Theobald of Bec (c. 1090 – 18 April 1161) was a Norman archbishop of Canterbury from 1139 to 1161. His exact birth date is unknown. Some time in the late 11th or early 12th century Theobald became a monk at the Abbey of Bec, rising to the position of abbot in 1137. King Stephen of England chose him to be Archbishop of Canterbury in 1138. Canterbury's claim to primacy over the Welsh ecclesiastics was resolved during Theobald's term of office when Pope Eugene III decided in 1148 in Canterbury's favour. Theobald faced challenges to his authority from a subordinate bishop, Henry of Blois, Bishop of Winchester and King Stephen's younger brother, and his relationship with King Stephen was turbulent. On one occasion, Stephen forbade him from attending a papal council, but Theobald defied the king, which resulted in the confiscation of his property and temporary exile. Theobald's relations with his cathedral clergy and the monastic houses in his archdiocese were also difficult.
Serving during the disorders of Stephen's reign, Theobald succeeded in forcing peace on the king by refusing to consecrate Stephen's son and heir, Eustace. After Eustace's death in 1153, Stephen recognised his rival Henry of Anjou as his heir, and later, Theobald was named regent of the kingdom after Stephen's death. After a long illness, Theobald died in 1161, following which unsuccessful efforts were made to have him canonised as a saint.
Theobald was the patron of his successor Thomas Becket, and a number of other future bishops and archbishops served as his clerks. During his time as archbishop, Theobald augmented the rights of his see, or bishopric. Historians of his time and later were divided on his character, and he is often overlooked in the historical record, mainly because of the fame of his successor.
Theobald's family was from the area around Thierville near Le Bec-Hellouin, in the Risle River valley. The modern historian Frank Barlow speculates that Theobald may have been a distant relative of his successor as archbishop, Thomas Becket, as Becket's family came from the same part of Normandy. The exact date of Theobald's birth is unknown; the only clue to his age is that when he died in 1161 contemporaries considered him an old man, suggesting a birth date of perhaps around 1090 to one modern historian. His father was supposedly a knight, but no contemporary reference gives his name. His brother Walter also became a priest, and later a bishop.
Theobald entered the Abbey of Bec in Normandy as a Benedictine monk in the late 11th or early 12th century, while William was the third abbot. But as William was abbot from 1096 to 1124, that leaves a wide range of possible entry dates. Theobald was the 266th monk admitted under William, out of 346. The historian Avrom Saltman suggests that, if admissions were spaced regularly throughout William's abbacy, Theobald would have become a monk in about 1117, but qualifies his estimate with the statement that 1117 "seems to be rather late".
In 1127, Theobald was made prior of Bec, after Boso succeeded William as abbot. Theobald became abbot in 1137, following Boso's death in June 1136. The monks of Bec unanimously elected him to be their new abbot without first consulting the Archbishop of Rouen, Hugh de Boves, who consequently threatened to void the result. Audoen, the Bishop of Evreux, and brother of Thurstan, the Archbishop of York, intervened with Hugh and persuaded him to ratify the election. Another problem then arose when Hugh demanded a written profession of obedience from Theobald, which Theobald refused to provide; no previous abbot had made such a profession. Theobald resisted for 14 months before a compromise was reached through the intercession of Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny, allowing Theobald to give a verbal profession to Hugh.
No documents survive from Theobald's tenure as abbot, nor is there any information on the administration of the monastery during his period of office, except that 47 monks were admitted to Bec while he was abbot. Theobald travelled to England on business for his abbey at least once during his abbacy to supervise the monastery's lands there, a trip that took place shortly before his selection as the new Archbishop of Canterbury in 1138.
In 1138, King Stephen chose Theobald to fill the vacant archbishopric of Canterbury over Stephen's own brother, Henry, the Bishop of Winchester, who had helped Stephen gain the throne of England. Stephen feared that Henry would be too powerful as archbishop and would attempt to control the king. The election took place on 24 December; Stephen was present with the papal legate, Alberic of Ostia, and a small group of barons and bishops, but Henry was absent, overseeing the ordination of deacons. Most historians consider that Stephen arranged the election's timing to ensure Henry's absence. Henry believed that Theobald had been elected not only because of Stephen's concerns but also because Waleran of Meulan, the lay patron of Bec, was attempting to put his own man in one of the most powerful positions in England. Waleran and his twin brother Robert, Earl of Leicester were Henry's chief rivals for Stephen's favour, and Henry disliked both of them intensely. Although Theobald was pious and well-educated, he had only become abbot the year before, and his election was probably influenced by the reputation of his monastery, which had already produced two archbishops of Canterbury, Lanfranc and Anselm. Theobald had no important family connections to advance his career, and few clerical allies.
Theobald was consecrated on 8 January 1139 by the legate, Alberic of Ostia. He went to Rome for his pallium and took part in the Second Lateran Council. As archbishop his behaviour was less political in comparison to that of his main rival, Henry of Blois. Henry was appointed a papal legate on 1 March 1139, which meant that Henry could now call church councils in England and had power equal to or exceeding that of Theobald. Theobald swore fealty to Stephen upon his election to Canterbury, recognising Stephen as the king of England.
Soon after his election Theobald selected his brother Walter to be archdeacon of Canterbury, and in 1148 promoted him to be Bishop of Rochester. Theobald attended the council held by Stephen in June 1139 that deprived Roger of Salisbury, Bishop of Salisbury, and his nephews Nigel, Bishop of Ely, and Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln, of their castles. According to most historians, Theobald took little part in the controversy that followed the council, which eventually ended with Roger's death in 1139 and Nigel and Alexander's restoration to favour. Recently, however, that view has been challenged by two historians who argue that Theobald took a more active role in the council. They base their view on a Vita, or Life of the 12th-century mystic Christina of Markyate, which narrates the events and gives a more central role to Theobald, instead of Henry of Blois, in challenging Stephen's arrest of the three bishops.
Theobald's actions in the next few years are intertwined with the history of Stephen's ascension to the throne. Following King Henry I's death in 1135 the succession was disputed between the king's nephews—Stephen and his elder brother, Theobald II, Count of Champagne—and Henry's surviving legitimate child Matilda, usually known as the Empress Matilda because of her first marriage to the German Emperor, Henry V. King Henry's only legitimate son, William, had died in 1120. After Matilda was widowed in 1125, she returned to her father, who married her to Geoffrey, Count of Anjou. All the magnates of England and Normandy were required to declare fealty to Matilda as Henry's heir, but when Henry I died, Stephen rushed to England and had himself crowned before either Theobald II or Matilda could react. The Norman barons accepted Stephen as Duke of Normandy, and Theobald II contented himself with his possessions in France. But Matilda was not resigned to the loss, and secured the support of the Scottish king, David, her maternal uncle, and in 1138 the support of her half-brother, Robert, Earl of Gloucester, an illegitimate son of Henry I.