Editing Thurstan

{{Short description|Archbishop of York from 1114 to 1140}}
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{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}

:''This page is about Thurstan of Bayeux (1070&nbsp;– 1140) who became Archbishop of York. [[Thurstan of Caen]] became the first Norman [[Abbot of Glastonbury]] in circa 1077.''

{{Infobox Christian leader
| title = [[Archbishop of York]]
| elected = August 1114
| ended = 21 January 1140 (res.)
| predecessor = [[Thomas II of York|Thomas II]]
| successor = [[Waltheof of Melrose]]
| ordination = 6 June 1115
| ordained_by = [[Ranulf Flambard]]
| consecration = 19 October 1119
| consecrated_by = Pope [[Pope Callixtus II|Callixtus II]]
| birth_date = {{circa|1070|lk=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Bayeux]], [[Duchy of Normandy]]
| death_date = 6 February 1140 (aged {{c.|lk=no|69}})
| death_place = [[Pontefract]], Yorkshire, [[Kingdom of England|England]]
| buried = Pontefract
| parents = Anger and Popelina
}}

'''Thurstan'''{{efn|This name was basically the old Norse name ''Thorsteinn'', meaning '[[Thor]]'s stone'; there are different spellings of it : ''Toustain'', ''Tostain'', ''Toutain'', still existing today as [[Norman people|Norman]] surnames. Thurstan is its anglicised version.}} or '''Turstin of Bayeux''' ({{circa|1070|lk=yes}}&nbsp;– 6 February 1140) was a medieval [[Archbishop of York]], the son of a priest. He served kings [[William II of England|William II]] and [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] of England before his election to the see of York in 1114. Once elected, his [[consecration]] was delayed for five years while he fought attempts by the Archbishop of Canterbury to assert primacy over York. Eventually, he was consecrated by the pope instead and allowed to return to England. While archbishop, he secured two new [[Suffragan bishop|suffragan]] bishops for his province. When Henry I died, Thurstan supported Henry's nephew [[Stephen of England|Stephen of Blois]] as king. Thurstan also defended the northern part of England from invasion by the Scots, taking a leading part in organising the English forces at the [[Battle of the Standard]] (1138). Shortly before his death, Thurstan resigned from his see and took the habit of a [[Cluny Abbey|Cluniac]] monk.

==Early life==

Thurstan was the son of a [[Canon (priest)|canon]] of [[St Paul's Cathedral|St Paul's]] in London named Anger, Auger or Ansgar,{{efn|Anger or Auger former Norman first name, today surname ''Anger'' (without -s, Angers with -s means a native of [[Angers]]), some ''Auger'', all from ''Ásgeir'', [[Norsemen|Norse]] name, the same as [[Oscar (given name)|Oscar]] or ''Ōs-gār''.}} who held the [[Prebendary|prebend]] of [[Cantlers]]. Another son of Anger, [[Audoen]], was later [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Évreux|Bishop of Évreux]].<ref name=BHOCantl>Greenway ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 1: St. Paul's, London: Prebendaries: Cantlers''</ref><ref name=HenryI242>Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 242–244</ref><ref name=Spear5>Spear "Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy" ''Journal of British Studies'' p. 5</ref><ref name=DD151>Keats-Rohan ''Domesday Descendants'' p. 151</ref> Thurstan's mother was named Popelina.<ref name=DD151/> Thurstan was born sometime about 1070 in [[Bayeux]],<ref>Nicholl ''Thurstan'' p. iv</ref> in the [[Bessin]] region of [[Normandy]]. Before 1104 the father was given the prebend of Cantlers by [[Maurice (Archdeacon of Le Mans)|Maurice]], [[Bishop of London]], and the family moved to England.<ref name=DNB>Burton "Thurstan" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref>

Early in his career, Thurstan held the prebendary of [[The Sokens|Consumpta per mare]] in the [[diocese of London]],<ref name=BHOConsumpta>Greenway "Prebendaries: Consumpta-per-Mare" ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300'': Volume 1: St. Paul's, London</ref> and served both William Rufus and Henry I as a royal clerk.<ref name=BHOYork>Greenway "Archbishops" ''British History Online Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300'': Volume 6: York</ref> At some point in Thurstan's early career, he visited [[Cluny]], where he vowed to become a Cluniac monk later in his life.<ref name="DNB" /> Thurstan also served Henry as [[almoner]],<ref name=Church83>Barlow ''English Church'' p. 83</ref> and it was Henry who obtained Thurstan's election as Archbishop of York in August 1114.<ref name=Handbook281>Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 281</ref> He was ordained a [[deacon]] in December 1114 and ordained a [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|priest]] on 6 June 1115<ref name="BHOYork" /> by [[Ranulf Flambard]], who was [[Bishop of Durham]].<ref name=DNBFlambard>Mason "Flambard, Ranulf" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref>

