Editing Theobald of Bec (section)

==Early life==

===Family and background===

Theobald's family was from the area around [[Thierville]] near [[Le Bec-Hellouin]], in the [[Risle|Risle River]] valley.<ref name=Becket11>Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 11</ref> The modern historian [[Frank Barlow (historian)|Frank Barlow]] speculates that Theobald may have been a distant relative of his successor as archbishop, Thomas Becket, as Becket's family came from the same part of Normandy.<ref name=Becket23>Barlow ''Thomas Becket'' p. 23</ref> The exact date of Theobald's birth is unknown; the only clue to his age is that when he died in 1161 contemporaries considered him an old man,<ref name=Salt3>Saltman ''Theobald'' pp. 3–4</ref> suggesting a birth date of perhaps around 1090 to one modern historian. His father was supposedly a knight, but no contemporary reference gives his name.<ref name=DNB>Barlow "Theobald" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''</ref> His brother [[Walter (Bishop of Rochester)|Walter]] also became a priest, and later a bishop.<ref name=Bartlett401>Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 401</ref>

Theobald entered the Abbey of Bec in Normandy as a [[Benedictine]] monk in the late 11th or early 12th century,<ref name=Stephen27/> while William was the third [[abbot]]. But as William was abbot from 1096 to 1124, that leaves a wide range of possible entry dates. Theobald was the 266th monk admitted under William, out of 346. The historian Avrom Saltman suggests that, if admissions were spaced regularly throughout William's abbacy, Theobald would have become a monk in about 1117, but qualifies his estimate with the statement that 1117 "seems to be rather late".<ref name=Salt3/>

===Life at Bec===

In 1127 Theobald was made [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|prior]] of Bec,<ref name=Stephen27/> after Boso succeeded William as abbot. Theobald became abbot in 1137,<ref name=Stephen27>Davis ''King Stephen'' p. 27</ref> following Boso's death in June 1136. The monks of Bec unanimously elected him to be their new abbot without first consulting the [[Archbishop of Rouen]], [[Hugh de Boves]], who consequently threatened to void the result. [[Audoen]], the [[Bishop of Evreux]], and brother of [[Thurstan]], the [[Archbishop of York]], intervened with Hugh and persuaded him to ratify the election. Another problem then arose when Hugh demanded a written profession of obedience from Theobald, which Theobald refused to provide;<ref name=Salt3/> no previous abbot had made such a profession. Theobald resisted for 14 months before a compromise was reached through the intercession of [[Peter the Venerable]], [[Abbot of Cluny]], allowing Theobald to give a verbal profession to Hugh.<ref name=Salt5>Saltman ''Theobald'' p. 5</ref>

No documents survive from Theobald's tenure as abbot, nor is there any information on the administration of the monastery during his period of office, except that 47 monks were admitted to Bec while he was abbot. Theobald travelled to England on business for his abbey at least once during his abbacy, to supervise the monastery's lands in England, a trip that took place shortly before his selection as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in 1138.<ref name=Salt6>Saltman ''Theobald'' p. 6</ref>

===Appointment to Canterbury===

In 1138 King Stephen chose Theobald to fill the vacant archbishopric of Canterbury over Stephen's own brother Henry, the Bishop of Winchester, who had helped Stephen gain the throne of England. Stephen feared that Henry would be too powerful as archbishop, and would attempt to control the king.<ref name=Barlow94>Barlow ''English Church'' pp. 94–97</ref> The election took place on 24&nbsp;December; Stephen was present with the papal legate, [[Alberic of Ostia]], and a small group of barons and bishops, but Henry was absent overseeing the ordination of deacons. Most historians consider that Stephen arranged the election's timing to ensure Henry's absence. Henry believed that Theobald had been elected not only because of Stephen's concerns but also because [[Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester|Waleran of Meulan]], the [[Patronage|lay patron]] of Bec, was attempting to put his own man in one of the most powerful positions in England. Waleran and his twin brother [[Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester|Robert, Earl of Leicester]], were Henry's chief rivals for Stephen's favour, and Henry disliked both of them intensely.<ref name=Stephen27/><ref name=Crouch91>Crouch ''Reign of King Stephen'' pp. 91–92</ref> Although Theobald was pious and well-educated, he had only become abbot the year before, and his election was probably influenced by the reputation of his monastery, which had already produced two archbishops of Canterbury, [[Lanfranc]] and [[Anselm of Canterbury|Anselm]].<ref name=Appleby60>Appleby ''Troubled Reign of King Stephen'' pp. 60–61</ref> Theobald had no important family connections to advance his career, and few clerical allies.<ref name=Matthew87>Matthew ''King Stephen'' p. 87</ref>