THE HISTORY OF THE SEE.
The history of the See of Canterbury may be said to have begun with the
coming of Augustine, for there can be no doubt that it is owing to its
being the settling-place of the first messengers of the gospel in Saxon
England that Canterbury has been the metropolis of the English Church.
Pope Gregory, with his usual thoroughness, sent to Augustine, soon after
his arrival here, an elaborate scheme for the division of our island
into sees, which were to be gradually developed as Christianity spread.
According to his arrangement, there were to be two archbishops, one at
London and one at York. But we cannot regret that this scheme was not
carried out, as an archiepiscopal see is much more picturesquely framed by
the hills which encircle Canterbury than it could have been by the dingy
vastness of the political and social capital.
#Augustine# reached England in 597, and found that his path had been made
easy by the fact that Bertha, wife of Ethelbert, King of Kent, was a
Christian. He soon effected the conversion of the king himself, and his
labours were so rapidly successful that at Christmas, 597, no less than
ten thousand Saxons were baptized at the mouth of the Medway. The
archiepiscopal pall, and a papal Bull, creating Augustine first English
archbishop, were duly sent from Rome, and the royal palace in Canterbury,
with an old church--Roman or British--close by, were handed over to him by
Ethelbert. The first archbishop died in 605, and was buried, according to
the old Roman custom, by the side of the high road which had brought him
to Canterbury. A few years later, however, his remains were transferred to
the Abbey of SS. Peter and Paul, which had then just been completed.
Augustine was succeeded by one of the monks who had originally come with
him from Rome. The new archbishop's name was #Lawrence#; he had been
already consecrated by Augustine in his lifetime. This unusual measure was
thought to be necessary, as the Church had hardly yet established itself in
a strong position. Indeed, so weak was its hold over its rapidly acquired
converts, that when Ethelbert's son, who succeeded his father in 616,
backslid into the path of heathendom, the great majority of the people
followed the royal example, and Lawrence, together with the Bishops of
London and Rochester, prepared to leave England altogether, as a country
hopelessly abandoned to paganism. However, the archbishop determined to
make one more attempt to maintain his position, and succeeded in
terrifying the king, by a pretended miracle, into becoming a Christian. He
then recalled the two bishops who had already crossed to France, and on
his death, in 619, was succeeded by the Bishop of London, #Mellitus#.
Mellitus only held the Primacy till 624, when his place was filled by
#Justin#, who also had a brief archiepiscopal life, being succeeded in 627
by #Honorius#. This archbishop held the see for twenty-six years, till 653,
and it was not until 655 that his successor was appointed.
So far the archbishops had all been foreigners who had come over either
with Augustine or with the second company of missionaries who were
despatched by Gregory soon after Ethelbert's conversion. In 655, however,
a native Englishman, named Frithona, was consecrated by the Saxon Bishop
of Rochester, and adopted the name of #Deus Dedit#. He ruled at Canterbury
till 664, and after his death the see remained vacant for four years,
probably owing to the plague which was then wasting all Europe, and caused
the death of Wighard, a Saxon, who had started for Rome to receive his
consecration there. But in 668, #Theodore#, a native of Tarsus in Cecilia,
was appointed, and was welcomed by the members of the torn and divided
English Church. He devoted all his energy to centralizing and
consolidating the power of the archbishop, which had been hitherto largely
nominal. He journeyed all over England, correcting the prevalent laxity of
discipline and establishing the control of the metropolitan authority. He
went so far as to interfere with the Archbishopric of York, and with the
help of the king attempted to divide it into three sees. He was,
moreover, an enthusiastic scholar, and first diffused the study of Greek
in England. He had brought a copy of Homer with him, and is said to have
established a school of Greek in Canterbury. He died in 690, and after his
death there was no archbishop for three years. In 693, one #Brethwald#, an
English monk, some time Abbot of Reculver, was appointed to the see. The
Saxon Church shows that it had benefited by Theodore's rigorous
discipline, in that it was henceforth able to supply its own archbishops;
it had now securely established itself all over the country, and the last
home of paganism, which, curiously enough, held its own longest in Sussex,
had been finally converted in Theodore's time. Brethwald ruled till 731,
and was followed by #Tatwin# (731-734) and #Nothelm# (734-740). In 740
#Cuthbert# became archbishop. He seems to have been an interesting
personage with a good deal of zeal for reform; he is recorded to have
assembled a synod at Cliff to discuss measures for the improvement of the
lives and behaviour both of clergy and laity. Probably at his instigation
the synod ordained that the Lord's Prayer and the Creed should be taught in
the vulgar tongue; he was the first archbishop buried in the cathedral. He
was succeeded by #Bregwin#, who held the see from 759 to 765. He was an
exception among the series of English primates, being of German origin.
