The power of religion

• Religion in this period is a matter of life and death. It held great significance.

• Religious leaders were as powerful as kings and the pope was the most powerful person in Europe.

• Everywhere in England were outposts of Christianity - where once a week people came to mass, be told how to live so they could get into heaven.

The wealth of the Church

• The church was the largest landowner in England. By 1086, it held a quarter of all land in England.

• Everyone had to pay a tax to the church called tithe - villagers had to give a tenth of what they produced and one tenth of any profit they made to the church.

• There were many seasonal taxes as well, such as Easterdues that was payed to the church.

• People were taxed when they died and had to pay surplice fees to the pries for ceremonies such as marriages, baptisms and funerals.

How did William reform the Church?

• William appointed his friend Archbishop Lanfranc to be Archbishop of Canterbury.

• The church had 3 main criticisms:

  • A number of people who held multiple positions - this was known as pluralism.

  • Positions within the church were often sold (this was called simony) and positions were often given to relatives (this was known as nepotism) , not the most suitable candidates.

  • Many members of the clergy (church men) were married , which went against the traditional vow of celibacy.

Lanfranc v Thomas

• Both Lanfranc (archbishop of Canterbury) and Thomas (archbishop of York) wanted to establish Primacy (to be seen as the leader of the English church). So became rivals.

• Lanfranc had two main advantages:

  • He had ties to the pope.

  • He had been appointed before Thomas had so Thomas had to be consecrated (to be declared as archbishop) by Lanfranc . He required that Thomas swear loyalty to Lanfranc (making Thomas less powerful) so he refused until William ordered him to submit to Lanfranc. which he did.

• In 1072 the Pope confirmed Thomas and Lanfranc’s appointment by giving them their pallia. Thomas complained to the Pope who said they should deal with it in England.

• Thomas eventually submitted to Lanfranc after being pressed to by the king.

Lanfranc’s reforms

He brought most of his reforms between 1070 and 1076.

• Establishing synods. Synods were Church councils that helped spread the message of reform.

• Moving cathedrals to bigger towns and cities. This helped centralise the church.

• A new church hierarchy. This was to be clearer who answered to who. It became: Pope > Archbishops > Bishops > Archdeacons > Deans > Parish priests.

• Developing parishes and the role of parish priest. The number of village churches doubled between 1070 and 1170 - over 2000 village churches were recorded in the Domesday survey.

• Officially ending marriage amongst the clergy. The already married priests could stay, however none could get married in the future.

Church and Law courts

• The council of Winchester in 1076 established church courts meaning that the clergy were now to be tried in the bishop’s courts and not in the lay courts (the secular/ non-religious courts).

• Lanfranc wanted spiritual offences (such as Blaspheming, failure to attend church, adultery and incest) to be tried at church courts.

  • Church courts were less severe then secular courts.

How did William change church buildings?

• By 1100s every major Anglo-Saxon cathedral and abbey (excluding Westminster abbey) had been knocked down and rebuilt in the Norman’s favoured architectural style - Romanesque.

• England was a wealthy country so this allowed the romans to build on a huge scale. They also used ‘forced labour’.

• The religious buildings were intended to show that god favoured the new regime and that the impressive building were a display of Norman power and prestige.

Why did William II come into conflict with the church?

• Lanfranc anointed and crowned William II on 26th September 1087 but he was soon in conflict with the church.

• Where William I was genuinely religious, his son seemed to be more in the church for the money and the church disapproved of his morals.

  • William never got married or had children - it is almost certain he was homosexual.

• His lifestyle and exploitation of the Church led to conflict with it.

Conflict with William of St Calais

• There was a rebellion against William II in 1088 and The bishop of Saint-Calais had informed the King and agreed to bring reinforcements for him.

  • The bishop changed his mind and never brought the troops. So William II put him on trail for treason.

• Saint-Calais argued that he should be tried in a church court but the king refused.

• Saint-Calais’ trail took place in November 1088 where in just one day he was declared guilty.

  • He lost his bishopric and was exiled.

• This demonstrated that William II wouldn’t be controlled by the church, but the church by him.

Conflict between Anselm and William II

• When the archbishop of Canterbury died he wasn’t replaced so Rufus could take the income from the Lanfranc’s old estates.

  • But later on he fell ill and thought it was god punishing him so appointed Anselm as the new archbishop.

• Anselm forced Rufus to provide him with the lost lands and didn’t want to submit to a king who wasn’t very interested in the church

  • By 1094 he was preaching about the lack of morality in the king’s court.

The council of Rockingham, 1095

• William II stopped Anslem travelling to Rome to get approval for his appointment as archbishop to limit the influence of the pope.

• Eventually a truce was called and William II accepted the pope but the pope had to stay out of english affairs.

  • But the king blocked Anselm’s attempts to reform the church councils.

• By 1097 Anselm had been exiled and fled to Rome so the king was able to profit from an empty position in the Church.

Simony

• Simony had been abolished under Lanfranc's reforms, but William reintroduced the practice.

• Herbert Losinga paid 1000 marks to become Bishop of Thetford in 1091.

• William II’s ally Ranulf Flambard was skilled at raising money from the Church but unpopular with the clergy.

• William made Ranulf ‘Bishop of Durham’, but he had to pay £1000 for the position.

Relations with the Pope?

Under William I

• Anglo-Saxon kings had remote relations with the Pope, but William I had a closer relationship with Pope Alexander II.

• Alexander gave William a Papal banner to bless his invasion

• Both wanted to reform the corrupt English Church and bring it in line with Christianity in Europe.

• The Pope wanted to get rid of corrupt bishops, and William agreed to eliminate simony and enforce celibacy.

• William's main goal was to remove untrustworthy Englishmen from powerful roles in the Church.

• By 1070, only two English bishops remained, one of whom was senile and the other was popular enough to become a saint.

Declining relations under Pope Gregory

• The next Pope, Gregory VII, was more radical that Alexander and thought that the Church had more authority than kings.

• This meant relations with William started to decline.

• The king refused to swear loyalty to the Pope but did agree to bring back the payment of ‘Peter’s Pence’ (a tax of 1 penny from every household was paid to the Pope).

Under William II

• The main conflict under William II was over appointing church leaders.

  • Gregory wanted to make his own appointments which led him to be forced out of the office by rulers in Europe.

• His successor Pope Urban II, agreed to not interfere with appointments while Rufus was king but the relationship was hostile

Henry I - The investiture controversy

• Under Henry I the key conflicts were lay investiture (appointments of religious officials) and Homage (showing respect publicly).

• Archbishop Anselm refused to perform homage to or be invested by the King so was exiled in 1103.

• Henry was then threatened with excommunication but in 1107 an agreement was made.

  • Henry could treat his clergy as his vassals and they would have to swear loyalty and provide service when required.