==Controversy and exile==
The [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], [[Ralph d'Escures]], refused to consecrate Thurstan unless the archbishop-elect made a profession of obedience to the southern see.<ref name=Bartlett394/> This was part of the long-running [[Canterbury-York dispute]], which started in 1070.<ref name=Church39>Barlow ''English Church'' pp. 39–44</ref> Thurstan refused to make such a profession,<ref name=Bartlett394>Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 394</ref> and asked the king for permission to go to Rome to consult [[Pope Paschal II]]. Henry I refused to allow him to make the journey, but even without a personal appeal from Thurstan, Paschal decided against Canterbury. At the [[Council of Salisbury]] in 1116 the English king ordered Thurstan to submit to Canterbury, but instead Thurstan publicly resigned the archbishopric.<ref name=Cantor305>Cantor ''Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture'' pp. 305–309</ref> On his way to the council, Thurstan had received letters from Paschal II that supported York and commanded that he should be consecrated without a profession. Similar letters had gone to Ralph d'Escures from the pope, ordering Ralph, as Archbishop of Canterbury, to consecrate Thurstan. After the news of the letters became public, Thurstan's resignation was ignored, and he continued to be considered the archbishop-elect.<ref name=HenryI242/>

Over the next three years, the new popes, [[Pope Gelasius II|Gelasius II]] and [[Pope Callixtus II|Calixtus II]], championed Thurstan's case, and on 19 October 1119 he was consecrated by Calixtus at [[Reims]].<ref name=BHOYork/><ref name=HenryI269>Hollister ''Henry I'' pp. 269–273</ref> Calixtus had earlier promised Henry that he would not consecrate Thurstan without the king's permission, which had still not been granted.<ref name=HenryI269/> Enraged at this, the king refused to allow the newly consecrated archbishop to enter England, and Thurstan remained for some time on the continent in the company of the pope.<ref name=Bartlett394/> While he was travelling with the pope, he also visited [[Adela of Normandy|Adela of Blois]], King Henry's sister, who was also Thurstan's spiritual daughter. At about this same time, Calixtus issued two bulls in Thurstan's favor: one released York from Canterbury's supremacy forever, and the other demanded the king allow Thurstan to return to York. The pope threatened an [[interdict]] on England as a punishment if the papal bull was not obeyed.<ref name=HenryI269/> At length, Thurstan's friends, including Adela, succeeded in reconciling him with Henry, and he rejoined the king in Normandy.<ref name=Cantor305/> At Easter 1120, he escorted Adela to the monastery of Marcigny, where she retired from active secular affairs.<ref name=LoPrete588>LoPrete "Anglo-Norman Card" ''Albion'' p. 588</ref> He was recalled to England in early 1121.<ref name=Cantor305/>

==Archbishop==

One of the main weaknesses of the [[Archbishop of York|see of York]] was its lack of suffragan bishops.<ref name=Rose124>Rose "Cumbrian Society" ''Studies in Church History'' p. 124</ref> Thurstan managed to secure the resurrection of the [[Bishop of Galloway|Diocese of Galloway]],<ref name=DNB/> or Whithorn, in 1125.<ref name=Rose124/> It is possible that he compromised with [[Fergus of Galloway]], who was the lord or sub-king of Galloway, in what is now Scotland. In this Thurstan secured another suffragan, and Fergus gained a bishop in his lordship, where previously ecclesiastical matters in his subkingdom had been handled by Scottish bishops. The first bishop was the [[Galwegian Gaelic|native Galwegian]]&nbsp;– [[Gille Aldan|Gilla Aldan]].<ref name="DNB" /> This provoked the wrath of [[Wimund|Wimund, Bishop of the Isles]], who had previously had jurisdiction over Galloway; but the new bishopric survived, and York had a new suffragan, an important step in the battle between York and Canterbury over the primacy, which was mainly a battle over the prestige of their respective sees. The number of bishops subject to either archbishop was an important factor in the reputation of each.<ref name=Church41>Barlow ''English Church'' pp. 40–41</ref> In 1133, Thurstan, who had received papal permission to found an entirely new diocese, consecrated [[Æthelwold of Carlisle|Æthelwold]] as the first bishop of the new [[Diocese of Carlisle|see of Carlisle]].<ref name=DNB/>