During the rule of the next archbishop, #Jaenbert#, an attempt was made
to transfer the primacy from Canterbury. Offa, the King of Mercia, had
established himself in a position of commanding power, and wishing that
the seat of the chief ecclesiastical authority should be within his own
dominion, obtained a Bull from Pope Adrian I. by which an Archbishop of
Lichfield was created, with a larger see than that of Canterbury. Jaenbert
seems to have acquiesced, though doubtless most unwillingly, in this
arrangement, but in spite of the central situation of Lichfield, the
traditional claims of Canterbury were too strong, and Adulf was the first
and last Archbishop of Lichfield. #Athelard#, who succeeded Jaenbert in
790, had the primacy restored to him. The Northmen began their raids on the
English coasts at this time, and their ravages probably continued through
the days of his successors, #Wulfred#, #Feologild#, #Ceolnoth#, and
#Ethelred# (805-889).
In 889 the learned #Plegmund#, formerly tutor of Alfred, was by his quondam
pupil's influence made Archbishop of Canterbury. It was during his time
that the sees of Wells for Somerset and Crediton for Devonshire were
established.
#Athelm# (914-923).
#Wulfhelm# (923-942).
#Odo# (942-959), called "the severe," was born a pagan Dane of East
Anglia, but having been received into a noble Saxon family, was duly
baptized into the faith. He was appointed to the Wiltshire bishopric by
Athelstane, and combined in his person the characters of the warlike Dane
and the Christian churchman. Like his successor Dunstan, Odo made his
chief objects in life the maintenance of the Church's supremacy and the
reformation of the married clergy. He bore his archbishopric with much
pomp and dignity through the reigns of Edmund, Edred, and Edwy. He was
responsible for Dunstan's conduct on the occasion of King Edwy's
coronation, though it is not known how far he sanctioned the cruelties
subsequently practised on Elgiva. Odo reconstructed and enlarged the
cathedral.
His immediate successor was #Elsi#, Bishop of Winchester, but this
archbishop died while on his way to Rome to receive his pall from the
Pope.
#Dunstan# (960-988), the next archbishop, continued Odo's crusade against
the married clergy, which he conducted relentlessly. In many cases the
secular clergy were turned out of their livings to make room for members
of the regular monkish orders. Even with these harsh measures and the
employment of miracles the archbishop does not seem to have succeeded in
enforcing celibacy among the clergy. Dunstan was born in Somersetshire of
noble parents, and educated at the Abbey of Glastonbury. He became abbot
of that place, and Bishop of Worcester and London. At the coronation of
Edwy he intruded himself into the king's presence, and was afterwards
obliged to retire to Ghent. He held the See of Canterbury for twenty-seven
years, and on his death was buried in the cathedral, where countless
miracles are said to have been worked at his tomb.
#Ethelgar# (988-989).
#Siricius# (990-994).
#AElfric# (995-1005).
#Alphege# (1005-1012), Prior of Glastonbury, migrated thence to Bath, where
he founded the great abbey, afterwards united to the See of Wells. After
holding the See of Winchester for twenty-two years, he was translated to
Canterbury. When in 1011 Canterbury was sacked by the Danes, he was
carried off a prisoner, and on his refusal to ransom himself, was
barbarously murdered by his captors. His body was ransomed by the people
of London and buried at St. Paul's Cathedral, whence it was removed to
Canterbury by Canute. Subsequently, in the time of Lanfranc, he was
canonized.
#Living# (1013-1020) also suffered much from the Danes, who from this time
continued their incursions until the reign of Canute.
#Egelnoth# (1020-1038) is described as the first dean of the Canterbury
canons who seem to have acquired an ascendancy over the monks ever since
the massacre of the latter by the Danes in 1011. He restored the cathedral
after the damages inflicted by the invaders.
#Eadsi# (1038-1050).
#Robert of Jumieges# (1051-1052) was one of the many Normans who were
brought over into England by King Edward the Confessor; he took an active
part in the king's quarrel with the great Earl Godwin, and in the reaction
which followed against the Normans retired to Jumieges, where he remained
till his death.
#Stigand# (1052-1070), Bishop of Winchester, held this see conjointly with
that of Canterbury. He was remarkable for his avarice. His espousal of the
cause of Edgar the Atheling led the Conqueror to regard him with
suspicion. William took the archbishop with him when he returned into
Normandy, and eventually dispossessed him, along with some other bishops
and abbots, at a synod held at Winchester in the year 1070. Stigand was
imprisoned at Winchester, where he eventually died, resisting to the last
the attempts made by the king to elicit information as to the whereabouts
of the vast treasures which he had accumulated and hidden.
