ABSTRACT
In considering the Church in Stephen's reign we must consider well what we mean by the word 'Church'. Aside from theological considerations about the term, there was a contemporary perception of there being a distinct unit of the catholic Church focused in England. This observation has to be qualified, however, for in the reign of King Henry, as Martin Brett has observed, the claims of the archbishops of the two English provinces of Canterbury and York extended beyond the boundaries of the lands of the king of the English into Wales and Scotland, and even Ireland. Furthermore, the close association of the English and Norman episcopates brought Norman bishops (notably the archbishop of Rouen) into English councils. 1 But, indistinct around the edges or not, since there was some perception of the English Church in contemporary discourse, we should expect to find that the kings treated it as a body with which they could negotiate. This is indeed what we find in the reigns of both Henry and Stephen.
