Editing Theobald of Bec (section)

===Relations with other monastic houses===
[[File:Staugustinescanterburyrotundanaveandcathedral.jpg|upright|220px|left|Ruins of [[St Augustine's Abbey]], with Canterbury Cathedral behind|thumb]]
Theobald also had a dispute with St Augustine's Abbey over the right of the archbishop to receive annual payments, and whether those payments were for sacraments performed by the archbishop, which would have been uncanonical, or were for other reasons. The dispute was eventually settled by a compromise in which St Augustine's continued to make the payments but they were specifically stated not to be for sacraments.<ref name=Salt66>Saltman ''Theobald'' pp. 66–69</ref> Another dispute with St Augustine's concerned the right of the archbishops to have a say in the election of new abbots and whether or not the abbots would make a profession of obedience to the archbishops. This was eventually settled by a papal mandate of 1144 instructing the abbots to profess obedience.<ref name=Salt73>Saltman ''Theobald'' pp. 73–75</ref>

The conflict re-surfaced in 1149, when some of the monks of St Augustine's, led by their prior and sacrist, refused to obey the interdict placed on England by Theobald and Pope Eugene III. Theobald had the two officials excommunicated and publicly flogged. When the previous abbot of St Augustine's died in 1151, the prior, Silvester, paid the king for the right to administer the abbey and to hold a free election for a new abbot. The monks then proceeded to elect Silvester as the new abbot, but Theobald refused to confirm the election, accusing Silvester of buying the office. Eventually, however, Pope Eugene III ordered Theobald to allow Silvester to take up the office, which Theobald did in August 1152.<ref name=DNB/> Theobald and St Augustine's also came into conflict over the abbey's claims of exemption from the archbishops' oversight, because it owed obedience directly to the pope. Papal documents held at Rome backed the abbey, but there were no English royal charters that gave the abbey its liberty from the archbishops. Theobald attempted to end the confusion by legal actions both at Rome and in England, but the record was mixed. The documents at Rome clearly favoured the abbey, but at a royal council held at [[Northampton]] in 1157, Henry II ruled in favour of Theobald.<ref name=Monastic588/> As part of the settlement Silvester, as abbot, was required to make a formal profession of obedience to Theobald, something he had been attempting to avoid since his election.<ref name=Lanfranci157>Hayward "Some Reflections" ''Historical Research'' p. 157</ref> The struggle with Silvester was just one event in the long history of the dispute between Canterbury and St Augustine's.<ref name=Monastic588>Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 588</ref>

As well as St Augustine's, the abbots of a number of other monasteries in the diocese of Canterbury are known to have professed obedience to Theobald, as the documents recording the events survive. Not only abbots and priors from within Canterbury, but some from other dioceses swore to obey Theobald, although normally such oaths would have gone to their diocesan bishop instead. Most of these exceptions occurred because the monastic house claimed exemption from the oversight of their diocesan bishop, and had a tradition of making those oaths to Canterbury instead. Besides these events, Theobald also intervened in the elections of some abbots, although not always successfully. He attempted to secure the right of Gilbert Foliot to remain [[Abbot of Gloucester]] after Foliot's election as Bishop of Hereford, but a new abbot was elected by the monks of Gloucester. Theobald was more successful in securing the election of William, who had previously been a monk at Christ Church, to be [[Abbot of Evesham]] over the objections of some of the monks of Evesham.<ref name=Salt81>Saltman ''Theobald'' pp. 81–85</ref>

Theobald also became embroiled in the dispute between Hilary, the Bishop of Chichester, and [[Walter de Lucy]], the abbot of [[Battle Abbey]], over Hilary's claims to jurisdiction over the abbey and the abbey's counter-claims that it was exempt from episcopal supervision. The abbey had never received a papal exemption, but relied instead on its royal foundation by King [[William I of England]] and its status as an [[Proprietary church|eigenkirche]], or proprietary church of the king.<ref name=HenryII429>Warren ''Henry II'' pp. 429–432</ref> Under King Stephen, the abbey's claims prevailed, but after Stephen's death Hilary excommunicated the abbot, who appealed to the papacy. Theobald supported the bishop, who eventually secured a trial before King Henry II. It was a minor setback for Theobald when the case was eventually decided in Battle's favour, mainly on the basis of charters that were thought at the time to be genuine, but modern historians have come to believe were forged.<ref name=Searle>Searle "Battle Abbey" ''English Historical Review'' pp. 449–480</ref>