:''This page is about Thurstan of Bayeux (1070 – 1140) who became Archbishop of York. Thurstan of Caen became the first Norman
Abbot of Glastonbury __NOTOC__
The Abbot of Glastonbury was the head (or abbot) of Anglo-Saxon and eventually Benedictine house of Glastonbury Abbey at Glastonbury in Somerset, England.
The following is a list of abbots of Glastonbury:
Abbots
See also
* Abbot's Ki ...
in circa 1077.''
Thurstan or Turstin of Bayeux ( – 6 February 1140) was a medieval
Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...
, the son of a priest. He served kings
William II and
Henry I Henry I may refer to:
876–1366
* Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936)
* Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955)
* Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018)
* Henry I of France (1008–1060)
* Henry I the Long, Margrave of the No ...
of England before his election to the see of York in 1114. Once elected, his
consecration
Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
was delayed for five years while he fought attempts by the Archbishop of Canterbury to assert primacy over York. Eventually, he was consecrated by the pope instead and allowed to return to England. While archbishop, he secured two new
suffragan
A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations.
In the Anglican Communion, a suffragan bishop is a bishop who is subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop (bishop ordinary) and so is not normally jurisdictiona ...
bishops for his province. When Henry I died, Thurstan supported Henry's nephew
Stephen of Blois
Stephen (1092 or 1096 – 25 October 1154), often referred to as Stephen of Blois, was King of England from 22 December 1135 to his death in 1154. He was Count of Boulogne ''jure uxoris'' from 1125 until 1147 and Duke of Normandy from 1135 unt ...
as king. Thurstan also defended the northern part of England from invasion by the Scots, taking a leading part in organising the English forces at the
Battle of the Standard
The Battle of the Standard, sometimes called the Battle of Northallerton, took place on 22 August 1138 on Cowton Moor near Northallerton in Yorkshire, England. English forces under William of Aumale repelled a Scottish army led by King David ...
(1138). Shortly before his death, Thurstan resigned from his see and took the habit of a
Cluniac
The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wit ...
monk.
Early life
Thurstan was the son of a
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western can ...
of
St Paul's in London named Anger, Auger or Ansgar, who held the
prebend
A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...
of
Cantlers. Another son of Anger,
Audoen
Audoen (sometimes Audin or Ouen) was a medieval Bishop of Évreux in Normandy. He was the son of Anger, a canon of London, and brother of Thurstan, the Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of Englan ...
, was later
Bishop of Évreux
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
.
[Greenway ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 1: St. Paul's, London: Prebendaries: Cantlers''][Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 242–244][Spear "Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy" ''Journal of British Studies'' p. 5][Keats-Rohan ''Domesday Descendants'' p. 151] Thurstan's mother was named Popelina.
[ Thurstan was born sometime about 1070 in ]Bayeux
Bayeux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in northwestern France.
Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts ...
, in the Bessin
Bessin () is an area in Normandy, France, corresponding to the territory of the Bajocasses, a Gallic tribe from whom Bayeux, its main town, takes its name.
History
The territory was annexed by the count of Rouen in 924.
The Bessin corresponds t ...
region of Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. Before 1104 the father was given the prebend of Cantlers by Maurice Maurice may refer to:
People
* Saint Maurice (died 287), Roman legionary and Christian martyr
* Maurice (emperor) or Flavius Mauricius Tiberius Augustus (539–602), Byzantine emperor
*Maurice (bishop of London) (died 1107), Lord Chancellor and ...
, Bishop of London
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
, and the family moved to England.[Burton "Thurstan" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'']
Early in his career, Thurstan held the prebendary of Consumpta per mare in the diocese of London
The Diocese of London forms part of the Church of England's Province of Canterbury in England.
It lies directly north of the Thames. For centuries the diocese covered a vast tract and bordered the dioceses of Norwich and Lincoln to the north ...
,[Greenway "Prebendaries: Consumpta-per-Mare" ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300'': Volume 1: St. Paul's, London] and served both William Rufus and Henry I as a royal clerk.[Greenway "Archbishops" ''British History Online Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300'': Volume 6: York] At some point in Thurstan's early career, he visited Cluny
Cluny () is a commune in the eastern French department of Saône-et-Loire, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is northwest of Mâcon.
The town grew up around the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny, founded by Duke William I of Aquitaine in 9 ...
, where he vowed to become a Cluniac monk later in his life. Thurstan also served Henry as almoner
An almoner (} ' (alms), via the popular Latin '.
