The Accord of Winchester from 1072, signed by (top to bottom, left-hand column) William, Matilda, Lanfranc, Walkelin and Wulfstan, along with (top to bottom, right-hand column) Papal legate, Thomas, Remigius and Herfast. The signatures of William I and Matilda are the first two large crosses.
It originated in a dispute over primacy between Thomas, the archbishop of York, and Lanfranc, the new Norman archbishop of Canterbury, soon after the latter had taken office. The case was first heard by King William I at the old Saxon royal capital of Winchester at Easter (8 April) 1072, in the royal chapel in the castle. It was then heard at Windsor at Pentecost (27 May), where the final settlement was made, with William deciding in Lanfranc's favour, and formalised in this document.
This did not end the Canterbury-York dispute over the primacy, as it continued for a number of years after this.[1]
Signatories
When King William and Queen Matilda signed the document with crosses, it did not necessarily mean they were unused to writing, infirm or even illiterate. They and all the bishops signed with crosses, as illiterate people would later do, but they did so in accordance with current legal practice, not because they or the bishops could not write their own names.[citation needed]
It (in the CCA-DCc-ChAnt/A/2 version) was also signed by
the Archbishop of Canterbury
the Archbishop of York, who signed 'concedo' (I concede), unlike all the other signatories, who signed 'subscripso' (I subscribe)
Hubert, 'lector' of the Roman Church and papal legate of Pope Alexander II (the pope who had backed King William's invasion of England and had backed Lanfranc in the dispute)
and additionally, in the CCA-DCc-ChAnt/A/1 version, :
^Carpenter, David (2004). The Struggle for Mastery: The Penguin History of Britain 1066–1284. New York: Penguin. p. 99. ISBN0-14-014824-8.
References
Discussions of the document, with transcriptions, summaries, notes, and photographs, can be found in:
D Whitelock, M Brett and C N L Brooke (eds), Councils and Synods, vol 1, part ii (Oxford, 1981), pp. 586-607 (including, pp. 594-5, a list of versions)
T A M Bishop and P Chaplais (eds), Facsimiles of English Royal Writs to AD 1100 (Oxford, 1957), plate xxix
H W C Davis (ed), Regesta regum Anglo-Normannorum (Oxford, 1913), p17
Historical Manuscripts Commission Fifth Report (London, 1876), Appendix, p. 452
11th-century document from England dealing with the primacy of Canterbury in the English Church
