Editing William the Conqueror (section)

=== Church affairs ===

While at Winchester in 1070, William met with three [[papal legate]]s&nbsp;– John Minutus, Peter, and Ermenfrid of Sion&nbsp;– who had been sent by the pope. The legates ceremonially crowned William during the Easter court.<ref name=Bates106/> The historian [[David Bates (historian)|David Bates]] sees this coronation as the ceremonial papal "seal of approval" for William's conquest.<ref name=DNB/> The legates and the king then held a series of ecclesiastical councils dedicated to reforming and reorganising the English church. Stigand and his brother, [[Æthelmær of Elmham|Æthelmær]], the [[Bishop of Elmham]], were deposed from their bishoprics. Some of the native abbots were also deposed, both at the council held near Easter and at a further one near [[Whitsun]]. The Whitsun council saw the appointment of Lanfranc as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, and [[Thomas of Bayeux]] as the new Archbishop of York, to replace Ealdred, who had died in September 1069.<ref name=Bates106/> William's half-brother Odo perhaps expected to be appointed to Canterbury, but William probably did not wish to give that much power to a family member.{{efn|The historian Frank Barlow points out that William had suffered from his uncle Mauger's ambitions while young and thus would not have countenanced creating another such situation.<ref name=Barlow59/>}} Another reason for the appointment may have been pressure from the papacy to appoint Lanfranc.<ref name=Barlow59>Barlow ''English Church 1066–1154'' p. 59</ref> Norman clergy were appointed to replace the deposed bishops and abbots, and at the end of the process, only native English bishops remained in office, along with several continental prelates appointed by Edward the Confessor.<ref name=Bates106>Bates ''William the Conqueror'' pp. 106–107</ref> In 1070 William also founded [[Battle Abbey]], a new monastery at the site of the Battle of Hastings, partly as a penance for the deaths in the battle and partly as a memorial to the dead.<ref name=DNB/> At an ecclesiastical council held in Lillebonne in 1080, he was confirmed in his ultimate authority over the Norman church.<ref>Turner "Richard Lionheart" ''French Historical Studies'' p. 521</ref>