History
Christians have historically been encouraged to donate one-tenth of their income as a tithe to their church and additional offerings as needed for the poor. The first deacons, mentioned ...
,[Barlow ''English Church'' p. 83] and it was Henry who obtained Thurstan's election as Archbishop of York in August 1114.[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 281] He was ordained a deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
in December 1114 and ordained a priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
on 6 June 1115 by Ranulf Flambard
Ranulf Flambard ( c. 1060 – 5 September 1128) was a medieval Norman Bishop of Durham and an influential government minister of King William Rufus of England. Ranulf was the son of a priest of Bayeux, Normandy, and his nickname Flambard m ...
, who was Bishop of Durham
The Bishop of Durham is the Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler has been the Bishop of Durham ...
.[Mason "Flambard, Ranulf" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'']
Controversy and exile
The Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, Ralph d'Escures
Ralph d'Escures (also known as RadulfEadmer. ''Eadmer’s History of Recent Events in England = Historia Novorum in Anglia''. Translated by Geoffrey Bosanquet. London: Cresset Press, 1964. ) (died 20 October 1122) was a medieval abbot of Séez, ...
, refused to consecrate Thurstan unless the archbishop-elect made a profession of obedience to the southern see.[ This was part of the long-running Canterbury-York dispute, which started in 1070.][Barlow ''English Church'' pp. 39–44] Thurstan refused to make such a profession,[Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 394] and asked the king for permission to go to Rome to consult Pope Paschal II
Pope Paschal II ( la, Paschalis II; 1050 1055 – 21 January 1118), born Ranierius, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was cre ...
. Henry I refused to allow him to make the journey, but even without a personal appeal from Thurstan, Paschal decided against Canterbury. At the Council of Salisbury in 1116 the English king ordered Thurstan to submit to Canterbury, but instead Thurstan publicly resigned the archbishopric.[Cantor ''Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture'' pp. 305–309] On his way to the council, Thurstan had received letters from Paschal II that supported York and commanded that he should be consecrated without a profession. Similar letters had gone to Ralph d'Escures from the pope, ordering Ralph, as Archbishop of Canterbury, to consecrate Thurstan. After the news of the letters became public, Thurstan's resignation was ignored, and he continued to be considered the archbishop-elect.[
Over the next three years, the new popes, ]Gelasius II
Pope Gelasius II (c. 1060/1064 – 29 January 1119), born Giovanni Caetani or Giovanni da Gaeta (also called ''Coniulo''), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 January 1118 to his death in 1119. A monk of Monte C ...
and Calixtus II
Pope Callixtus II or Callistus II ( – 13 December 1124), born Guy of Burgundy, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 1119 to his death in 1124. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy, ...
, championed Thurstan's case, and on 19 October 1119 he was consecrated by Calixtus at Reims
Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne.
Founded by ...
.[Hollister ''Henry I'' pp. 269–273] Calixtus had earlier promised Henry that he would not consecrate Thurstan without the king's permission, which had still not been granted.[ Enraged at this, the king refused to allow the newly consecrated archbishop to enter England, and Thurstan remained for some time on the continent in the company of the pope.][ While he was travelling with the pope, he also visited ]Adela of Blois
Adela of Normandy, of Blois, or of England (c. 1067 – 8 March 1137),LoPrete, Kimberly. "Adela of Blois." ''Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia.'' Ed. Margaret Schaus. New York: Routledge, 2006. 6–7. also known as in Roman ...
, King Henry's sister, who was also Thurstan's spiritual daughter. At about this same time, Calixtus issued two bulls in Thurstan's favor: one released York from Canterbury's supremacy forever, and the other demanded the king allow Thurstan to return to York. The pope threatened an interdict
In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits persons, certain active Church individuals or groups from participating in certain rites, or that the rites and services of the church are banished from ...
on England as a punishment if the papal bull was not obeyed.[ At length, Thurstan's friends, including Adela, succeeded in reconciling him with Henry, and he rejoined the king in Normandy.][ At Easter 1120, he escorted Adela to the monastery of Marcigny, where she retired from active secular affairs.][LoPrete "Anglo-Norman Card" ''Albion'' p. 588] He was recalled to England in early 1121.[
]
Archbishop
One of the main weaknesses of the see of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...
was its lack of suffragan bishops.[Rose "Cumbrian Society" ''Studies in Church History'' p. 124] Thurstan managed to secure the resurrection of the Diocese of Galloway
The Diocese of Galloway was one of the thirteen (after 1633 fourteen) dioceses of the pre-1689 Scottish Church. The Diocese was led by the Bishop of Galloway and was centred on Whithorn Cathedral.
