ABSTRACT
At first King Stephen's brother, Bishop Henry of Winchester, was the most likely candidate to become the next archbishop of Canterbury. However, times were changing and events would soon put an end to the overweening power of Henry of Winchester and set the bishop and the king at odds with the papacy, thereby forcing Archbishop Theobald to choose between loyalty to the king and to the pope. The impression is strengthened by William of Malmesbury's comment that the bishops "either disdained to come [to court] or feared to do so". In 1150 Archbishop Theobald finally came into his own as the premier ecclesiastic in England when he received the legatine commission from Pope Eugenius III. In the early fall William met Duke Henry at Colchester in Archbishop Theobald's presence, and although the details of their conversation are not recorded, they evidently came to an agreement.
