Lanfranc of Bec

Article number 10224053

A scholarly biography of Lanfranc, the Italian-born theologian and churchman who became one of the leading intellectual and religious figures of eleventh-century Europe. Margaret Gibson traces his early career as a teacher, his entrance into the Benedictine community at Bec in Normandy and his growing reputation as a scholar and theological controversialist. Following the Norman Conquest, Lanfranc became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070, playing a central role in reorganising the English Church under William the Conqueror. Drawing on contemporary documents and historical sources, the study examines his intellectual achievements, ecclesiastical reforms and influence on relations between the Norman monarchy and the Church.