Rockingham, Council of

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Rockingham, Council of, 1095. This was an important episode in the medieval relations of church and state. Anselm had become archbishop of Canterbury in 1093 at a time when there were rival popes, Urban II and Clement III. He asked William Rufus for permission to seek the pallium from Urban, and was refused. On 25 February 1095 a council at Rockingham attempted to resolve the question of divided allegiance and urged Anselm to conform to the royal will. Though the conflict was compromised and Rufus recognized Urban, the pope refused to depose Anselm. The archbishop spent the years 1097 to 1100 abroad, returning only after Rufus' sudden death. But his relations with Rufus' successor Henry I were also difficult.

J. A. Cannon