THE BISHOPS OF KING STEPHEN'S REIGN Stephen Peter Marritt Presentedin fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Submitted to the University of Glasgow Faculty of Arts November 2002 © Stephen Peter Marritt 2002 ABSTRACT Traditionally, the bishops who held office during the civil war which dominated King Stephen's reign (113 5-1154) have been considered weak and ineffective, able neither to bring peace between the two sides or among warring local barons nor to protect their flocks or even themselves from the so-called `Anarchy'. The explanation for this has been found in the bishops' lack of spiritual calibre. Bishops have also been seen as withdrawing their support from the king and ending their involvement in royal government, partly because of increasing general ecclesiastical desire for separation between Church and State and partly because of specific disputes with Stephen. As a consequence of all this, bishops are allowed little importance in modern histories of Stephen's reign. This thesis shows that modern historiographical consensus is based in flawed interpretive frameworks which have led to misinterpretation of the nature of the episcopate and its importance in Stephen's reign. It offers more valid alternatives and then re-examines the royal, ecclesiastical and, especially, the local evidence in light of them to show that, in fact, the bishops were crucially important figures in regional politics, religion and society during the civil war. It proves as well, that they could possess considerable spiritual authority and continued to be committed to the king and active in the government of the kingdom throughout the period. Additionally, each of these also has consequencesfor how the episcopacy and Anglo-Norman history in general are understood. This is, therefore, a reassessmentof the bishops of King Stephen's reign. i!, . TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction 1 Part I The Anglo-Norman Episcopacy on the Eve of the Civil War Chapter 1 The Political Context 22 1.1. Government 24 1.2. Military Duties and Characteristics 32 1.3. Kingship 41 Chapter 2 The Ecclesiastical Context 48 2.1. Historiography 50 2.2. The Evidence 62 2.3. The Bishop 84 Part II Case Studies Chapter 3 Chester. The bishop in his diocese 87 Chapter 4 Chester. The bishops and the politics of the civil war 99 4.1. Cheshire 101 4.2. Warwickshire 105 4.3. Derbyshire 112 4.4. Staffordshire 116 4.5. Shropshire 121 4.6. Relations with the King 124 Chapter 5 Lincoln. The bishop in his diocese 129 Chapter 6 Lincoln. The bishops and the politics of the civil war (1) 141 6.1. Relations with the King 141 6.2. The County 149 Chapter 7 Lincoln. The bishops and the politics of the civil war (2) 166 7.1. Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire 166 7.2. Leicestershire 175 7.3. Oxfordshire 180 7.4. Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire 184 Part III The Bishops and the King Chapter 8 Bishops and royal government 191 8.1. Charters 192 8.2. Government 203 Chapter 9 King Stephen and the bishops 212 9.1. 1136-1139 221 9.2. 1139 226 9.3 Elections 230 9.4 Church Councils 235 9.5 1148-1154 240 Conclusion 243 Bibliography 246 V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis would not have been completed without the support of an institution and a number of individuals. Glasgow University funded its first three years and has been crucial to my development as a student and lecturer. In scholarly, professional and personal terms, I owe much to my teachers and colleagues in its Department of Medieval History, in particular to Dr Stuart Airlie, Mrs Pamela Nye and Mr Neil Strevett. My friends, especially Ms Anne Jenkins and Mr. Christopher Connor, have provided the environment which made the 0 process sustainable. My external examiners, Professors Brian Kemp and Edmund King, of the Universities of Reading and Sheffield respectively, were rigorous, but forbearing and generous. I have learnt a great deal from them. My greatest debts are to my supervisor, Professor David Bates, my family, and my wife. The first has been kind, patient and supportive as well as challenging, exacting and inspirational. I hope at least something of what he has freely offered me he sees repaid here. My father, mother, and brother know how important they have been to me. In the last two years they have been joined by my wife, Robyn. It is traditional to dedicate theses to parents, but this one is for these four people. It would neither have been begun nor completed without them. All errors of fact and judgement remain my own. vi ABBREVIATIONS Anarchy The Anarchy of King Stephen's Reign, ed. E. King (Oxford, 1994) ANS Anglo-Norman Studies Barlow, English Church F. Barlow, The English Church 1066- 1154 (London, 1979) BL British Library Brett, English Church M. Brett, The