19 JUNE 1926, Page 27

LANFRANG : A Study of His Life, Work and Writing.

By A. J. Macdonald. (Oxford University Press. 12s. 6d. net..)

It is curious that Mr. Macdonald's scholarly memoir of the first Norman Archbishop of Canterbury should be the only English book as yet devoted to Lanfranc. For the English Church owes much to the shrewd Lombard whO, after gaining a reputation as a laWyer at Pai;iti; forsbok the world to become a monk at Bee and-thence rose to be Abbot Of William's iiew foundation Of St. Etienne_ at Caen. Mr. Macdonald devotes much • attention to the controversy between York and Canterbury: and prOve.4, we think conclusively: that Lan franc did not use forged documents to - support the case for Canterbury's pre-eminence.