Thomas á Becket and the Catholic Context

Previous to the Norman invasion, the Catholic Church in England was perhaps the least influenced by the Roman center than any other in Europe. There was a feeling of fidelity and homage to the Roman and Papal roots abroad, but the distance was too far and the Channel provide a physical barrier to influence either way. The pre-Norman Church's independence allowed it to be far more entangled in the secular realm as well. The Church had such a tie to the land and the people that there was almost no conflict between "Church- and "State- because the two were almost synonymous. While on continental Europe with the reign of Charlemagne and the evident division between Emperor and Pope, the Papacy had been reduced to a mere vassal of the Emperor. The Emperor appointed the Pope and did whatever he desired. The Church throughout the continent and the isles was in the hands of laymen, completely dependent on the contributions and patronage of private endeavors, further reducing the church to a decentralized position and at the mercy of (most notably German) nobles. The same was true in England, but without such a negative consequence as the English kings were devout patrons, not power-politics. .
             This was the England William I conquered. In the midst of a strengthening Papacy, William understood that the best way to deal with the church of the newly conquered lands was to work with it. William built up a trust with the church and intended to continue the same genre of rule that preceded him in the land. He was ruler of all the land and maintained his unquestioned power throughout the land by declaring the church a Landeskirche of which he was the supreme defender. William worked closely with Lanfranc, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was in himself the strongest Archbishop since Dunstan. Using his rank as William's religious envoy, Lanfranc set to work on centralizing Canterbury as far as the regional churches.