The Wider Primacy
The Wider Primacy
From the beginning of his archiepiscopate, Lanfranc insisted that the primacy of his church of Canterbury extended beyond the two English provinces of Canterbury and York to include the whole of the British Isles. His insistence upon the obedience of Bishop Herfast of Elmham to him as metropolitan culminated in a declaration that Britain was agreed to be the single jurisdiction of his own one church of Canterbury. In 1072, Lanfranc had drawn upon Bede to claim before Pope Alexander II that his early predecessors had exercised a primacy over the church of York and over the whole island called Britain including Ireland, dispensing pastoral care to all and holding ordinations and councils wherever they thought fit. Lanfranc's impact was different with regard to the three regions of Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. This was largely the result of the differing power and initiatives of the secular rulers concerned.
Keywords: Lanfranc, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, primacy, Canterbury, Britain, church
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