Lanfranc

Lanfranc (circa 1005-89), Italian ecclesiastic and scholar who became archbishop of Canterbury (1070-89) and counselor to William the Conqueror after the Norman Conquest of England (1066).

Lanfranc was born in Pavia, about 1005. After studying and practicing law in Pavia, he went to Normandy (Normandie), in France, where he established (1039) a school at Avranches. He taught there until 1042, when he entered the Benedictine monastery at Bec, near Rouen; in 1045 he became its prior. There he founded a school that became known throughout Europe. While at Bec, he met William II, duke of Normandy (later William I of England), whose marriage (1053) to a cousin, Matilda of Flanders, he at first opposed. Later, however, he accepted the marriage and was reconciled with William. In 1063 William founded Saint Stephen's monastery at Caen and appointed Lanfranc its first abbot. Lanfranc was summoned to England, where, in 1070, he was made archbishop of Canterbury.

Lanfranc initiated a successful program of reorganization and reform in the English church. He strengthened his own position by subordinating the see of York to the see of Canterbury. He supported William's policy of replacing English prelates with Normans, both as a way of reinforcing Norman control and as a means of purging the English church of corrupt elements. Although he upheld papal sovereignty, Lanfranc joined William in seeking to keep the English church independent; at the same time, however, he demanded freedom from royal and other secular influences. At Canterbury, Lanfranc rebuilt the cathedral (destroyed by fire in 1067) and established a library. Lanfranc died in Canterbury on May 28, 1089.