History of the Church of England

The History of the Church of England, J.R.H. Moorman, pp. 59-220

Book Report

The middle ages began when William the Normans took over England. William liked to regard himself as a reformer. He would not allow the pope to interfere with what he regarded as the king's lawful business. He regarded himself as the head of the Church in England. William appointed his close friend, Lanfranc, as the archbishop of Canterbury. They both ruled England until William's death. William Rufus who was William the Normans' son took over the throne. Rufus uses the Church as a source of income for his kingdom. While he was ill, he appointed Anselm to take over Lanfranc's position. Anselm on the other hand, accepts papal authority and he wanted to reform the church back to the rule of the Pope. He insisted to have the pope as the head of the church and not the king. When Rufus passed away, Henry I took over the throne for a short period. Stephen then took over the throne after the death of Henry I. Stephen had a hard time governing England. In fact, he tried to bribe the church in order to keep his throne. Upon his death, Henry II started to reign as the King of England. He believes that the law must be equal for all and universally applied to all. The Archbishop then was Thomas Becket. Thomas Becket and Henry had some disagreement especially on the issues of whether a secular court has the right to trial a clergy. The main issue was between the Church and the state which was part of a long and universal struggle that was fought all over Christendom. Becket later on fled overseas and for six years remained aboard until the matter was solved. He did return to England after that and went back to Canterbury where he was the Archbishop. Some of the bishops as well as an archbishop were not too happy about Becket's return, went and complained to the King. Upon hearing the complained, he was furious. Four knights that heard the problem went and murdered Becket.

Upon Henry II's death, his two soon Richard I and John was next in line to rule the kingdom.

Richard reign for a short time in England due the fact that he was caught up with the Crusades. Most of the time, his minister carried on the duty to govern the country. After his death, his brother, John took over the throne. During John's reign, England became from bad to worst. In fact, Pope Innocent excommunicated John because of he has no regard for the church at all. However, he surrenders his crown and kingdom to the Pope due to external pressure especially from France. Stephen Langton who was the papal legates to England was allowed to return to be archbishop in Canterbury so that the Pope will have control over the affairs of the church in England.

During Henry III, England for a while was run by Papal legates. This is due to the fact that, Henry III was a loyal churchman. Also, during his reign, there was growth in the in England though there were resistances as well from the people

During this period, there was new type of Christian discipleship. One of the famous ones was the Dominicans and the Franciscans friars. Their main duty was to witness by word