#Lanfranc# (1070-1089) was the first Norman Archbishop of Canterbury. He
was born at Pavia, and educated at the monastery of Bec, in Normandy, then
the most remarkable seat of learning existing in Europe. His conspicuous
abilities raised him to the position of prior of the monastery. He was
subsequently abbot of the new monastery which William of Normandy founded
at Caen, and on the deposition of Stigand was called over by that king to
complete the subjection and reform of the Anglo-Saxon Church, which task
he undertook with much zeal and not a little high-handed procedure. He
assisted the king in the removal of the Saxon bishops and the substitution
of Normans in their places, as also in the reformation of the great
English monasteries which appear to have fallen into considerable
disorder. Lanfranc's character was remarkable for its firmness, and
brought him into frequent collision with the imperious temper of his
royal master. On one occasion Lanfranc insisted on the restoration of
twenty-five manors which belonged to the archiepiscopal see, and which
had been appropriated by Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, William's half-brother.
William, however, continued to honour his able servant, and during the
king's absence in Normandy, Lanfranc held the office of chief justiciary
and vice-regent within the realm, and maintained his independent attitude
against all the world, refusing to go to Rome at the summons of the pope.
Lanfranc crowned William II., and as long as he lived did much to moderate
that monarch's rapacious attacks on the wealth of the Church. He rebuilt
the cathedral which had fallen into ruin, and founded the great monastery
of Christ Church. He was the author of a celebrated treatise in refutation
of the doctrine of Berengarius of Tours, on the subject of the Real
Presence, and was present at the council held in Rome by Leo IX., in which
Berengarius was condemned. He lies buried in the nave of his cathedral,
but the exact spot is not known.
#Anselm# (1093-1109) was born at Aosta, and studied under Lanfranc at Bec,
when he succeeded him as Prior of the Convent, and subsequently became
abbot. He visited England on the invitation of Hugh the Fat, Earl of
Chester, and while there was called in by the king and made Archbishop of
Canterbury. Rufus had kept the see vacant, and appropriated the revenues
of this and many other Church properties, and was only induced by the fear
of impending death to appoint Anselm to the see. Anselm was with
difficulty persuaded to accept the post, but from that hour posed as the
firm champion of the rights of the Church, and the opponent and denouncer
of the king's exactions and the general immorality of the times. He
refused to receive his pall at the hands of the king, but eventually
agreed to take it himself from the high altar of the cathedral at
Canterbury. Though deserted by his bishops he held his own against the
king until an accusation of failing in his duty to supply troops for the
king's Welsh expedition drove him into exile and he made his way to Rome,
when his learning created much sensation and was enlisted against the
errors of the Greek Church on the subject of the procession of the Holy
Ghost. On his accession to the throne, Henry I., as part of his reversal
of his brother's ecclesiastical policy recalled Anselm from banishment and
filled up the vacant see. But Anselm remained firm on the subject of the
rights of the church in the matter of the investiture of the clergy, and
refused to consecrate the bishops who had received their investiture from
the king, or to do homage or swear fealty to Henry. The king, on his side,
was determined to uphold the rights of the crown and the matter was
referred to the pope. Anselm had to visit Rome in person, and meeting with
but lukewarm support from the pope agreed at last to a compromise, at Bec,
in 1106, by which the king surrendered the symbols of the ring and
crozier, while retaining his right to the oaths of fealty and homage.
Anselm returned to England and spent the last two years of his life in
comparative repose: he died at Canterbury, and was buried near Lanfranc,
but his remains were afterwards removed to the tower that bears his name.
After his death the see was again vacant for five years, and was managed
by Ralf, Bishop of Rochester, who was however made archbishop later; he
was a disciple of Lanfranc, but as an archbishop was unimportant.
#William de Corbeuil# (1123-1136) was the first archbishop who received the
title of Papal Legate. He crowned King Stephen after solemnly swearing to
support the cause of Matilda, and is said to have died of remorse for his
conduct in the matter. He completed the restoration of the cathedral and
dedicated it with much pomp and display.
#Theobald# (1139-1161), the next archbishop, had been Abbot of Bec, and was
a Benedictine. His importance as archbishop was much overshadowed by Henry
of Blois, Bishop of Winchester, and brother of King Stephen. The pope
granted him the title of "Legatus natus," which was retained by his
successors until the Reformation. The life of this prelate was one of
varying fortunes, and he was twice in exile. He eventually, along with
Henry of Blois, took an important part in the final compromise which was
effected between the factions of Stephen and Matilda. On his death the
see remained vacant for more than a year.
