Editing Lanfranc (section)

==Prior and abbot==
In the midst of Lanfranc's scholastic and controversial activities Lanfranc became a political force. Later tradition told that while he was [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|Prior]] of Bec he opposed the non-canonical marriage of [[William the Conqueror|Duke William]] with [[Matilda of Flanders]] (1053) and carried matters so far that he incurred a sentence of exile. Apparently, their relationship was within the prohibited degrees of kindred.<ref name=CE/> But the quarrel was settled when he was on the point of departure, and he undertook the difficult task of obtaining the pope's approval of the marriage. In this he was successful at the same council which witnessed his third victory over Berengar (1059), and he thus acquired a lasting claim on William's gratitude. In 1066 Lanfranc became the first [[Abbot]] of the [[Abbey of Saint-Étienne, Caen|Abbey of Saint-Étienne]] at [[Caen]] in Normandy, a monastery dedicated to [[Saint Stephen]] which the duke had supposedly been enjoined to found as a penance for his disobedience to the Holy See.{{sfn|Davis|1911|p=170}}

Henceforward Lanfranc exercised a perceptible influence on his master's policy. William adopted the [[Cluniac]] programme of ecclesiastical reform, and obtained the support of Rome for his English expedition by assuming the attitude of a crusader against schism and corruption. It was Alexander II, possibly a pupil of Lanfranc's and certainly a close friend, who gave the [[Norman Conquest]] the papal benediction—a notable advantage to William at the moment, but subsequently the cause of serious embarrassments.{{sfn|Davis|1911|p=170}}