Thurstan refused to accept that the new Archbishop of Canterbury, [[William de Corbeil]], was his superior, and did not help with William's consecration. The dispute between the two continued, and both archbishops carried their complaints in person to Rome twice. In 1126, [[Pope Honorius II]] ruled in favour of York.<ref name=Duggan98>Duggan "From the Conquest to the Death of John" ''English Church and the Papacy'' p. 98</ref> The pope based his decision on the fact that Canterbury's supporting documents had been forged.<ref name=Poole184>Poole ''Domesday to Magna Carta'' p. 184</ref>

[[File:Battle of the Standard.jpg|thumb|right|125px|A monument at the site of the Battle of the Standard, where the troops Thurstan had mustered defeated the Scots.]]

Thurstan supported King Stephen after Henry I's death in 1135, and appeared at Stephen's first court at [[Easter]] held at [[Palace of Westminster|Westminster]].<ref name=Powell64>Powell and Wallis ''House of Lords'' p. 64</ref> Thurstan negotiated a truce at [[Roxburgh]] in 1138 between England and Scotland. It was Thurstan who mustered the army which defeated the Scots at the Battle of the Standard on 22 August 1138 near [[Northallerton|Northallerton, Yorkshire]].<ref name=Feudal211>Barlow ''Feudal Kingdom'' p. 211</ref><ref name=Huscroft73>Huscroft ''Ruling England'' p. 73</ref> Thurstan did not take direct part in the battle., but he created the standard that gave the battle its name, by putting a ship's mast in a cart and hanging the banners of Saint Peter of York, Saint [[John of Beverley]], and Saint [[Wilfrid]] of Ripon on the mast. The Scots had invaded, attempting to aid the [[Empress Matilda]], the daughter of Henry I and Stephen's rival for the throne.<ref name=Stephen36>Davis ''King Stephen'' pp. 36–37</ref> On 21 January 1140 Thurstan resigned his see and entered the order of the Cluniacs at [[Pontefract]]<ref name="BHOYork" /> and he died there on 6 February 1140.<ref name=Handbook281/> He was buried in the church at Pontefract.<ref name=DNB/>

==Saint==

In 2024 evidence emerged that Thurstan had been acclaimed as a saint: his name was found, associated with a feast day of 6 February, in an ancient catalogue of saints' days at Pontefract Priory. At the time the pope's approval was not needed for sainthood; the monks at Pontefract exhumed his body two years after his death and, finding it well-preserved, acclaimed him as a saint. This detail was lost in the destruction of monasteries' possessions during the [[English Reformation|Reformation]].<ref>Tapper "'Unambiguous proof'" ''The Guardian''</ref>

==Legacy==

Thurstan gave land to many of the churches of his [[diocese]] and founded several religious houses. He founded the first [[Abbey|nunnery]] in [[Yorkshire]] when he founded [[St Clements Convent|St Clement's]] between 1125 and 1133.<ref name=Bartlett438>Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 438</ref> He obtained for [[Whitby Abbey]] a papal privilege of protection as well as giving his privilege to the abbey.<ref name=Dawtry91>Dawtry "Benedictine Revival" ''Studies in Church History 18'' p. 91</ref> He also helped found the [[Cistercians|Cistercian]] [[Fountains Abbey|Abbey of Fountains]],<ref name=BHOYork/> by giving the site to monks who had been expelled from the [[St Mary's Abbey, York|Abbey of St. Mary's, York]].<ref name=Burton70>Burton ''Monastic and Religious Orders'' p. 70</ref> Thurstan helped the hermitess [[Christina of Markyate]] at several points in her career, and tried to persuade her to become the first prioress of his foundation of St. Clement's.<ref name=Church203>Barlow ''English Church'' p. 203</ref> He was a patron to the Augustinian [[Hexham Abbey|Hexham Priory]], founded by his predecessor at York, as well as helping the foundation of [[Bridlington Priory]], another Augustinian house.<ref name=Burton48>Burton ''Monastic and Religious Orders'' p. 48</ref> He was a sincere reformer and opposed to the election of unfit men to the episcopacy. When [[Pope Innocent II]] asked Thurstan's opinion on the elevation of [[Anselm of St Saba]], who was [[Abbot of Bury St. Edmunds]], to become Bishop of London, Thurstan replied, "If we consider his life and reputation, it would be much more fitting to remove him from his abbacy than to promote him to be bishop of London."<ref name=Appleby106>Appleby ''Troubled Reign'' pp. 106–107</ref> Anselm was not confirmed as bishop.<ref name=Appleby106/>

