Ralph d'Escures was a medieval abbot of Seez, bishop of Rochester, and then archbishop of Canterbury.
28 Facts About Ralph d'Escures
1.
2.
Ralph d'Escures studied at the school at the Abbey of Bec.
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Ralph d'Escures was a friend of both Archbishop Anselm of Canterbury and Bishop Gundulf of Rochester, whose see, or bishopric, he took over on Gundulf's death.
4.
Ralph d'Escures's election involved an assembly of the lords and bishops meeting with King Henry I of England.
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Ralph d'Escures then received his pallium from Pope Paschal II, rather than travelling to Rome to retrieve it.
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Ralph d'Escures studied at the school at the Abbey of Bec before entering the abbey of St Martin at Seez in 1079.
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Ralph d'Escures became abbot of the house in 1091, and his election was attended by Anselm, abbot of Bec.
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Ralph d'Escures declined to do homage because Pope Urban II had ordered that no clergy could do homage to the laity.
9.
Robert was demanding heavy taxes, and Ralph d'Escures fled with Serlo, Bishop of Seez, who was subjected to Robert's demands.
10.
Ralph d'Escures passed his time in England with his friends Saint Anselm and Gundulf the Bishop of Rochester.
11.
Ralph d'Escures attended the translation of Saint Cuthbert's remains at Durham, where he was one of examiners of the body, and declared the saint's remains uncorrupt.
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Ralph d'Escures was not selected solely by the king, nor solely by the bishops or chapter.
13.
Ralph d'Escures received his pallium from the pope, rather than travelling to Rome to retrieve it.
14.
Ralph d'Escures even refused to consecrate Thurstan as Archbishop of York because Thurstan would not profess obedience to the Archbishop of Canterbury, part of the Canterbury-York dispute.
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At first, Ralph d'Escures depended only on the king to demand Thurstan to submit, but later he appealed to the popes to force Thurstan to obey.
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Ralph d'Escures's refusal brought him into a dispute with the papacy, for Pope Paschal II supported Thurstan.
17.
Ralph d'Escures visited Rome in 1117, but was unable to obtain an interview with Paschal as the pope had fled the city in front of an invading imperial army.
18.
Ralph d'Escures had taken ill with an ulcer on his face during the trip to Rome and, for a time, it was feared that he would die.
19.
Ralph d'Escures recovered enough to continue on to Rome although it was a fruitless trip.
20.
The king did not insist and Ralph d'Escures won the confrontation.
21.
Ralph d'Escures was involved in ecclesiastical affairs in Normandy, as he attended the provincial synod, or Council of Rouen, held in 1118.
22.
Ralph d'Escures was still involved in decision making and, in 1120, he agreed to King Alexander I of Scotland's suggestion that Eadmer become the next Bishop of St Andrew's.
23.
Ralph d'Escures was one of the lords consulted about the remarriage of Henry I to Adeliza of Leuven at London in 1121.
24.
Ralph d'Escures successfully asserted his right to celebrate the king's new marriage, over attempts by Roger of Salisbury to officiate instead.
25.
Ralph d'Escures's nephew, John, was a clerk under Ralph, and later Ralph appointed him Archdeacon of Canterbury.
26.
Ralph d'Escures wrote a sermon for the feast of the Assumption of the Virgin and it survives in some fifty Latin manuscripts, probably because it was thought to have been written by Anselm of Canterbury, until shown to be Ralph d'Escures's in 1927.
27.
The Latin version, which Ralph d'Escures was a translation of his originally spoken French version, has been edited and published in 1997.
28.
Ralph had the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury search for documents relating to the privileges of Canterbury and had those documents copied into a manuscript which still survives, BM MS Cotton Cleopatra E His seal is one of the first to take the usual form for bishop's seals, with Ralph standing, in full vestments including a mitre, and performing a benediction with his right hand while holding his crosier in his left.