King Stephen and the Bishops

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.