Thurstan is described by the historian Edmund King as "a bishop like no other. Thurstan and the baronage of Yorkshire had been partners in a common enterprise, their security in this world and their salvation in the next, and to all aspects of his role he had shown a complete commitment." His death occurred during [[The Anarchy]] of the civil war between Stephen and [[Empress Matilda|Matilda]] and led to a breakdown in order.<ref>King, ''King Stephen'', p. 126</ref>

Thurstan's nephew was [[Osbert de Bayeux]], who became an archdeacon at York, and in 1154 was accused of the murder of [[William of York]], one of Thurstan's successors at York.<ref name=BHOArchYork>Greenway "Archdeacons: Richmond" ''Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300'': Volume 6: York</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist|60em}}

==Citations==
{{Reflist|40em}}

==References==
{{refbegin|60em}}
* {{cite book |author=Appleby, John T. |title=The Troubled Reign of King Stephen 1135–1154 |year=1995 |publisher= Barnes & Noble|location=New York |isbn=1-56619-848-8 }}
* {{cite book |author=Barlow, Frank |title=The English Church 1066–1154: A History of the Anglo-Norman Church |author-link=Frank Barlow (historian) |publisher=Longman |location=New York |year=1979 |isbn=0-582-50236-5 }}
* {{cite book |author=Barlow, Frank |title=The Feudal Kingdom of England 1042–1216 |author-link=Frank Barlow (historian) |edition=Fourth |publisher=Longman |location=New York |year=1988 |isbn=0-582-49504-0 }}
* {{cite book |author=Bartlett, Robert C. |title=England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075–1225 |author-link=Robert Bartlett (historian) |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford, UK |year=2000 |isbn=0-19-822741-8 }}
* {{cite book |author=Burton, Janet |title= Monastic and Religious Orders in Britain: 1000–1300 |year= 1994|publisher=Cambridge University Press|series=Cambridge Medieval Textbooks |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=0-521-37797-8 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Burton, Janet |title=Thurstan (c.1070–1140) |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27411 |access-date=11 November 2007 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/27411|url-access=subscription }} {{ODNBsub}}
* {{cite book |author=Cantor, Norman F. |title=Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture in England 1089–1135 |author-link= Norman Cantor |year=1958 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |oclc= 186158828 }}
* {{cite book |author=Davis, R. H. C. |title=King Stephen 1135–1154 |author-link= Ralph Henry Carless Davis |publisher=Longman |location=New York |year=1990 |edition=Third |isbn=0-582-04000-0 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Dawtry, Anne |title=The Benedictine Revival in the North: The Last Bulwark of Anglo-Saxon Monasticism |encyclopedia=Studies in Church History 18: Religion and National Identity |editor=Mews, Stuart |publisher=Basil Blackwell |location=Oxford, UK |year=1982 |pages=87–98 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Duggan, Charles |title=From the Conquest to the Death of John |encyclopedia=The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages |editor=Lawrence, C. H.|pages=63–116|place=Stroud, UK |publisher=Sutton Publishing |isbn=0-7509-1947-7 |year=1965 |edition=1999 Reprint }}
* {{cite book |author1=Fryde, E. B. |author2=Greenway, D. E. |author3=Porter, S. |author4=Roy, I. |title=Handbook of British Chronology |edition=Third revised |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |year=1996 |isbn=0-521-56350-X  }}
* {{cite book |author=Greenway, Diana E. |section=Prebendaries: Cantlers |title= Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300|volume=1: St. Paul's, London|year=1968 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |section-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=33814 |access-date=14 September 2007 }}
* {{cite book |author=Greenway, Diana E. |section=Prebendaries: Consumpta-per-Mare |title= Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300|volume=1: St. Paul's, London|year=1968 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |section-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=33817 |access-date=14 September 2007 }}
* {{cite book |author=Greenway, Diana E. |section=Archbishops |title= Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300|volume=6: York|year=1999 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |section-url=http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=8457 |access-date=14 September 2007 }}