#Thomas Becket# (1162-1170) was the son of a London merchant, and was
educated among the Augustinian canons of Merton, in Surrey. He came
under the patronage of Archbishop Theobald whom he accompanied when the
latter visited Rome. While still only a deacon Becket received many
ecclesiastical benefices, including the Archdeaconry of Canterbury. About
1155 he was appointed Chancellor, through the influence of Theobald, and
thenceforward, until he became archbishop enjoyed the most intimate
friendship and confidence of King Henry II. His magnificence and authority
during this period of his career exceeded that of the most powerful
nobles, and created much sensation in France whither he was dispatched to
demand the hand of the Princess Margaret for the king's infant son. When
offered the Archbishopric of Canterbury he is said to have warned the king
that his acceptance of the office would entail his devotion to God and his
order in preference to the interests of the king. He was however persuaded
to accept the primacy, and after being duly ordained priest was
consecrated archbishop by Henry of Blois, the Bishop of Winchester.
From this moment onwards the entire character and attitude of Becket was
changed. He gave up his old pomp and magnificence and devoted himself to
monastic severity and works of charity: he furthermore insisted on
resigning his temporal offices, including that of chancellor, and engaged
on his lifelong struggle with the king on the subject of the privileges of
the clergy.
Since the separation of the bishops from the secular courts by the
Conqueror, a gross system of abuse had arisen under which all persons who
could read and write could claim exemption from the jurisdiction of the
ordinary secular courts, and insist on being tried only before their own
ecclesiastical tribunal. The spiritual courts could inflict no corporal
punishment, and the result was that many guilty persons escaped punishment
at their hands, and the benefit of clergy came to mean a practical licence
to commit crimes. This was naturally in radical opposition to the judicial
policy of Henry II., and matters were brought to a climax by the
scandalous case of Philip Brois, a murderer, whom Becket rescued from the
king's justice and condemned to a totally inadequate sentence. The king
determined to clear the question of all doubt, and to this end drew up
the famous constitutions of Clarendon in which the clergy was subjected
equally with the laity to the common laws of the land. The archbishop took
the oath, but refused to sign the constitution, as he insisted on the
immunity of the clergy from all secular jurisdiction. On retiring from the
council he sought and obtained absolution from his oath at the hands of
the pope--Alexander III.--who, insecure in his own position, and unable
to dispense with the friendship of the King of England, maintained a
vacillating attitude in the quarrel between Becket and Henry. The king
now began a systematic persecution of the archbishop. He was pressed with
various charges, and finally was ordered to account for the moneys which
he had received from the vacant See of Canterbury and other ecclesiastical
properties in his capacity as Chancellor. There seems small reason to
doubt that the charge was an unjust one, and was merely employed by the
king as an instrument of offence against his political adversary. The
archbishop came before the council in all the pomp and panoply of his
office, and bearing his own cross, as he had been deserted by most of his
bishops. After an exciting scene he escaped before any definite judgment
was pronounced, and took refuge in France, where he was hospitably and
honourably received by King Louis VII. Here he continued his struggle
with the King of England. Henry seized upon the revenues of the See of
Canterbury, and banished all Becket's kinsmen, dependants, and friends.
Becket replied by solemnly denouncing the constitution of Clarendon, and
excommunicating all who should enforce them. After further contentions
and fruitless negotiations Henry issued a proclamation withdrawing his
subjects' obedience to the archbishop, enforced by an oath from all
freemen. This oath many of the bishops refused to take. The pope, under
temporary pressure from Becket's enemies, authorized the Archbishop of
York to crown the young prince Henry: and the supremacy of the See of
Canterbury over all England, being thus called in question, became
thenceforward one of the principal subjects of dispute between Becket and
the king. The action of the king was unpopular, and Henry, seeing that he
had gone too far, consented to enter on some sort of reconciliation with
Becket, who ventured to return to England. In spite of the manifest
danger in which he found himself, Becket, on his return to England,
continued his high-handed policy, excommunicating the Archbishop of York
and others of his enemies. On hearing of this conduct Henry's fury got the
better of him, and his famous exclamation led to the departure of the four
knights to Canterbury. They demanded the immediate removal of the
excommunication. Becket was hurried into the cathedral by the monks and
murdered at the altar.
On his death he was immediately canonized, and many miracles occurred at
his tomb. Henry himself was ordered to do penance for his death. The fame
of his shrine brought countless pilgrims to Canterbury, which was thus for
the first time raised to a position of importance throughout the whole of
Europe.
