Stigand

Stigand (stĭg`ənd), d. 1072, English prelate. He held simultaneously the sees of Winchester and Canterbury from 1052 though official recognition of this did not come until 1058 from Benedict X, an antipope. He has generally been cast as an opportunist, useful to Edward the Confessor (he negotiated the peace between Edward and Earl Godwin in 1052). Stigand welcomed William I and continued in his offices until a papal commission under Alexander II replaced him (1070) with Lanfranc.

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Stigand

(died Feb. 22, 1072) Archbishop of Canterbury (1052–70). He mediated the peace between Edward the Confessor and Earl Godwine (1052) and was made archbishop of Canterbury when the Norman archbishop fled. He was not accepted until 1058, and then only by the antipope Benedict X, after whose deposition Stigand was excommunicated by Pope Nicholas II. Stigand's continuance in office was one of the reasons for papal support of the Norman Conquest (see William I) in 1066.