Editing William II of England (section)

== Religion ==
[[File:Silver penny of William II (YORYM 2000 2062) obverse.jpg|thumb|upright|Silver penny of William II showing a crowned head facing forward (1089), [[Yorkshire Museum]], York]]

Less than two years after becoming king, William II lost his father's adviser and confidant, the Italian-Norman [[Lanfranc]], [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. After Lanfranc's death in 1089, the king delayed appointing a new archbishop for many years, appropriating ecclesiastical revenues in the interim. In panic, owing to serious illness in 1093, William nominated as archbishop another Norman-Italian, [[Anselm of Canterbury|Anselm]]&nbsp;– considered the greatest theologian of his generation – but this led to a long period of animosity between Church and State, Anselm being a stronger supporter of the [[Gregorian reforms]] in the Church than Lanfranc. William and Anselm disagreed on a range of ecclesiastical issues, in the course of which the king declared of Anselm that, "Yesterday I hated him with great hatred, today I hate him with yet greater hatred and he can be certain that tomorrow and thereafter I shall hate him continually with ever fiercer and more bitter hatred."<ref>Bosanquet (tr.) ''Eadmer's History'' p. 53</ref> The English clergy, beholden to the king for their preferments and livings, were unable to support Anselm publicly. In 1095 William called a council at [[Rockingham, Northamptonshire|Rockingham]] to bring Anselm to heel, but the archbishop remained firm. In October 1097, Anselm went into exile, taking his case to the Pope. The diplomatic and flexible [[Urban II]], a new pope, was involved in a major conflict with [[Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV]], who supported [[Antipope Clement III]]. Reluctant to make another enemy, Urban came to a [[concordat]] with William, whereby William recognised Urban as pope, and Urban gave sanction to the Anglo-Norman ecclesiastical ''status quo''. Anselm remained in exile, and William was able to claim the revenues of the archbishop of Canterbury to the end of his reign.<ref>Carpenter ''Struggle for Mastery'' p. 132</ref>

However, this conflict was symptomatic of medieval English politics, as exemplified by the murder of [[Thomas Becket]] during the reign of the later [[Plantagenet]] king [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] (his great-nephew through his brother Henry) and [[Henry VIII]]'s actions centuries later, and as such should not be seen as a defect of William's reign in particular.{{efn|According to [[Eadmer]], an unusually well placed witness, William II "protested that Archbishop [[Anselm of Canterbury]] could not possibly keep at the same time both the allegiance which he owed to the King and obedience to the Apostolic See against the King's will."<ref>Bosanquet (tr.) ''Eadmer's History'' p. 54</ref> Anselm found himself in similar conflict with William II's successor, [[Henry I of England|Henry I]], as also reported by Eadmer.}} Of course, contemporary churchmen were themselves not above engaging in such politics: it is reported that, when Archbishop Lanfranc suggested to William I that he imprison the rebellious bishop [[Odo of Bayeux]], he exclaimed "What! He is a clergyman." Lanfranc retorted that "You will not seize the bishop of Bayeux, but confine the earl of Kent." (Odo held both titles.)<ref>William of Malmesbury ''History of the Norman Kings'', p. 60</ref>

While there are complaints of contemporaries regarding William's personal behaviour, he was instrumental in assisting the foundation of [[Bermondsey Abbey]], endowing it with the manor of Bermondsey, and it is reported that his "customary oath" was "By the [[Holy Face of Lucca|Face at Lucca]]!"{{efn|For a discussion of such blasphemous oaths, see {{Harvnb|Barlow|2000|pp=116–118}}. An alternative, pagan interpretation of this oath proposed by [[Margaret Murray]] is that William swore by the "face of [[Loki]]": Murray, Margaret A., ''The God of the Witches'', [[OUP]], 1970, p. 164}}