Essay
"Church and state relations steadily improved over the time period . How far do you agree?" Model essay
- Module
- Unit 3 (Y303)
- Institution
- OCR
An A* grade, 30 mark essay on church and state relations in the time period in England
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Church and state relations steadily improved over the time period 1066-1216. How far doyou agree?
Throughout the time period 1066-1216, relations between church and state fluctuated, varying greatly between
reigns and even within the same reign, for example during Henry I’s and Stephen’s reign. On the whole however, it is
evident that relations were primarily strained despite some good relations so clearly they did not improve but due to
fluctuation, they did not simply deteriorate either. Stating either proposition is too simplistic of an overview of the
time period as there is no clear pattern of improvement or deterioration.
To some extent, relations between church and state were strong and occasionally there was some improvement,
though this was not a steady improvement. The two most notable examples of good relations were between William
I and his archbishop of Canterbury Lanfranc and Richard and his archbishop Hubert Walter. The relations between
William I and Lanfranc were arguably the strongest throughout the reign and the two worked well together, pushing
for church reforms and having a strong level of trust between the two. William I allowed Lanfranc to make reforms
and Lanfranc never encroached upon William’s authority, showing a strong, stable relationship between the two,
with Lanfranc being known as William’s “bloodhound”. However, as this was at the beginning of our time period and
was arguably the strongest relation, it is evident that relations did not improve as no relation was better than that
between William I and Lanfranc. Richard and Hubert Walter also had a strong relation, though arguably not as strong
as William and Lanfranc, with Richard putting Walter in charge of the running of the country in his absence,
appointing him as chancellor, chief justiciar and head of the exchequer, and the two constantly communicating with
each other, showing this strong relationship and level of trust. However, these two were uncommon examples and
not representative of the entire time period, thus showing how relations did not steadily improve. Moreover, in
some reigns individually relations improved, primarily during Henry I’s and Stephen’s reign. For example, relations
between Henry I and Anselm steadily improved when Henry agreed to the 1213 Compromise, though it must be
noted that they did also deteriorate in the same reign before improving, as shown by Anselm’s exile in 1103.
Relations were also occasionally good in Stephen’s reign, primarily at the start of his reign as evident by him granting
the Charter of Liberties in 1136 which increased church freedom. However, relations then deteriorated so these
relations were not consistently good. Therefore, despite evidence of some strong relations between church and
state, it is clear that these relations were uncommon compared to strained relations and they were sporadic so
relations did not improve.
On the other hand, to a much greater extent, relations between church and state were overall strained. However, as
previously mentioned there was a lot of fluctuation so whilst relations clearly did not improve, it is too simplistic to
say that they deteriorated and instead fluctuated, varying from reign to reign. Overall, the king and his archbishop of
Canterbury did not get on well and there were major clashes, as seen most notably between William II and Anselm,
Henry II and Thomas Becket and John and Stephen Langton. For example, William II and Anselm clashed in 1095 at
the council of Rockingham, disagreeing over principles with William eventually exiling Anselm in 1097. Similarly,
Henry II and Thomas Becket clashed and disagreed on multiple occasions, most notably at the councils of Woodstock
in 1163 and Clarendon in 1164 and this, similarly to William II and Anselm, led to Becket’s exile in 1164-1170. This
strained relation was further exacerbated after the murder of Thomas Becket supposedly by Henry himself.
However, it could be argued that relations did temporarily improve after this in the 1170 Settlement, although
relations in Henry II’s reign were primarily strained. Moreover, relations were sometimes bad within the reigns of
Henry I and Stephen and there was deterioration within these reigns. For example, initially in Henry I’s reign,
relations between him and Anselm were positive as he invited him back to England but these quickly deteriorated in
1103 with Anselm’s exile. Also, whilst as previously mentioned Stephen initially had good relations with the church,
these worsened when Theobald became archbishop of Canterbury, as shown by the 1148 council of Rheims were
Theobald and the archbishop of York disobeyed Stephen’s orders not to attend. Therefore, it is evident that relations
were primarily strained during this time period so clearly did not improve. However, there was not simple
deterioration either and rather relations fluctuated, varying between each reign with no clear pattern of change,
neither steady improvement nor steady deterioration.
To conclude, it is evident that throughout the time period, despite some strong relationships, relations were
primarily strained between church and state so therefore clearly did not improve. However, the opposing
proposition that they deteriorated is too simplistic and rather, relations heavily fluctuated throughout the time
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