Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xfwgj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-27T15:05:03.667Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

King Stephen and the Bishops

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2023

Get access

Summary

There has been much reassessment of Stephen's reign in recent years but it has largely passed over the Church. Paul Dalton has now produced valuable evidence against the traditional understanding of the inadequacy of ecclesiastical and spiritual attempts to combat the evils of the anarchy, but there is still an almost standard interpretation of the relationship between King Stephen and his bishops, and of the importance, or lack of it, of the latter during the civil war. It can be shown that this model is dependent on a particular approach to the relationship between Church and State in the mid-twelfth century which is now more generally understood to be outmoded. Analysis of the evidence in the light of more modern understanding of that framework can suggest a significantly different and much more positive understanding of the association of the bishops with the king and the episcopal role during the civil war.

Interpretation of the relationship usually begins with the so-called ‘Charter of Liberties’ issued to the Church within a few months of Stephen's coronation. Its first clause has been understood as showing the extent to which his initial success was dependent on ecclesiastical support: ‘Ego Steph[anu]s dei gratia assensu cleri et populi in regem Anglie electus et aWill[elm]o Cantuar[iensi] archiepiscopo et Sancte Romane Ecclesie legato consecratus, et ab Innocentio Sancte Romane Sedis pontifice postmodum confirmatus, respectu et amore dei Sanctum Eccleisam liberam.’ Stephen's brother, the bishop ofWinchester, and Roger bishop of Salisbury persuaded first the archbishop of Canterbury and then the magnates that oaths taken to Henry I and Empress Matilda as to the succession could be broken with impunity. Coronation by churchmen made his status permanent and would later both limit active opposition to his rule and maintain the principle of royal government. Important papal recognition came quickly too in a letter of 1136 and was reaffirmed in 1139. The contents of the charter were the price Stephen had to pay for that support. That price left Freeman indignant, the bishops had sworn fidelity to the king saving the liberties of the Church.

Type
Chapter
Information
Anglo-Norman Studies XXIV
Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2001
, pp. 129 - 144
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Print publication year: 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×