Henry as Pilot of the English Church
Steeped in monastic tradition, Henry was the churchman and monk to whom the religious revival of Henry I’s later years naturally looked for guidance.…
Henry’s Ecclesiastical Statesmanship
Clergy and people followed Henry like a flock of sheep, yet neither political party really trusted him because he belonged to neither.…
Henry’s Character and the Cluniac Ideal
The failure of those efforts was due partly to circumstances and partly to Henry’s own character.…
The Legatine Commission and the Rights of Canterbury
Henry’s legatine commission, while a chief source of his strength, was a source of moral and spiritual weakness to the English Church, for it set him above the primate of all Brit…
The Appointment of Theobald to Canterbury
Henry of Winchester felt himself naturally marked out to succeed Archbishop William, and was apparently even elected to the vacant primacy.…
Theobald’s Response and the Gathering of Scholars
For several years the archbishop bore his supersession quietly. His sympathies inclined to the Empress, but his conduct showed no party spirit, and no personal jealousy thwarted H…
Thomas Becket: Family Background and Youth
Foremost among those scholars stood Thomas, son of Gilbert Becket, ex-port-reeve of London.…
Thomas Becket in London and in Service to the Primate
Reduced to straitened means, Thomas took a situation as clerk in the counting-house of his wealthy kinsman Osbern Huitdeniers (“Eightpenny”), who at the outbreak of civil war seem…
The Dispute over the Archbishopric of York
Theobald had secured Thomas’s services at the right moment, for the long-pending crisis between primate and legate was now fast approaching.…
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