How did William use the church to assert royal authority

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How did William use the church to assert royal
authority?
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Why was the Church so important?

• Church dominated everyones life.
• Everyone believed in heaven and hell. Only route
  to heaven was through the Church.
• Local Bishops served in County courts and the
  hundred courts (subdivisions of the county
  courts), dealing with lay and ecclesiastical
  cases.
• Main means of communication.
• Belief that monarchs were doing Gods work
  (Edward the Confessor and William).

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Lanfranc

• One of the worlds most important biblical
  scholars.
• Appointed Abbot of St. Stephens in Caen by
  William in 1063.
• Helped persuade Pope Alexander II to support
  Norman Invasion in 1066.

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Lanfranc

• Replaced Archbishop Stigand as Archbishop of
  Canterbury in 1070.
• Originally from Lombardy in Italy but monastic
  training and Church experience in Normandy.
• Seen as a first-class administrator.
• Entrusted with governing kingdom in Williams
  absence.
• Excommunicated rebels against Williams after
  revolts.

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The Church in England before 1066

• Seen as inferior to Norman church.
• Bishops mostly uneducated, the lower clergy
  hopelessly ignorant (Brooke, 1931).
• BUT . . . Edward the Confessor had been the
  effective head of the Church (later canonised).
• Seen as Gods vicar.
• Edwards right to appoint to Bishoprics and
  monasteries was uncontested.
• Pluralism commonplace (the holding of more than
  one appointment).

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The Church in England before 1066

• Edward introduced no major reforms to Church.
• Appointed Stigand as Archbishop of Canterbury in
  1052. Stigand developed a reputation for
  corruption.
• Members of the clergy were permitted to marry.
• Simony (the selling of ecclesiastical offices)
  was common.

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1070 Easter Court

• Aftermath of 1069 revolt.
• William, accompanied by legates of Pope Alexander
  II, presided over a church synod at which Stigand
  was deposed and Lanfranc appointed as Archbishop
  of Canterbury.
• Stigand had been excommunicated by 5 different
  Popes.
• The Councils decision to replace Stigand helped
  to cement Williams relationship with the Church.

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Head of the English Church

• Potential rivalry between Archbishops of York and
  Canterbury.
• Lanfranc saw himself as the undisputed Head of
  the English Church.
• When consecrating Thomas of Bayeux as Archbishop
  of York, Lanfranc demanded a profession of
  obedience to Canterbury.
• Lanfranc outmanoeuvred Thomas to ensure York was
  subject to Canterbury.
• This was supported by William as a means of
  unifying the realm.

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The Normanisation of the Church

• Lanfranc, with Williams approval, appointed as
  many Norman bishops as possible. They too had to
  promise obedience to Canterbury.
• Vacancies created by deposition of Stigand filled
  by Normans.
• Others deposed e.g. Aethelric of Selsey,
  Leofwine of Lichfield resigned (married).
• By end of William's reign in 1087, only 2 English
  bishops remained.

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The Normanisation of the Church

• Bishops sees were moved from rural to populous
  areas in order to strengthen and enrich them.
• By 1070s all Bishops in England and Normandy were
  friends or relations of William.
• Therefore, he had no reason to expect any
  problems over them (Ashley).

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The Normanisation of the Church

• Similar process applied to the abbots.
• William was suspicious that abbots of 35
  Benedictine houses were involved in political
  resistance.
• These were replaced with reliable men from
  Normandy or elsewhere.
• E.G. Abbott or Croyland was a friend of Waltheof
  was deposed and confined because he was disliked
  by the Normans for being English-born.
• No Englishmen were promoted as abbots.

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Feudal duties of bishops and abbots

• William aimed to impose Norman customs and laws
  on the Church in England.
• Followed precedents set in Normandy.
• Bishops and abbots required to provide armed and
  mounted knights for service to the King. E.G.
  The see of Winchester had to provide 60 knights.

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The separation of Church and state

• Lanfranc held 3 important councils in order to
  impose a code of discipline on the Church.
• The aim was to reinforce the organisation of the
  church and to ensure the protection of property
  and morals of parish priests.
• The council of 1072 ordered all bishops to
  appoint archdeacons as administrative agents.

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The separation of Church and state

• The 1072 council also separated lay and
  ecclesiastical justice.
• The decree withdrew ecclesiastical cases from the
  hundred courts (a division of country courts) and
  empowered bishops or archdeacons to set up they
  own church courts.
• Impact of this was that Church law was now under
  control of Norman bishops.

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The role of William

• Appointed Lanfranc who was a capable and pious
  man.
• Selected the Bishops.
• Asserted his right to appoint all bishops and
  abbots and controlled communications from Rome.
• Happy for Pope to confirm appointments (owed Pope
  Alexander II for agreeing on his legitimacy for
  the throne).
• BUT, William used the Church for his own
  political ends.

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The role of William

• Imposed a sense of discipline on the Church.
• Carried out big changes.
• Filled all principal offices with Normans or
  other foreigners.

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How did these changes help William assert royal
authority?

• Lanfranc became the unquestioned Head of the
  Church.
• The Separation of the Church and State.
• The appointment of Norman bishops.
• The feudal duties of Norman bishops and abbots.
• The role and skills of William.

You need to be able to explain how each of the 5
factors above helped William to assert his royal
authority.