* {{cite book |author=Greenway, Diana E. |section=Archdeacons: Richmond |title= Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300|volume=6: York|year=1999 |publisher=Institute of Historical Research |section-url=http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=4332 |access-date=6 August 2014 }}
* {{cite book |author=Hollister, C. Warren |title=Henry I |author-link=C. Warren Hollister|editor= Frost, Amanda Clark |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, CT |year=2001 |isbn=0-300-08858-2 }}
* {{cite book |author=Huscroft, Richard |title=Ruling England 1042–1217 |publisher=Pearson/Longman |location=London |year=2005 |isbn=0-582-84882-2 }}
* {{cite book |author=Keats-Rohan, K. S. B. |title=Domesday Descendants: A Prosopography of Persons Occurring in English Documents, 1066–1166: Pipe Rolls to Cartae Baronum |author-link= Katharine Keats-Rohan |publisher=Boydell Press |location=Ipswich, UK |year=2002 |isbn=0-85115-863-3 }}
*{{cite book |author=King, Edmund |title=King Stephen |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, CT |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-300-11223-8 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Lawrence, C. H. |encyclopedia=The English Church and the Papacy in the Middle Ages |title=The Thirteenth Century |editor=Lawrence, C. H.|pages=117–156 |place=Stroud |publisher=Sutton Publishing |isbn=0-7509-1947-7 | year = 1965 |edition=1999 reprint }}
* {{cite journal |author=LoPrete, Kimberly A. |title=The Anglo-Norman Card of Adela of Blois |jstor=4051390 |journal=[[Albion (history journal)|Albion]] |issue=4 |volume=22 |date=Winter 1990 |pages=569–589 |doi=10.2307/4051390 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |author=Mason, J. F. A. |title=Flambard, Ranulf (c.1060–1128) |encyclopedia=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |url=http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9667 |access-date=21 January 2008 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/9667|url-access=subscription }} {{ODNBsub}}
* {{cite book |author=Nicholl, Donald |title=Thurstan: Archbishop of York (1114 - 1140) |location=York |publisher=Stonegate Press |year=1964 |oclc=871673 }}
* {{cite book |author=Poole, Austin Lane |title=From Domesday Book to Magna Carta, 1087–1216 |author-link=Austin Lane Poole |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford, UK |year=1955 |edition=Second |oclc= 398750 }}
* {{cite book |author1= Powell, J. Enoch |author2=Wallis, Keith |title=The House of Lords in the Middle Ages: A History of the English House of Lords to 1540 |author-link1= Enoch Powell |year=1968 |publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson |location=London }}
* {{cite journal |author=Rose, R. K. |year=1982 |title=Cumbrian Society and the Anglo-Norman Church |journal=[[Studies in Church History]] |volume=18 |pages=119–135 |doi=10.1017/S0424208400016089 |s2cid=183905987 }}
* {{cite book |author1=Richardson, H. G. |author2= Sayles, G. O. |title=The Governance of Mediaeval England |author-link2=G. O. Sayles |year=1963 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh, UK }}
* {{cite journal |author=Spear, David S. |title=The Norman Empire and the Secular Clergy, 1066-1204 |date=Spring 1982 |journal=[[Journal of British Studies]] |volume=XXI |issue=2 |pages=1–10  |doi=10.1086/385787 |jstor=175531 |s2cid=153511298 }}
* {{cite news |author=Tapper, James |title='Unambiguous Proof': Medieval Archbishop Revealed as Lost English Saint |newspaper=The Guardian |date=3 February 2024 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/03/unambiguous-proof-medieval-archbishop-revealed-as-lost-english-saint }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal |author=Baker, L. G. D. |title=The Genesis of English Cistercian Chronicles: The Foundation-history of Fountains Abbey I|journal=Analecta Cisterciensia |volume=25 |year=1969 |pages=14–41}}
* {{cite journal |author=Baker, L. G. D. |title=The Genesis of English Cistercian Chronicles: The Foundation-history of Fountains Abbey II|journal=Analecta Cisterciensia |volume=31 |year=1975 |pages=179–212}}
{{refend}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas II of York|Thomas II]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Archbishop of York]]|years=1119–1140}}
{{s-aft|after=[[William of York]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{good article}}
{{Archbishops of York|state=collapsed}}
{{Subject bar |portal1=Catholicism |portal2=Christianity|portal4=England |portal5=Biography |portal6=Middle Ages |s=y }}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurstan}}
[[Category:Anglo-Normans]]
[[Category:1070s births]]
[[Category:1140 deaths]]
[[Category:Archbishops of York]]
[[Category:12th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:People of The Anarchy]]
[[Category:Cluniacs]]
[[Category:William II of England]]
[[Category:Henry I of England]]