Thurstan of Bayeaux

Thurstan (or Turstin) of Bayeaux (c.1070 - 1140) was the son of a priest (this was before Anselm disallowed priests in England to marry). Born at Bayeaux, his father became a canon at St. Paul's in London by 1104.

Thurstan was a clerk under Kings William Rufus and Henry I. For a time he was Henry's almoner, responsible for distributing alms to the poor.* Henry selected Thurstan as the next Archbishop of York after the death of Thomas II of York. Thomas had refused to recognize Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury as his superior, and got his pallium from a papal legate and not bestowed on him by Canterbury. This was part of the Canterbury-York dispute.

In Thurstan's case, Anselm had been succeeded by Ralph d'Escures, who likewise would not support Thurstan's elevation to archbishop unless Thurstan professed obedience to Canterbury. This Thurstan would not do.

To be clear, he did not need to. Henry decided to quash the Canterbury-York controversy at the 1116 Council of Salisbury by ordering Thurstan to submit to d'Escures. Thurstan resigned the archbishopric instead of submitting. Meanwhile, however, Pope Paschal had sent him and the king letters that supported Thurstan against Canterbury. Thurstan's resignation was ignored. The next two popes repeated Paschal's orders, and in October 1119 Thurstan was in Reims being consecrated by Pope Calixtus II, even though Calixtus had earlier told King Henry that he would not consecrate Thurstan until the king gave his consent.

Henry was outraged, and vowed that Archbishop Thurstan would not set foot in England. Thurstan stayed on the continent with Calixtus. He also visited Henry's favorite sibling, his sister Adela of Normandy. Adela helped convince Henry to reconcile with Thurstan. Calixtus had also threatened interdict on England (no sacraments could be administered to the faithful) if Henry did not comply. When Adela retired from active life and entered the monastery of Marcigny at Easter 1120, Thurstan escorted her. A year later he ws recalled to England. (I can't help thinking Adela had a large hand in changing her brother's mind.)

One of Thurstan's more controversial moves was to make a bishop out of a man who was obscure of birth, boastful of his (fictitious) parentage, haughty and materialistic. Thurstan wanted to create more bishops to oversee more dioceses in northern England. One of these was Wimund, who was made Bishop of the Isles, including the Hebrides and the Isle of Mann. When Thurstan created a bishop for galloway, Wimund objected because he felt he had jurisdiction over Galloway. Wimund did more than object: he decided to compensate for the loss of revenue by losing Galloway that he became essentially a pirate, a story I told here.

Thurstan eventually resigned his position on 21 January 1140 in order to fulfill a lifelong goal of becoming a Cluniac monk at Pontefract. He died there on 6 February, after a two-week retirement.

Two years earlier, he had been essential in raising an army against the Scots. For the story of the Battle of the Standard, you'll have to come back tomorrow.

*The United Kingdom still has a Lord High Almoner.

Adela of Normandy

Recent posts have mentioned three of William of Normandy's sons who had claims (some of them realized) to the throne of England. The Conqueror had several children with his wife, Matilda of Flanders. One of his daughters was known as Adela of Normandy, named for her maternal grandfather.

She has been called Henry I's favorite sister. She was born c.1067, a year before Henry, and so was close to him growing up, receiving a similar education. She was probably educated at the Abbey of Sainte-Trinité, a Benedictine nunnery in Caen founded by her father. (Her mother would be buried there after her death in 1083.) Although she would not be in a position to inherit anything from her father, her parentage made her a valuable political asset as a bride.

About her 15th birthday, therefore, she was married at Chartres Cathedral to the son and heir to Count Theobald III of Blois, Stephen-Henry. Stephen-Henry was well into his 30s at the time. The marriage linked two powerful families of northern France. They had several children, a few of whom (William, Theobald, and Philip) are seen in the above illustration with their mother.

