wanted his doctor, Faricus, who was an Italian and Abbot of Abingdon, but the nobles and the bishops objected to anyone but a Norman being appointed.
[18] It is noteworthy that, while Ralph was not chosen by the chapter of Canterbury alone, his election involved an assembly of the magnates and bishops meeting with the king.
[20] However, It was only with difficulty that Pope Paschal II was persuaded to grant the pallium, as the papacy was attempting to reassert papal jurisdiction over the English Church.
It was Anselm of St Saba who brought the pallium to England, along with letters from Paschal complaining that the English Church was translating bishops from see to see without papal permission, that legates from the papacy were being refused entry to England and that the king was allowing no appeals to be made to the pope over ecclesiastical issues.
[23] He claimed authority in Wales and Scotland, writing to the pope that "the church of Canterbury has not ceased to provide pastoral care for the whole of Britain and Ireland, both as a benevolence and from its rights of primacy.
Ralph visited Rome in 1117, but was unable to obtain an interview with Paschal as the pope had fled the city in front of an invading imperial army.
[28] Thurstan was eventually consecrated at Rheims by Pope Calixtus II in May 1119, although the issue of primacy remained unresolved.
[2] Although he feuded with York over the primacy, it appears clear that Ralph considered the Investiture Crisis settled in England for, in 1117 while visiting Rome, he took a neutral position as regards the issues between the Pope and the Emperor.
[31] He was still involved in decision making and, in 1120, he agreed to King Alexander I of Scotland's suggestion that Eadmer become the next Bishop of St Andrew's.
[37] A surviving English translation of the sermon is also preserved in the manuscript British Library, Cotton Vespasian D.
[37] Ralph also had the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury search for documents relating to the privileges of Canterbury and had those documents copied into a manuscript which still survives, BM MS Cotton Cleopatra E.[22] His seal is one of the first to take the usual form for bishop's seals, with Ralph standing, in full vestments including a mitre, and performing a benediction with his right hand while holding his crosier in his left.