In the Middle Ages, there was only one archd ...
,[ or Whithorn, in 1125.][ It is possible that he compromised with ]Fergus of Galloway
Fergus of Galloway (died 12 May 1161) was a twelfth-century Lord of Galloway. Although his familial origins are unknown, it is possible that he was of Norse-Gaelic ancestry. Fergus first appears on record in 1136, when he witnessed a charter o ...
, who was the lord or sub-king of Galloway, in what is now Scotland. In this Thurstan secured another suffragan, and Fergus gained a bishop in his lordship, where previously ecclesiastical matters in his subkingdom had been handled by Scottish bishops. The first bishop was the native Galwegian – Gilla Aldan. This provoked the wrath of Wimund, Bishop of the Isles
Wimund was a bishop who became a seafaring warlord adventurer in the years after 1147. His story is passed down to us by English historians in the Middle Ages, 12th-century English historian William of Newburgh in his ''Historia rerum anglicarum'', ...
, who had previously had jurisdiction over Galloway; but the new bishopric survived, and York had a new suffragan, an important step in the battle between York and Canterbury over the primacy, which was mainly a battle over the prestige of their respective sees. The number of bishops subject to either archbishop was an important factor in the reputation of each.[Barlow ''English Church'' pp. 40–41] In 1133, Thurstan, who had received papal permission to found an entirely new diocese, consecrated Æthelwold Æthelwold was a common Anglo Saxon name. It may refer to: Royalty and nobility
*King Æthelwold of Deira, King of Deira, d. 655
*King Æthelwold of East Anglia, King of East Anglia, d. 664
*King Æthelwold Moll of Northumbria, King of Northumbria, ...
as the first bishop of the new see of Carlisle
The Diocese of Carlisle was created in 11 April 1132 by Henry I out of part of the Diocese of Durham, although many people of Cumbric descent in the area looked to Glasgow for spiritual leadership. The first bishop was Æthelwold, who was the ki ...
.[
Thurstan refused to accept that the new Archbishop of Canterbury, ]William de Corbeil
William de Corbeil or William of Corbeil (21 November 1136) was a medieval Archbishop of Canterbury. Very little is known of William's early life or his family, except that he was born at Corbeil, south of Paris, and that he had two brothers. Ed ...
, was his superior, and did not help with William's consecration. The dispute between the two continued, and both archbishops carried their complaints in person to Rome twice. In 1126, Pope Honorius II
Pope Honorius II (9 February 1060 – 13 February 1130), born Lamberto Scannabecchi,Levillain, pg. 731 was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 December 1124 to his death in 1130.
Although from a humble background, ...
ruled in favour of York.[Duggan "From the Conquest to the Death of John" ''English Church and the Papacy'' p. 98] The pope based his decision on the fact that Canterbury's supporting documents had been forged.[Poole ''Domesday to Magna Carta'' p. 184]
Thurstan supported King Stephen after Henry I's death in 1135, and appeared at Stephen's first court at Easter
Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
held at Westminster
Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster.
The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...
.[Powell and Wallis ''House of Lords'' p. 64] Thurstan negotiated a truce at Roxburgh
Roxburgh () is a civil parish and formerly a royal burgh, in the historic county of Roxburghshire in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was an important trading burgh in High Medieval to early modern Scotland. In the Middle Ages it had at leas ...
in 1138 between England and Scotland. It was Thurstan who mustered the army which defeated the Scots at the Battle of the Standard on 22 August 1138 near Northallerton, Yorkshire.[Barlow ''Feudal Kingdom'' p. 211][Huscroft ''Ruling England'' p. 73] Thurstan did not take direct part in the battle., but he created the standard that gave the battle its name, by putting a ship's mast in a cart and hanging the banners of Saint Peter of York, Saint John of Beverley
John of Beverley (died 7 May 721) was an English bishop active in the kingdom of Northumbria. He was the bishop of Hexham and then the bishop of York, which was the most important religious designation in the area. He went on to found the town ...
, and Saint Wilfrid
Wilfrid ( – 709 or 710) was an English bishop and saint. Born a Northumbrian noble, he entered religious life as a teenager and studied at Lindisfarne, at Canterbury, in Francia, and at Rome; he returned to Northumbria in about 660, and ...
of Ripon on the mast. The Scots had invaded attempting to aid the Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...