Stephen became Count of Blois at his father's death in 1089. When the First Crusade was announced, Stephen became one of tis leaders, using money from Adela. He was present at the Siege of Nicaea, writing letters to Adela about the events. His later actions were less than noble, a fact that disturbed his wife deeply and caused her to mock him.

Adela was regent whenever he was away, showing his trust in her and her administrative ability. She made grants to build new churches, and worked with St. Ivo, Bishop of Chartres, concerning misbehavior of nuns. She made sure her children were educated, since they were likely to have illustrious political careers—except, of course, for the ones she wanted to see enter Holy Orders, like her youngest, Henry, whom she dedicated to a religious life.

She became ill in 1105, and was visited by Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently exiled to the continent because of disputes with Adela's brother, Henry. In their conversations, Anselm made clear that excommunication of Henry was a possible next step to force Henry to comply with Anselm's demands for church autonomy. It is believed that she had a large part in convincing Henry to work with Anselm instead of against him.

She retired in 1120 to a prestigious convent at Marcigny near Cluny Abbey, where her son Henry was living. She died in 1137. Her financial support of churches and her devotion caused her to be named a saint.

Her persuasion of her brother to work with Anselm was a continuation of her support for the Church. Let us return to Anselm's story tomorrow.

Anselm and Henry Working Together

As mentioned here, the relationship between Archbishop of Canterbury Anselm and King Henry I of England was not completely adversarial. Henry wanted desperately to rule England, even if his elder brother Robert Curthose had a valid claim, and Henry wanted allies. He even apologized in a letter to Anselm (who was on the continent, having been exiled by Henry's other brother, King William II) for being crowned by Bishop Maurice of London, rather than waiting for the archbishop, as was traditional.

Anselm also approved the marriage of Henry to Matilda of Scotland, after convening a council to decide if Matilda, although she had been living in a convent as a nun for many years, had actually become a nun. Anselm helped Henry deal with some of his enemies: he supported Henry deposing Ranulph Flambard, the Bishop of Durham who had been loyal to William II but not to Henry; Anselm also threatened Robert Curthose with excommunication, when Robert (then as Duke of Normandy) wanted to invade England and take the throne from Henry. Anselm was involved in persuading Robert to accept the Treaty of Alton.

There was one crucial item where Anselm and Henry did not see eye-to-eye, and that was the question of authority between church and king. Henry still wanted approval of clerical positions (lay investiture), including that of archbishop. Anselm had to pull out his "big gun" if he was to resolve this: he made clear that Henry was facing excommunication, also sending the message obliquely through Henry's sister, Adela. For Henry, not being seen as a faithful member of the Catholic Church would undermine his attempt to be seen as a "good king" after the corruption of his predecessor.

Henry had to compromise. Henry was willing to leave investing of bishops and priests to the Church, but if those positions held lands, they needed to acknowledge that the lands were held in trust from the king and do him homage as landowners. (Anselm and Pope Paschal both agreed to this, but still hoped to eliminate this homage in the future.) Henry also asked that the excommunication of his advisors (see the first link above) be lifted. This Anselm did himself (though later Paschal criticized him for "overturning" the pope's decision without consulting him.)

Anselm was not satisfied, however, and would not return to Canterbury until the king met with him. Henry traveled to Bec in August 1106. Anselm demanded the return of all lands once belonging to Canterbury that William had confiscated. Henry had taxed married clergy, but after Anselm had forbidden clerical marriage, Henry made up for the loss of revenue by taxing all clergy. Anselm forced Henry to make clergy exempt for three years from tax. These changes were enough to satisfy Anselm, who returned. He lived two more years, attending to the duties of Archbishop of Canterbury.

Before concluding Anselm's life, we are going on a side quest. I (and far more consequential historians) have written much about William the Conqueror's sons Robert, William, and Henry. He had other children, and they also had influence. I want to introduce you Henry's older sister, Adela, who was very likely instrumental in convincing him to accept Anselm's demands. See you tomorrow.