Theobald of Bec

On one occasion Stephen forbade him from attending a papal council, but Theobald defied the king, which resulted in the confiscation of his property and temporary exile.

The historian Avrom Saltman suggests that, if admissions were spaced regularly throughout William's abbacy, Theobald would have become a monk in about 1117, but qualifies his estimate with the statement that 1117 "seems to be rather late".

The monks of Bec unanimously elected him to be their new abbot without first consulting the Archbishop of Rouen, Hugh de Boves, who consequently threatened to void the result.

[9] The election took place on 24 December; 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.

Henry believed that Theobald had been elected not only because of Stephen's concerns but also because Waleran of Meulan, the lay patron of Bec, was attempting to put his own man in one of the most powerful positions in England.

[6][10] Although Theobald was pious and well-educated, he had only become abbot the year before, and his election was probably influenced by the reputation of his monastery, which had already produced two archbishops of Canterbury, Lanfranc and Anselm.

[17] According to most historians, Theobald took little part in the controversy that followed the council, which eventually ended with Roger's death in 1139 and Nigel and Alexander's restoration to favour.

They base their view on a Vita, or Life of the 12th-century mystic Christina of Markyate, which narrates the events and gives a more central role to Theobald, instead of Henry of Blois, in challenging Stephen's arrest of the three bishops.

[24] Although Theobald spoke out against the manner of election, he took little active part in the subsequent electoral disputes, which resulted eventually in the deposition of FitzHerbert and his replacement at York by Henry Murdac.

[27] Before his death, Celestine forbade Theobald "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".

[27][c] Meanwhile, Henry of Blois had arrived in Rome and begun negotiations with the new pope, Lucius II, over the elevation of the bishopric of Winchester to an archbishopric.

Relations at this time between Theobald and Stephen seem to have been good,[32] but when Eugene summoned the English bishops to the Council of Rheims in April 1148 the king forbade all of them from attending except for three he nominated: Chichester, Hereford and Norwich.

[24] Henry of Blois had lost his legateship before Celestine became pope, but it was not until about 1150 that Theobald was appointed legate by Eugene III, perhaps owing to the exhortations of Bernard of Clairvaux.

The council decreed eight canons, or ecclesiastical statutes, including ones condemning the pillaging of church properties and the imposition of financial levies on the clergy.

[4] Although Theobald claimed papal authority for refusal, based on the prohibition by Celestine, it was more probable that he and the bishops had no desire to prolong the civil war.

[4] In January 1153 Henry of Anjou, Matilda's son, invaded England in pursuit of his claim to the throne, and with the death of Eustace in August 1153, Stephen gave up.

Although the king and the archbishop occasionally clashed when their interests conflicted, both appear to have wished to minimise the disputes and were willing to compromise to secure good relations.

The lack of services would have deprived the monks of income, and Theobald's threat had the desired effect, as Jeremiah resigned his office and left Christ Church for St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury.

At first, there were no disputes, but soon the monks felt that Theobald was cheating them and imposing too rigorous a definition of poverty, and asked that the stewardship of the estates be restored to Parvus.

[58] The conflict re-surfaced in 1149, when some of the monks of St Augustine's, led by their prior and sacrist, refused to obey the interdict placed on England by Theobald and Pope Eugene III.

[59] As part of the settlement Silvester, as abbot, was required to make a formal profession of obedience to Theobald, something he had been attempting to avoid since his election.

[59] As well as St Augustine's, the abbots of a number of other monasteries in the diocese of Canterbury are known to have professed obedience to Theobald, as the documents recording the events survive.

Most of these exceptions occurred because the monastic house claimed exemption from the oversight of their diocesan bishop, and had a tradition of making those oaths to Canterbury instead.

It was a minor setback for Theobald when the case was eventually decided in Battle's favour, mainly on the basis of charters that were thought at the time to be genuine, but modern historians have come to believe were forged.

[66] That, however, was the last assertion of the claim, as in 1152 the papal legate Giovanni Paparo reorganised the Irish dioceses and settled the issue by appointing the Archbishop of Armagh the primate of Ireland.

Further peace between the two sees was ensured when Theobald consecrated Roger without requiring a profession of obedience, which had previously been a major bone of contention between the two.

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.

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, dispenser, chamberlain, steward, cook, usher, porter and marshal.

[4] His coffin was opened in 1190 during repairs to the cathedral and his body was found to be uncorrupted, but efforts to secure his canonisation as a saint on the basis of that evidence were unsuccessful.

[81] Although Theobald was troubled by the opposition of his suffragan Henry of Blois, he regained control of the English Church, secured the rights of his see, and helped maintain the unity of the realm.