Thurstan of Bayeux

Thurstan of Bayeux was a medieval archbishop of York who was involved in a long dispute with the archbishop of Canterbury over the primacy of the English church. He was a royal clerk under William II and Henry I, and was elected to the see of York in 1114. However, his consecration was delayed for five years because he refused to swear obedience to Canterbury. He finally received his pallium from Pope Callixtus II in 1119 and returned to England. He was a reformer who promoted the Cluniac monastic movement and established new suffragan bishops in his province. He also supported King Stephen against the Empress Matilda during the civil war known as the Anarchy. He played a leading role in organizing the English army that defeated the Scots at the Battle of the Standard in 1138. He resigned his archbishopric shortly before his death in 1140 and became a Cluniac monk at Pontefract Priory, where he was buried.