The Cathedral Church of Canterbury [2nd ed.]: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Archiepiscopal SeeWithers, Hartley
History
The Cathedral Church of Canterbury [2nd ed.]: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Archiepiscopal See
Withers, Hartley
Canterbury Cathedral
#Anselm# (1093-1109) was born at Aosta, and studied under Lanfranc at Bec,
when he succeeded him as Prior of the Convent, and subsequently became
abbot. He visited England on the invitation of Hugh the Fat, Earl of
Chester, and while there was called in by the king and made Archbishop of
Canterbury. Rufus had kept the see vacant, and appropriated the revenues
of this and many other Church properties, and was only induced by the fear
of impending death to appoint Anselm to the see. Anselm was with
difficulty persuaded to accept the post, but from that hour posed as the
firm champion of the rights of the Church, and the opponent and denouncer
of the king's exactions and the general immorality of the times. He
refused to receive his pall at the hands of the king, but eventually
agreed to take it himself from the high altar of the cathedral at
Canterbury. Though deserted by his bishops he held his own against the
king until an accusation of failing in his duty to supply troops for the
king's Welsh expedition drove him into exile and he made his way to Rome,
when his learning created much sensation and was enlisted against the
errors of the Greek Church on the subject of the procession of the Holy
Ghost. On his accession to the throne, Henry I., as part of his reversal
of his brother's ecclesiastical policy recalled Anselm from banishment and
filled up the vacant see. But Anselm remained firm on the subject of the
rights of the church in the matter of the investiture of the clergy, and
refused to consecrate the bishops who had received their investiture from
the king, or to do homage or swear fealty to Henry. The king, on his side,
was determined to uphold the rights of the crown and the matter was
referred to the pope. Anselm had to visit Rome in person, and meeting with
but lukewarm support from the pope agreed at last to a compromise, at Bec,
in 1106, by which the king surrendered the symbols of the ring and
crozier, while retaining his right to the oaths of fealty and homage.
Anselm returned to England and spent the last two years of his life in
comparative repose: he died at Canterbury, and was buried near Lanfranc,
but his remains were afterwards removed to the tower that bears his name.
After his death the see was again vacant for five years, and was managed
by Ralf, Bishop of Rochester, who was however made archbishop later; he
was a disciple of Lanfranc, but as an archbishop was unimportant.
#William de Corbeuil# (1123-1136) was the first archbishop who received the
title of Papal Legate. He crowned King Stephen after solemnly swearing to
support the cause of Matilda, and is said to have died of remorse for his
conduct in the matter. He completed the restoration of the cathedral and
dedicated it with much pomp and display.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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