page_title: Theobald of Bec
section_title: Patronage and household
hierarchical_section_title: Theobald of Bec / Archbishop / Patronage and household
caption_attribution_description: Canterbury Cathedral, panel from window, detail St Thomas a Becket
context_page_description: Theobald of Bec was a Norman archbishop of Canterbury from 1139 to 1161. His exact birth date is unknown. Some time in the late 11th or early 12th century Theobald became a monk at the Abbey of Bec, rising to the position of abbot in 1137. King Stephen of England chose him to be Archbishop of Canterbury in 1138. Canterbury's claim to primacy over the Welsh ecclesiastics was resolved during Theobald's term of office when Pope Eugene III decided in 1148 in Canterbury's favour. Theobald faced challenges to his authority from a subordinate bishop, Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester and King Stephen's younger brother, and his relationship with King Stephen was turbulent. On one occasion Stephen forbade him from attending a papal council, but Theobald defied the king, which resulted in the confiscation of his property and temporary exile. Theobald's relations with his cathedral clergy and the monastic houses in his archdiocese were also difficult.
  Serving during the disorders of Stephen's reign, Theobald succeeded in forcing peace on the king by refusing to consecrate Stephen's son and heir, Eustace.
context_section_description: Theobald's household included many young men of ability, including his successor Thomas Becket. Theobald was instrumental in the early spread of Roman law to England, inviting the Bologna-schooled jurist Vacarius to join his administration and advise on legal matters. Whether Vacarius actually started a school in Theobald's household is unclear, but in the 1140s he taught briefly at Oxford. Theobald was instrumental in fostering the teaching of canon law in England; the conflict that later arose between Henry II and Thomas Becket had its roots in disputes that were exposed during Theobald's time in office. While still in Normandy, Theobald had made an intense study of ecclesiastical or canon law, which he continued after being elected archbishop.
  Although Theobald was a monk, his episcopal household was not monastic in character. As he settled into the role of archbishop, he seems to have left most of his monastic habits behind, although he continued to have a monk as a companion. His nephews and brother benefited from his nepotism, with his nephews becoming part of his household early in his archepiscopate. The four nephews—Guillaume, Gilbert, Roger and Lechard—were witnesses to a charter of Theobald's dated to about 1150 or 1153. After Theobald's death, Guillaume was a clerk in Bartholomew, the Bishop of Exeter's household in around 1172.
  Another charter of Theobald's from about 1152 shows the usual household staff that surrounded him. It was witnessed by the archbishop's crossbearer, three of Theobald's nephews and the clerk who presumably was in charge of them, a chancellor, two chaplains who were monks, a butler, dispenser, chamberlain, steward, cook, usher, porter and marshal. Theobald also at about the same time granted a mill to his baker named William and some lands to his cook William and the cook's heirs.
  Theobald was the patron of three eminent men: Becket, Vacarius, and John of Salisbury. John of Salisbury was secretary to Theobald for many years, and after Theobald's death became Bishop of Chartres. It was during John's time as secretary that he wrote his two most famous works, the Policraticus and the Metalogicon. Others who studied for a time in Theobald's household were Roger de Pont L'Evêque, later Archbishop of York, John Belemis, later Archbishop of Lyons, John de Pageham, later Bishop of Worcester, Bartholomew Iscanus, later Bishop of Exeter, William of Northall, later Bishop of Worcester, and William de Vere, later Bishop of Hereford. In all, his household produced three archbishops and six bishops. The household itself, although not formally a school, acted as one, with many going on to careers in the church.
caption: Medieval stained-glass window depicting Thomas Becket
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