TEOBALDO, Archbishop of Canterbury. – Abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Bec in 1136, in 1138 he was elected Archbishop of the see of Canterbury, succeeding LANFRANC and ANSELM. He was consecrated on 8 January 1139 and died on 18 April 1161.
He supported the Empress MATILDA in all things, and later HENRY PLANTAGENET, whom he crowned on 19 December 1154 at Westminster. As Archbishop, he vigorously defended the prerogatives of his Church and promoted the study of canon law and jurisprudence. He maintained a palace school at his residence, which was attended even by ST THOMAS BECKET, Chancellor of England and his successor in the primatial see.
BIBL.: PL 150, 734; Ph. Schmitz, Hist. de l'Ordre de St Benoît, I, Maredsous 1942, p. 192, III, 1946, p. 122 (bibl.); Enrico Tribout de Morembart.