Lanfranc
[3] Lanfranc was trained in the liberal arts, at that time a field in which northern Italy was famous (there is little or no evidence to support the myth that his education included much in the way of Civil Law, and none that links him with Irnerius of Bologna as a pioneer in the renaissance of its study).Later tradition told that while he was Prior of Bec he opposed the non-canonical marriage of Duke William with Matilda of Flanders (1053) and carried matters so far that he incurred a sentence of exile.In 1066 Lanfranc became the first Abbot of the Abbey of Saint-Étienne at Caen in Normandy, a monastery dedicated to Saint Stephen which the duke had supposedly been enjoined to found as a penance for his disobedience to the Holy See.William adopted the Cluniac programme of ecclesiastical reform, and obtained the support of Rome for his English expedition by assuming the attitude of a crusader against schism and corruption.It was Alexander II, possibly a pupil of Lanfranc's and certainly a close friend, who gave the Norman Conquest the papal benediction—a notable advantage to William at the moment, but subsequently the cause of serious embarrassments.His first difficulties were with Thomas of Bayeux, Archbishop-elect of York, (another former pupil) who asserted that his see was independent of Canterbury and claimed jurisdiction over the greater part of the English Midlands.[10] Lanfranc, during a visit which he paid the pope for the purpose of receiving his pallium, obtained an order from Alexander that the disputed points should be settled by a council of the English Church.[4] Lanfranc's greatest political service to the Conqueror was rendered in 1075, when he detected and foiled the conspiracy which had been formed by the earls of Norfolk and Hereford.He interceded for Waltheof's life and to the last spoke of the earl as an innocent sufferer for the crimes of others; he lived on terms of friendship with Bishop Wulfstan of Worcester.[4] On the death of the Conqueror in 1087 Lanfranc secured the succession for William Rufus, in spite of the discontent of the Anglo-Norman baronage; and in 1088 his exhortations induced the English militia to fight on the side of the new sovereign against Odo of Bayeux and the other partisans of Duke Robert.Notwithstanding some obvious moral and intellectual defects, he was the most eminent and the most disinterested of those who had co-operated with William I in riveting Norman rule upon the English Church and people.His On the Body and Blood of the Lord is translated (along with Guitmund of Aversa's tract on the same matter) in volume 10 of the Fathers of the Church Medieval Continuation (Washington, DC, 2009).
Lanfranc (disambiguation)Archbishop of CanterburyCanterbury CathedralStigandAnselm of CanterburySaint-Étienne, CaenHoly Roman EmpireCanterburyKingdom of EnglandItalianCatholic ChurchAnglican CommunionjuristBenedictineNormandySt Stephen's AbbeyEnglandconquestWilliam the ConquerorFrenchIrnerius of BolognaAvranchesBec AbbeyHerluinGasconyFlandersAlexander IIAnselm of BectriviumPaul the ApostletransubstantiationBerengar of ToursVercelliHildebrandmetaphysicalAristoteliansubstanceaccidentDuke WilliamMatilda of FlandersAbbey of Saint-ÉtienneSaint StephenCluniacNorman Conquestsee of Rouenprimatial seeThomas of BayeuxCanterbury–York disputecouncil of Winchester (1072)palliumWinchesterPope Gregory VIIcelibacysynodsOdo of BayeuxTrial of Penenden HeathWilliam of St CalaisBishop of Durhamthe conspiracyWaltheof, 1st Earl of NorthumberlandRoger, the earl of HerefordWulfstan of WorcesterWilliam RufusDuke RobertPope Leo IXRoman Martyrology'Blessed' (beatus)The Archbishop Lanfranc AcademyCroydonCroydon PalaceCanterbury Christ Church UniversityWorthingWest SussexrememberedChurch of EnglandcommemorationMilo CrispinGilbert CrispinJ. A. GilesGuitmundCorrectoryColumbia EncyclopediaCatholic EncyclopediaSigebert of GemblouxJ. P. MigneBarlow, FrankMartyrologium Romanumpublic domainDavis, Henry William CarlessEncyclopædia BritannicaThe English Historical ReviewCatholic Church titlesArchbishops of CanterburyList of archbishops of CanterburyAugustineLaurenceMellitusJustusHonoriusDeusdeditWighardTheodore of TarsusBerhtwaldTatwineNothhelmCuthbertBregowineJænberhtÆthelhardWulfredFeologildCeolnothÆthelredPlegmundAthelmWulfhelmÆlfsigeByrhthelmDunstanÆthelgarSigericÆlfric of AbingdonÆlfheahLyfingÆthelnothEadsige