ABSTRACT
By considering the careers of the three archbishops who came between these two as a unit, it should be possible to highlight certain crucial developments in the English church that are not so easily visible when considering a single pontificate. Lanfranc, Anselm and their successors were first of all heirs to a particular method of dispute resolution that current research has shown to have been largely prevalent throughout medieval society. The pontificate of Lanfranc, which largely coincided with the reign of William the Conqueror, established a model for his successors in dealing with the demands of the office. The archbishop was far more than the administrator of his diocese and the arbiter of moral and theological disputes. Ralph d'Escures had been abbot of Seez in Normandy and was bishop of Rochester at the time of his election to Canterbury in 1114.
