It was about the time of William the Conqueror that the Popes tried very hard to gain a footing here. Let us now follow the history of this attempt.
The Popes watched the history of the world with eager eyes. As a matter of course, then, the Pope interested himself in the attempt of William to conquer England. Normandy, you must remember, whence William came, was at that time one of the strongholds of Roman Catholicism, and the Pope perhaps thought for this reason that he had a right to interest himself in this expedition, and even to give it his protection. But William knew quite well how to get along without his help. It is not my business to trace the conquests of the Conqueror, or to speak of the good which came to England from his labours. But I want to show how he defied the Pope, when that personage demanded William's obedience, as though it had been the custom of former kings to give this, and there had been no dispute concerning it.
William was firm in having his own supremacy respected, and once he asked the Pope to aid him in demanding this. He desired, on coming to England, to get rid of many of the worthless clergy, who had no virtue in them to recommend them to their office. He was certainly a religious-minded man. The Archbishop of Canterbury was one of these men, and it was to depose him that William appealed for the help of the Pope. In reply to this supplication, a papal legate was sent to England, with the commission to hold a Council to consider the subject. A papal legate had not been seen in England since the time of Ofa, king of Mercia, three hundred years before. The Council was held
