Page "William de Corbeil" Paragraph 7

On 2 February or 4 February 1123, William was chosen from among four candidates to the see of Canterbury ; the names of the three unsuccessful candidates are unknown.

He appears to have been a compromise candidate, as he was at least a canon, if not the monk that the chapter had sought.

William was the first Augustinian canon to become an archbishop in England, a striking break with the tradition that had favoured monks in the see of Canterbury.

Although most contemporaries would not have considered there to be much of a distinction between monks and canons, William's election still occasioned some trepidation among the monks of the Canterbury chapter, who were " alarmed at the appointment, since he was a clerk ".