ABSTRACT
As Archbishop Ralph of Canterbury set out on the road to Rome in 1116, he was undoubtedly aware that the appeal to the papacy constituted a breach in the wall against papal interference that Lanfranc and William the Conqueror had so successfully built around England. The pope's statement was so vague that it is impossible to say whether it referred to the primacy dispute with York, the issue of legates in England or something else entirely. It is possible that on this occasion Archbishop Thurstan participated in preliminary peace negotiations, for in attendance were the king of France, representatives of Count Theobald and Pope Calixtus II, who would soon show himself anxious to end the conflict between the two kingdoms. The other goal that Henry had been pursuing with Thurstan's assistance was also achieved shortly thereafter when peace with France was finally made, with Henrys son William doing homage to the French king for Normandy as part of the agreement.
