Editing Ranulf Flambard (section)

==Under Henry I==
[[File:Cathedral of Durham 04.JPG|thumb|right|Entrance to [[Durham Cathedral]]]]
At the succession of King Henry I, the new king imprisoned Ranulf in the Tower of London<ref name=Huscroft68>Huscroft ''Ruling England'' p. 68</ref> on 15 August 1100<ref name=Cantor134>Cantor ''Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture'' p. 134</ref> on charges of embezzlement.<ref name=Vaughn229>Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan'' p. 229</ref> His custodian, William de Mandeville, allowed the bishop to escape<ref name=Chibnall75>Chibnall ''Anglo-Norman England'' p. 75</ref> on 3 February 1101.<ref name=Poole115>Poole ''Domesday Book to Magna Carta'' p. 115</ref> Flambard was not only the first inmate at the castle, but also the first person to escape from it.<ref name=HenryI116>Hollister ''Henry I'' pp. 116–117, pp. 133–134</ref><ref>"Ranulf Flambard, Bishop of Durham" ''Tower of London''</ref> According to Orderic, friends smuggled to Ranulf a rope in a flagon of wine, he gave the drink to his guards, and after they were drunk and asleep, climbed down the rope to escape. His friends had arranged a ship to transport Ranulf, some of the bishop's treasure, and the bishop's elderly mother to Normandy.<ref name=Crouch170>Crouch ''Normans'' p. 170</ref> He took refuge across the [[English Channel]] with Henry's brother Robert Curthose, where he became one of the duke's principal advisors.<ref name=Huscroft69>Huscroft ''Ruling England'' p. 69</ref><ref name=Civil323>Hollister "Anglo-Norman Civil War" ''English Historical Review'' pp. 323–324</ref> King Henry dispossessed Ranulf of his lands at [[Whitsun]] in 1101,<ref name=Vaughn229/> and the new Archbishop of York [[Gerard (Archbishop of York)|Gerard]] deposed him from his bishopric.<ref name=HenryI136>Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 136</ref> The Archbishop of Canterbury, Anselm arranged for Flambard's trial in a papal court for [[simony]], and a papal decree was issued against Ranulf.<ref name=Vaughn234>Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan'' p. 234</ref>

As Robert's advisor, Ranulf pressed the duke to dispute Henry's claim to the crown of England.<ref name=Feudal167/> The historian [[David Crouch (historian)|David Crouch]] says that Ranulf "had to provide the strategic vision and energy that Duke Robert lacked",<ref name=QNormans165>Quoted in Crouch ''Normans'' p. 165</ref> and other historians have agreed that Ranulf's arrival was the catalyst to Curthose's ability to mount an invasion.<ref name=Civil323/> Ranulf was in charge of organising transport for the duke's invasion of England,<ref name=Vaughn231>Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan'' p. 231</ref> and also secured the defection of some of Henry's ships, thus allowing the fleet to land safely.<ref name=Crouch171>Crouch ''Normans'' p. 171</ref> Robert invaded England in July 1101 along with Ranulf, but Robert agreed at the [[Treaty of Alton]] on 2 August 1101 to renounce his claim to the English throne.<ref name=Feudal174/> Although no chronicler mentions Ranulf being present at Alton, he probably was there.<ref name=Civil329>Hollister "Anglo-Norman Civil War" ''English Historical Review'' p. 329</ref> Ranulf was pardoned in the treaty and restored to his bishopric, but he chose to stay with Robert for five more years.<ref name=Feudal174/> Some historians, including C. W. Hollister, see the treaty as mainly Ranulf's work, as mainly an attempt to salvage his ecclesiastical career in England, along with a displacement of Ranulf from being the chief councillor of Curthose to merely being one of many.<ref name=Civil327>Hollister "Anglo-Norman Civil War" ''English Historical Review'' p. 327</ref>

Robert rewarded Ranulf for his advice during the invasion by entrusting him with the administration of the [[Bishop of Lisieux|see of Lisieux]].<ref name=Vaughn269>Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan'' p. 269</ref> After Robert's defeat by Henry at Tinchebray in 1106, the bishop was among the first to make his peace with Henry, and returned to Durham.<ref name=Crouch179>Crouch ''Normans'' p. 179</ref> He retired from political life. Henry had already replaced him with Roger of Salisbury an able financier who was infinitely more acceptable to the nation.<ref name=Feudal150/> Although some historians have theorised that Ranulf's time in Normandy was as an agent of Henry, it appears that Ranulf was mainly looking out for his own interests and those of his family.<ref name=Civil333>Hollister "Anglo-Norman Civil War" ''English Historical Review'' p. 333</ref>

In 1108, Ranulf was dragged into the middle of the ongoing dispute between Archbishop Anselm and the newly appointed Archbishop of York, [[Thomas II of York|Thomas]] over whether or not Thomas should profess obedience to Anselm. Because Anselm refused to consecrate Thomas without a profession, and Thomas refused to profess, Thomas was unable to consecrate bishops himself. Ranulf wrote to Anselm, asking that he might act as Thomas' surrogate and consecrate [[Thurgot]] as [[Archbishop of St Andrews|Bishop of St Andrew's]]. In September 1108, Anselm wrote to Ranulf forbidding anyone but Thomas or Anselm himself to consecrate Thurgot or any other bishops.<ref name=Vaughn337>Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan'' p. 337</ref> Later, Ranulf tried to bribe King Henry to take Thomas' side.<ref name=Vaughn347>Vaughn ''Anselm of Bec and Robert of Meulan'' pp. 347–348</ref> Thurgot had been prior of the [[cathedral chapter]] at Durham, but had disagreed with Ranulf, who arranged for him to be elected to St Andrew's as a solution to the quarrel.<ref name=Monastic629>Knowles ''Monastic Order'' p. 629</ref>

It was Ranulf who ordained [[Thurstan]], the archbishop-elect of York, as a priest in 1115, although Thurstan had to wait for consecration as bishop for another four years.<ref name=DNB/>{{efn|Thurstan also refused to profess obedience to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was now [[Ralph d'Escures]].<ref>Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 394</ref>}} Ranulf attended the [[Council of Reims]] in 1119 held by Pope [[Pope Callixtus II|Callixtus II]].<ref name=Church111>Barlow ''English Church 1066–1154'' p. 111</ref> In 1125 [[John of Crema]], the papal legate to England, visited Durham to investigate charges against the bishop. Medieval chroniclers told the story that the legate was much taken with Ranulf's niece, and after sleeping with the girl, took no action on the charges against Ranulf.<ref name=Bartlett555>Bartlett ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings'' p. 555</ref> The story is unlikely to be true.<ref name=HenryI307>Hollister ''Henry I'' p. 307</ref>