What is Lanfranc?
[[File:Lanfrancstatuecanterburycathedraloutside.jpg|thumb|right|180px|{{Center|Statue of Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, from the exterior of [[Canterbury Cathedral]]}}]] '''Lanfranc''' (1005&nbsp;{{abbr|x|sometime between}} 1010 at [[Pavia]]&nbsp;— 24 May 1089 at [[Canterbury]]) was a [[cleric]], [[teacher]] and [[jurist]] who became [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] under [[William the Conqueror]].<ref>{{lang-la|Lanfrancus}}. He is also variously known as {{nowrap|Lanfranc of Pavia}} ({{lang-it|Lanfranco di Pavia}}), {{nowrap|Lanfranc of Bec}} ({{lang-fr|Lanfranc du Bec}}), and {{nowrap|Lanfranc of Canterbury}} ({{lang-la|Lanfrancus Cantuariensis}}).</ref> This celebrated [[Italians|Italian]] [[jurist]] gave up his [[career]] to become a [[monk]] at [[Bec Abbey|Bec]] in [[Duchy of Normandy|Normandy]]. In 1070 he became the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] in [[England]]. This was the peak of an extraordinary life. == Life == Lanfranc was born in the early years of the 11th century at [[Pavia]] in [[Italy]]. His father, Hanbald, held a rank equivalent to a [[magistrate]]. He was [[orphan]]ed at an early age. Lanfranc was trained in the liberal arts. He crossed the [[Alps]], and took up the role of [[teacher]] in [[France]] and eventually in [[Normandy]]. About 1039 he became the master of the [[cathedral school]] at [[Avranches]]. He taught for three years with much success. In 1042 he gave this up to become a [[monk]] in the newly founded [[Bec Abbey]]. He became the first [[prior]] of Bec Abbey in 1045.<ref name=Potter182>Julie Potter, 'The Benefactors of Bec and the politics of priories', ''Anglo-Norman Studies XXI: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 1998'', ed. Christopher Harper-Bill (Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1999), p. 182</ref> He became a friend of [[William I of England|William, Duke of Normandy]] and by 1050 his [[counselor]].<ref name=Potter182/> Lanfranc then became the [[abbot]] of [[Abbey of Saint-Etienne, Caen|St Stephen]] in Normandy.<ref>Frank Stenton 1989. ''Anglo-Saxon England''. 3rd ed,