English Church under Henry I (Oxford, 1975) Cheney, From Becket to Langton C.R. Cheney, From Becket to Langton. English Church Government: 1170-1213 (Manchester, 1956) CHS Collections for a History of Staffordshire Crouch, Reign D. Crouch, The Reign of King Stephen, 1135-1154 (London, 2000) cs Councils and Synods with other Documents relating to the English Church, 1 (870-1204), ed. D. Whitelock, M. Brett and C.N. L. Brooke (2 parts, Oxford, 1981) Davis, King Stephen R.H. C. Davis, King Stephen, 1135-1154 (3rd ed., London, 1993) DB Domesday Book, ed. J. Morris, 35 vols. in 40 (Chichester, 1975-86) EEA English Episcopal Acta (London, 1980-) EHR English Historical Review GP Willelmi Malmesbiriensis Monachi de Gestis Pontificum Anglorum, ed. N. E. S.A. Hamilton (Rolls Series, 1870) GS Gesta Stephani, ed. K. R. Potter with an Introduction by R. H. C. Davis (Oxford, 1976) Giraldus Cambrensis Opera Giraldus Cambrensis Opera, ed. J. S. vii Brewer, J.F. Dimock and G.F. Warner, 8 vols. (Rolls Series, 1861-91) HH Henry of Huntingdon, Historia Anglorum, ed. D. Greenway (Oxford, 1996) HN William of Malmesbury, Historia Novella: history, the contemporary ed. E. r- King, trans. K. R. Potter (Oxford, 1998) JEH Journal of Ecclesiastical History JMH Journal of Medieval History Letters of Arnulf The Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux, ed. F.Barlow, Camden Society, 3rd ser., 61 (London, 1939) MA Monasticon Anglicanum, ed. W. Dugdale and T. Caley, H. Ellis and B. Bandinel, 6 vols. in 8 (London, 1817-30) MRA The Great Register of Lichfield Cathedral known as Magnum registrum album, ed. H. E. Savage, William Salt Archaeological Society (1926) 0V The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis, ed. M. M. Chibnall (6 vols., Oxford, 1969-80) RA The Registrum Antiquissum of the Cathedral Church of Lincoln, ed. C.W. Foster and K. Major, 10 vols., Lincoln Record Society, 27-9,32,34,41,46,51, 62,67 (1931-73) RRAN Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum 1066-1154, ed. H. W. C. Davis, C. Johnson, H. A. Cronne and R. H. C. Davis, 4 vols. (Oxford, 1913-69) Theobald Saltman, A. Saltman, Theobald, Archbishop of Canterbury (London, 1955) viii Stringer, Reign K. J. Stringer, The Reign of Stephen (London, 1993) VCH Victoria History of the Counties of England (London, 1900-) White, Restoration and Reform G.J. White, Restoration and Reform 1153-1165: recovery from civil war in England (Cambridge, 2000) WN William of Newburgh, The History of English Affairs, Book 1, ed. and trans. P. G. Walsh and M. J. Kennedy (Warminster, 1998) 1 INTRODUCTION Contemporary writers were critical of episcopal conduct during the civil war which dominated King Stephen's reign: - `But they cowering in most dastardly fear, bent like a reed shaken by the wind, and since their salt had no savour they did not rise up or resist or set themselves as a wall before the house of Israel... some bishops, made sluggish and abject by fear of them, either gave way or lukewarmly and feebly passed a sentenceof excommunication that was soon to be revoked; others (but it was no task for bishops) filled their castles full of provisions and stocks of arms, knights and archers, and though they were supposed to be warding off the evil doers who were plundering the goods of the Church showed themselves more cruel and more merciless than those very evildoers in oppressing their neighbours and plundering their goods.' 1 There was general agreement too that the king committed a great crime when he arrested three bishops at court in 1139 and that thereafter ecclesiastical moral and political support for him fell away. 2 Modern history, more moderate, more nuanced and more objective, is nevertheless still substantially in agreement. Bishops are rarely allowed the capacity, the character or the will to play a significant role in central or local political or religious life. If not in 1139 then after 1141, their loyalty to Stephen was passive at best, their involvement in his continuing attempts to govern the country minimal and their ideological relationship with him problematic. They withdrew from his court and also from active participation in politics. Only at the very end of the civil war and then only because there was no alternative did they have a part to play. 3 In consequence, bishops have been allowed only a relatively small part in the 1 GS, 157. Brian fitzCount of Wallingford, EmpressMatilda's most loyal supporter, engagedin debatewith Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester and thereby offers a unique insight into lay perceptionsof the episcopate.He felt that Bishop Henry had changedsides too often, was untrustworthy, and had no sympathyfor the plight of the population in the civil war. H. W. C. Davis, `Henry of Blois and Brian fitzCount', EHR, 25 (1910), 297-303.