Archbishop of York

Thurstan won the king’s favour and in August 1114 Henry appointed him Archbishop of York. This was despite the fact that Thurstan was only a sub-deacon at the time and had not yet been ordained as a priest.

The Archbishop of York was one of the most important churchmen in medieval England. Not only did he rule an enormous diocese spanning Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and much of Lancashire, but his authority as archbishop extended across the whole of northern England and, as was claimed by early archbishops of York, into Scotland.

For many years successive archbishops of York and Canterbury – the only two archbishops in England – had disputed which of them should have seniority over the other. When Thurstan refused to profess obedience to his colleague at Canterbury – and therefore to be consecrated archbishop by him, in case the issue of primacy arose – the resulting standoff dominated the first five years of his new role. He spent much of this time abroad, and it was only in October 1119 that he was consecrated as Archbishop of York by Pope Calixtus II, the ultimate authority in the western Church.

Henry I, who had forbidden him to seek consecration by the pope, was at first enraged. However, Thurstan’s diplomatic skills and connections at the French court soon proved useful: early in 1121 he was formally recalled to England.

Soon after, Thurstan finally entered his cathedral in York as its consecrated archbishop. The dispute with Canterbury, however, lingered for another six years, before an uneasy truce eventually prevailed.

Monastic reformer

As a young man, Thurstan visited the great monastery at Cluny in central France, making a vow to one day become a Cluniac monk himself. He used his tenure as archbishop to promote monasticism across northern England. Thurstan personally founded a nunnery of St Clement’s, just outside the walls of York, which was the first nunnery to be founded in the north after the Conquest. The foundation of Fountains Abbey (North Yorkshire) in late 1132 was also his work.

The archbishop also took a leading role in the foundation of numerous other monasteries, encouraging leading nobles to support them with generous gifts of land and money. His involvement is explicitly mentioned in the foundation charters of several monasteries, including Rievaulx (North Yorkshire), the first Cistercian monastery to be founded in northern England, and Gisborough Priory (North Yorkshire), an Augustinian house. Thurstan also supported the monks who went on to found Byland (North Yorkshire), another Cistercian monastery, and the Augustinian priory at Kirkham (North Yorkshire).

Hermits and holy men also found a friend and advocate in Thurstan, not least Godric of Finchale (County Durham).

Saint Thurstan

It has generally been accepted by modern scholars that Thurstan’s cult never became established. But new evidence suggests that the monks at Pontefract did indeed regard Thurstan as a saint.

The calendar of saints’ feast days in a 15th-century liturgical manuscript from Pontefract has an entry for 6 February (the anniversary of Thurstan’s death) which reads (translated from the Latin), ‘Death of St Thurstan, archbishop of York, 1140’. It is written in red ink, a colour typically associated with high status and important holy days. This is unambiguous evidence that the monks of 15th-century Pontefract regarded Thurstan as a saint.

It is possible that the monks were especially eager to sustain memory of the holy archbishop because Pontefract Priory was an important pilgrimage destination at this time. In 1327, Thomas, Earl of Lancaster, who had been executed nearby, was buried at the priory. His remains almost immediately became the focus of a popular cult: pilgrims flocked to Pontefract in search of miracles. Although Thomas’s veneration was never formally approved by the pope, he became the most important ‘political’ saint in late medieval England.

Prayers were said in Thurstan’s memory in London and his native Normandy, although there is no evidence that his saintly cult extended beyond Pontefract. However, like many of the holy abbots and hermits he supported, there can now be no doubt that Thurstan was counted among the saints, or to use the medieval term, ‘the holy company of heaven’.

By Michael Carter

Top image: Detail of the 20th-century statue of Thurstan on the choir screen at Ripon Cathedral
© Kevin George/Alamy Stock Photo