Stigand

Stigand (died 1072) is an English churchman in pre-Norman Conquest England.

His birth date is unknown, but by 1020 he is serving as a royal chaplain and advisor.

He is named Bishop of Elmham in 1043, an is later Bishop of Winchester and Archbishop of Canterbury.

Stigand is as an advisor to several members of the Anglo-Saxon and Norman English royal dynasties, serving six successive kings.

Excommunicated by several popes for his pluralism in holding the two sees, or bishoprics, of Winchester and Canterbury concurrently, he is finally deposed in 1070, and his estates and personal wealth are confiscated by William the Conqueror.

Stigand is imprisoned at Winchester, where he dies without regaining his liberty.

Stigand serves King Cnut as a chaplain at a royal foundation at Ashingdon in 1020, and as an advisor then and later.

He continues in his role of advisor during the reigns of Cnut's sons, Harold Harefoot and Harthacnut.

When Cnut's stepson Edward the Confessor succeeds Harthacnut, Stigand in all probability becomes England's main administrator.

Monastic writers of the time accuse Stigand of extorting money and lands from the church, and by 1066 the only estates richer than Stigand's are the royal estates and those of Harold Godwinson.

In 1043, Edward appoints Stigand to the see of Elmham.

Four years later, in 1047, he is appointed to the see of Winchester and then in 1052 to the archdiocese of Canterbury, which Stigand holds jointly with that of Winchester.

Five successive popes, including Nicholas II and Alexander II, excommunicate Stigand for holding both Winchester and Canterbury.

Stigand is present at the deathbed of King Edward and at the coronation of Harold Godwinson as king of England in 1066.

After Harold's death, Stigand submits to William the Conqueror.

On Christmas Day 1066, Ealdred, the Archbishop of York, crowns William King of England.

Stigand's excommunication means that he can only assist at the coronation.

Despite growing pressure for his deposition, Stigand continues to attend the royal court and to consecrate bishops, until in 1070 he is deposed by papal legates and imprisoned at Winchester.

His intransigence towards the papacy is used as propaganda by Norman advocates of the view that the English church is backward and needs reform.

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