William of York’s journey to Rome and suspension
When neither prelate acknowledged Hicmar’s presence and he was recalled by the death of Pope Lucius and the accession of Eugene, William of York belatedly realized his error and h…
William’s exile in Sicily under King Roger
The suspended archbishop withdrew to Sicily and took up residence there with his fellow-countryman Robert of Selby under the protection of King Roger; since Roger was then at bitt…
Henry Murdac’s background and his commission from Clairvaux
Henry Murdac, a Yorkshireman who in Archbishop Thurstan’s time had renounced home, lands, and kindred to answer S.…
The armed raid on Fountains Abbey
When William’s suspension became known, his partisans attributed it to Murdac and retaliated with an armed raid on Fountains; finding little plunder in the freshly-reformed Cister…
The deposition of William at the Council of Paris
The Fountains outrage brought William’s last chance to an end: at a council held in Paris in spring 1147, Abbot Murdac and a York chapter deputation renewed their charges against…
Election and consecration of Henry Murdac
On the eve of S. James, the York chapter, joined by the suffragans of Durham and Carlisle, obeyed a papal mandate and elected Henry Murdac as their new archbishop; summoned from C…
Reaction of Stephen and Henry of Winchester
The subsequent conduct of Stephen and Henry of Winchester showed that they had rightly been understood: they had staked everything on the northern primacy scheme, and its failure…
William Fitz-Herbert’s transformation after suspension
Upon William himself the papal sentence had the opposite effect, transforming the idle, showy, self-indulgent young ecclesiastic into an humble saint; when he returned home the ne…
Opposition in York and Hugh of Puiset’s defiance
Henry of Winchester took William to live in his own house and ostentatiously treated him with full archiepiscopal honours; when the new archbishop Murdac returned in summer 1148 a…
The Council of Reims and Theobald’s defiance of the king
Early in 1148 the Pope summoned the English bishops to a council at Reims on Mid-Lent Sunday; Stephen sent three—Hereford, Chichester, and Norwich—but when Theobald of Canterbury…
Theobald’s daring crossing of the Channel
Defying the king, Theobald slipped away in a broken boat with only Roger of Pont-l’Evêque and Thomas of London, reached Reims safely, and was triumphantly presented by the Pope as…
Suspension of bishops and the count of Blois’s intercession
The absent English bishops were all suspended, Henry of Winchester being named specifically; however, his brother the count of Blois—esteemed by both Eugene and Bernard as peacema…
Stephen’s threatened excommunication and Theobald’s banishment
Eugene would have excommunicated Stephen at once, but the archbishop mediated as Anselm had once done and secured a three-month respite; on his return to Canterbury, the threatene…
The bishops’ failure to enforce the interdict
Eugene wrote to the English bishops individually and collectively, ordering them to summon the king to restore the primate, lay all his dominions under interdict if he refused, an…
Matilda of Boulogne and William of Ypres as mediators
The wiser queen Matilda of Boulogne, aided by William of Ypres—Stephen’s truest friend despite his other sins—at her request induced Theobald to remove to St.…
The wider political dimensions of the quarrel
Theobald and Matilda of Boulogne alike recognized that the quarrel involved far more than strictly ecclesiastical questions: the issue that battle had failed to decide was now bei…
Brian Fitz-Count’s treatise in defence of Matilda
A striking symptom of this wider dimension was the action of Brian Fitz-Count, Matilda’s long-time military champion, who suddenly exchanged sword for pen and produced a treatise…
Geoffrey Plantagenet’s challenge to Stephen
Geoffrey Plantagenet, with Angevin quickness, was the first to proclaim the true situation openly: through Bishop Miles of Térouanne he sent Stephen a formal challenge to surrende…
Cession of Normandy to Henry Fitz-Empress
Taking Stephen at his word in a way he had not intended, Geoffrey did give up Normandy—by making it over to his own son, Henry Fitz-Empress—thus bringing Stephen face to face with…
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