, the daughter of Henry I and Stephen's rival for the throne.[Davis ''King Stephen'' pp. 36–37] On 21 January 1140 Thurstan resigned his see and entered the order of the Cluniacs at Pontefract
Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...
and he died there on 6 February 1140.[ He was buried in the church at Pontefract.][
]
Legacy
Thurstan gave land to many of the churches of his diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
and founded several religious houses. He founded the first nunnery
A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican C ...
in Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
when he founded St Clement's between 1125 and 1133.[Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 438] He obtained for Whitby Abbey
Whitby Abbey was a 7th-century Christian monastery that later became a Benedictine abbey. The abbey church was situated overlooking the North Sea on the East Cliff above Whitby in North Yorkshire, England, a centre of the medieval Northumbrian ...
a papal privilege of protection as well as giving his own privilege to the abbey.[Dawtry "Benedictine Revival" ''Studies in Church History 18'' p. 91] He also helped found the Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
Abbey of Fountains,[ by giving the site to monks who had been expelled from the Abbey of St. Mary's, York.][Burton ''Monastic and Religious Orders'' p. 70] Thurstan helped the hermitess Christina of Markyate
Christina of Markyate was born with the name Theodora in Huntingdon, England, about 1096–1098 and died about 1155. She was an anchoress, who came from a wealthy English family trying to accommodate with the Normans at that time. She later bec ...
at several points in her career, and tried to persuade her to become the first prioress of his foundation of St. Clement's.[Barlow ''English Church'' p. 203] He was a patron to the Augustinian Hexham Priory
Hexham Abbey is a Grade I listed place of Christian worship dedicated to St Andrew, in the town of Hexham, Northumberland, in the North East of England. Originally built in AD 674, the Abbey was built up during the 12th century into its curre ...
, founded by his predecessor at York, as well as helping the foundation of Bridlington Priory
Priory Church of St Mary, Bridlington, , commonly known as Bridlington Priory Church is a parish church in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, in the Diocese of York. It is on the site of an Augustinian priory founded in 1113 which w ...
, another Augustinian house.[Burton ''Monastic and Religious Orders'' p. 48] He was a sincere reformer, and opposed to the election of unfit men to the episcopacy. When Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...
asked Thurstan's opinion on the elevation of Anselm of St Saba
Anselm; also known as , for his first monastery, or for his second. (died 1148) was a medieval bishop of London whose election was quashed by Pope Innocent II. He was a monk of Chiusa, abbot of Saint Saba in Rome, papal legate to Englan ...
, who was Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds
Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds was the title used by the head of the Benedictine monastery Bury St. Edmunds Abbey in the county of Suffolk, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to ...
, to become Bishop of London, Thurstan replied "If we consider his life and reputation, it would be much more fitting to remove him from his abbacy than to promote him to be bishop of London."[Appleby ''Troubled Reign'' pp. 106–107] Anselm was not confirmed as bishop.[
Thurstan is described by the historian Edmund King as "a bishop like no other. Thurstan and the baronage of Yorkshire had been partners in a common enterprise, their security in this world and their salvation in the next, and to all aspects of his role he had shown a complete commitment." His death occurred during ]The Anarchy
The Anarchy was a civil war in England and Normandy between 1138 and 1153, which resulted in a widespread breakdown in law and order. The conflict was a war of succession precipitated by the accidental death of William Adelin, the only legiti ...
of the civil war between Stephen and Matilda
Matilda or Mathilda may refer to:
Animals
* Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder
* Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse
* Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...
and led to a breakdown in order.[King, ''King Stephen'', p. 126]
Thurstan's nephew was Osbert de Bayeux
Osbert de Bayeux (''floruit'' 1121 to 1184) was a medieval English cleric and archdeacon in the Diocese of York. A relative of Thurstan, the Archbishop of York, Osbert probably owed his ecclesiastical positions to this relative. After Thurstan's ...
, who became an archdeacon at York, and in 1154 was accused of the murder of William of York
William of York (late 11th century – 8 June 1154) was an English priest and twice Archbishop of York, before and after a rival, Henry Murdac. He was thought to be related to King Stephen of England, who helped to secure his election to the p ...
, one of Thurstan's successors at York.[Greenway "Archdeacons: Richmond" ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300'': Volume 6: York]
Notes
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurstan
Anglo-Normans
1070s births
1140 deaths
Archbishops of York
12th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops
Year of birth uncertain
People of The Anarchy
Cluniacs
William II of England
Henry I of England