It was time to choose a new Archbishop of Canterbury to lead the church in England. King Henry II supported Baldwin of Forde (1125-1190) for the position while neighboring monks put forward three other rival candidates. The bishops assigned to the job of electing a new archbishop sided with the king in 1184 AD and chose Baldwin. If you’re already suspicious of how this drama will play out, you’re onto something!
Monastic life in 12th-century England had become relatively lax and luxurious. Baldwin wanted to recover the earlier spiritual rigors of monastic life and attempted to impose stricter control on local monasteries. The conflict escalated when Baldwin dispossessed the monks of revenue generated by the monasteries. Things turned ugly when he attempted to establish a collegiate chapel staffed by priests rather than monks. The papacy in Rome sided with the monks, while the king backed the archbishop. The conflict escalated as hundreds of letters were exchanged between competing factions and a resulting fifteen-year legal dispute. It’s challenging to sort out, as are many of the conflicts that plague churches. Even minor disputes, fueled by anxiety, can erupt into big arguments. The more intense the conflict, the more irrational the dispute becomes. Perhaps you have witnessed or been negatively impacted by church strife. It’s instructive that Jesus prayed for unity among his followers before he endured the cross (John 17). While Baldwin is not without fault in this twelfth century church feud, his prayer is spot on: