to hold the diocese of Winchester, of which he was the legitimate incumbent, along with the archbishopric of Canterbury. Five successive popes, Leo, Victor, Stephanus, Nicholas, and Alexander himself, had sent legates to England, who excommunicated Stigand. Stigand was therefore not able to crown William king, as was the right of the archbishop of Canterbury. Nonetheless, Stigand and William remained on good terms, until, during a visit of William to the continent in 1067, the Normans in England behaved with particular brutality. Stigand switched sides, and with Edgar the Atheling fled to safety in the camp of refuge in Ely. They were besieged by the Conqueror, and Stigand was captured. Pope Alexander's legates, as instructed, demanded the deposition of Stigand, and at a general council held at Winchester after King William's coronation, the deposition was duly voted. King William determined that he would not have his brother, Bishop Odo of Bayeux, as his new archbishop, nor would he promote his chaplain and chancellor, Herfast. He assembled a council of bishops, abbots and other notables, in order to discuss a suitable candidate for the vacant archbishopric. After this consultation, William offered the archbishopric to Lanfranc, the Abbot of the royal monastery of St. Stephen at Caen, to whom he had once offered the archbishopric of Rouen, which Lanfranc had refused. When Lanfranc also refused the see of Canterbury, the determined king sent his queen, Matilda, and his son Robert (a former pupil of Lanfranc), accompanied by a contingent of Norman nobles, to persuade him, to no avail. Abbot Herluin of Bec was called upon to exert his influence, again without result. William then ordered the papal legates to go to Normandy, and convene a council of bishops, abbots, and nobles, to prevail upon Lanfranc to accept the king's offer. Reluctantly, Lanfranc crossed to England, where he engaged in intense talks with William, who only persuaded him by invoking the recommendation which had been expressed by Pope Alexander. Lanfranc was finally elected by a council on 15 August 1070, the Feast of the Assumption, and consecrated on 29 August, the Feast of St. John the Baptist. When Lanfranc wrote to Pope Alexander and to the Archdeacon Hildebrand that they defend him against the pretensions of the archbishop of York, and that they send him the pallium as his symbol of primacy, Hildebrand wrote a letter in reply, claiming that it was not