Thomas of Bayeux

Thomas of Bayeux was Archbishop of York from 1070 until 1100. He was educated at Liège and became a royal chaplain to Duke William of Normandy, who later became King William I of England. After William I’s death Thomas served his successor, William II, and helped to put down a rebellion led by Thomas’ old mentor Odo. He also became involved in the dispute with Canterbury over the primacy of Canterbury. Thomas died too late to crown King Henry I, and died soon after the coronation.

About Thomas of Bayeux in brief

Thomas of Bayeux was Archbishop of York from 1070 until 1100. He was educated at Liège and became a royal chaplain to Duke William of Normandy, who later became King William I of England. After William I’s death Thomas served his successor, William II, and helped to put down a rebellion led by Thomas’ old mentor Odo. He also became involved in the dispute with Canterbury over the primacy of Canterbury. Thomas died too late to crown King Henry I, and died soon after the coronation. He had a brother named Samson, who was Bishop of Worcester from 1086 until 1112. Thomas is sometimes referred to as Thomas I to distinguish him from his nephew Thomas of York, who also was an Archbishop ofYork. The elder Thomas’ father was a priest named Osbert; his mother was named Muriel, but little else of them is known. Thomas was a canon and the treasurer ofBayeux Cathedral as well as a member of Duke William’s ducal clergy before the Norman Conquest of England, and was named a royal clerk after the Battle of Hastings. Thomas succeeded Ealdred as Archbishop of Yorks in 1070; he was nominated on 23 May and was probably consecrated on 25 December. Shortly after Thomas’ election, Lanfranc, pursuing a claim that Canterbury was the primatial see, or bishopric, of England,. demanded that Thomas provide a written oath swearing to obey him and any future Archbishops of Canterbury, but Thomas declined to make such a written promise.

Thomas also attended the trial for rebellion of the Bishop of Durham, William de St-Calais, Thomas’ sole suffragan, or Bishop subordinate to York. The 12th-century chronicler Eadmer Eadler, a monk at Canterbury, wrote that Thomas had resigned and surrendered his archiepiscopal symbols, but they were promptly returned to him by the pope on its orders. The next year Thomas travelled to Rome to ask Pope Alexander II to declare the sees of Worcester, Dorchester and Lichfield– all south of the River Humber– part of the Archdiocese of York rather than Canterbury rather than Canterbury. This settled the issue, but it was the beginning of the long-running dispute over the claims of Canterbury to have jurisdiction over York. Thomas took advantage of the opportunity to ask the pope to declare both archbishops for their palliums for their next year of service. He died in 1112, and is buried in the Church of St Peter and St Paul in York, where he was buried alongside his brother Samson. He is buried next to his nephew, who died in the same year as Thomas. Thomas’ nephew Thomas was also an archbishop of York and was buried in York.

Related posts:

Augustine of Canterbury John de Gray Geoffrey (archbishop of York) Bayeux Tapestry