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Year 10
AQA

Lanfranc's reforms

I can describe the most important reforms carried out by Lanfranc.

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New
New
Year 10
AQA

Lanfranc's reforms

I can describe the most important reforms carried out by Lanfranc.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Stigand was deposed and Lanfranc introduced as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070.
  2. Lanfranc's reforms aimed to reduce corruption, and to modernise and re-organise the English Church.
  3. Lanfranc secured primacy for Canterbury over the English Church.
  4. Lanfranc's reforms involved the replacement of Anglo-Saxon prelates with Normans.
  5. Lanfranc's reforms included the separation of Church cases from secular courts.

Common misconception

Lanfranc's reforms introduced new concepts like celibacy for monks, Benedictine rules for monasteries and separate courts for the Church (or even archdeacons).

All these were already present in Anglo-Saxon England - monasteries had been following the laws of St Benedict for centuries, for example - but Lanfranc revitalised them, ensured that they were carried out and repurposed them to boost Norman control.

Keywords

  • Pluralist - someone who holds more than one position within the Church

  • Clergy - members of the Church who have been ordained, which means they are permitted to carry out religious services

  • Primacy - the state of being most important

  • Diocese - an area under the control of a bishop

Give students examples of what Church law (canon law) covered to help them understand the separation between secular and Church courts - for example, divorces and annulments, excommunication, cases concerning simony, laws about appointments of prelates.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which word describes a system in which people are put at various levels or ranks according to their importance?
Correct Answer: hierarchy, Hierarchy
Q2.
Which word describes a title given to a person who has received an official honour from the Pope for having lived in a good and holy way?
Correct Answer: saint
Q3.
Put the following positions in the Anglo-Saxon Church hierarchy in order of importance, starting with the most important first.
1 - archbishops
2 - bishops and abbots
3 - priests, monks and nuns
Q4.
Why was monasticism so important in England?
Correct answer: Monasteries produced manuscripts.
Correct answer: Monasteries and nunneries provided education.
Nunneries cooked and cleaned for the monarch.
Correct answer: Monasteries and nunneries cared for the sick.
Monasteries did the gardening for the nobility.
Q5.
What local practices did the Anglo-Saxon Church observe?
Correct answer: some prayers often used Old English
all religious services were conducted in Latin
Correct answer: veneration of local saints
removed shrines such as St Swithin
Q6.
Match the words to their correct definitions.
Correct Answer:pluralism,the act of holding more than one position within the Church

the act of holding more than one position within the Church

Correct Answer:nepotism,important posts going to people because of close relationships

important posts going to people because of close relationships

Correct Answer:simony,important posts being sold to wealthy men instead of deserving men

important posts being sold to wealthy men instead of deserving men

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Stigand was replaced as Archbishop of Canterbury by...
Correct Answer: Lanfranc, lanfranc
Q2.
What practice was banned at the Council of Winchester in 1170?
simony
pluralism
Correct answer: clerical marriage
monasticism
Q3.
Which statement describes the relationship between the Archbishops of York and Canterbury after 1070?
Correct answer: Canterbury became more important than York.
They remained of equal importance.
York became more important than Canterbury.
Q4.
In 1072 were introduced in dioceses.
Correct Answer: archdeacons, Archdeacons, arch deacons, Arch deacons
Q5.
Which statement is correct?
William I allowed many Anglo-Saxon prelates to remain in their positions.
Correct answer: William I allowed hardly any Anglo-Saxon prelates to remain in their positions.
William I replaced every single Anglo-Saxon prelate with Normans.
Q6.
As part of William's reforms to the Church, he ruled that all legal cases involving clergy should be heard in __________ courts.
Correct answer: Church
manor
hundred
royal

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