#Richard# (1174-1184), Prior of Dover, was the next archbishop: he had been
present at Becket's murder and helped to convey his body to the crypt. He
was somewhat indifferent to spiritual matters, and was chiefly occupied in
supporting the supremacy of the See of Canterbury over that of York, a
question which led to at least one scene of unseemly disturbance in which
the Archbishop of York nearly lost his life. One result of the quarrel was
the conferring of the title of "Primate of England," and "Primate of all
England," on the Archbishops of York and Canterbury respectively, by the
pope.
#Baldwin# (1185-1190) was the first monk of the Cistercian order who held
the See of Canterbury. He came into collision with the Benedictine monks
with whom the election to the primacy had always rested, and whom he
attempted in vain to deprive of that privilege in favour of a body of
canons at Lambeth, which he purchased for the see. He accompanied Richard
Coeur de Lion to the Holy Land, and died in camp before Acre.
#Reginald Fitz Jocelyn#, Bishop of Bath and Wells, was next elected, but
died before receiving the pall.
#Hubert Walter# (1193-1205) was born at West Derham, in Norfolk, and
educated by Ranulph de Glanville: he was made Bishop of Salisbury, and
accompanied Richard I. to the Holy Land. When archbishop he held the
office of Justiciary, but was removed from the latter by a Papal Bull
since it compelled him to judge "causes of blood." He became chancellor,
and conducted the duties of his high offices in an admirable manner. The
laws enacted under Richard I. are said to have been drawn up by him, and
he completed the house of regular canons at Lambeth. He was buried in his
own cathedral where his effigy still remains.
After some disputes on the subject of election, the Pope, Innocent III.,
was appealed to and decided in favour of
#Stephen Langton# (1207-1228) who was an Englishman of spotless character
and profound theological learning: he was consecrated at Peterborough by
Innocent III. The "fury of King John knew no bounds," he drove the monks
of Canterbury to Flanders, and refused to allow Langton to set foot in
England. The result of this conduct was the publication of the celebrated
Interdict, followed soon after by the personal excommunication of the king
and the absolution of his subjects from their oath of allegiance by the
pope. Philip of France was ordered to depose the English king, whose crown
was declared forfeited. Hard pressed by his enemies, and having alienated
his people from his cause, King John was driven to humiliating submission:
he promised to receive Langton and to restore the Church property, and
finally, formally resigned his crown into the hands of Pandulph, the Papal
Legate. Archbishop Langton was received with honour, and King John threw
himself at his feet and reconciled himself with the Church. He also
ordered a great council to meet at St. Alban's to settle finally the
restitution of the church property. Here, however, he was met by an open
declaration of the complaints of all classes. Langton, though elevated to
the primacy, entirely through the influence of the pope, proved himself a
staunch Englishman, and posed as the champion of national liberty against
the claims of both pope and king. It was he who produced to the
malcontents the Coronation Charter of Henry I., which the barons accepted
as a declaration of the views and demands of their party. He was at the
head of the barons in their struggle with the king, and his name appears
as that of the first witness to the famous Magna Charta. John at once
applied to the pope, and obtained from him the abrogation of the charter
and a papal order to Langton to excommunicate the king's enemies. This he
refused to do. John overran the country with foreign mercenaries, and his
cruelties eventually resulted in the barons summoning Louis of France to
their assistance. Langton was summoned to Rome to attend the Lateran
Council, and was detained there until the deaths of Innocent III. and King
John, after which he was permitted to return to his see and passed the
remainder of his life in comparative tranquillity, siding strongly with
the national party under Hubert de Burgh. He presided at the translation
of Becket's remains from the crypt to Trinity Chapel; he rebuilt much of
the archiepiscopal palace at Canterbury and he lies buried in his own
cathedral. He was the first who divided the Bible into chapters.
#Richard de Wethershed# (1229-1231), Chancellor of Lincoln, was next
appointed, but died on his way back from Italy. After three more elections
by the monks which were all set aside by the pope, Honorius III., the
monks consented to accept
#Edmund Rich# (1234-1240), treasurer of Salisbury: he was the son of a
merchant of Abingdon, and was educated at Oxford University. He had a
great reputation for learning and piety. He came into disfavour with the
king by his opposition to the marriage of his sister Eleanor to Simon de
Montfort. His sympathies were all on the side of the national party: he
procured the downfall of Des Roches and maintained the struggle against
the foreign favourites and papal exactions for which the reign of Henry
III. is notorious. At length he retired to the Cistercian Abbey at
Pontigny, which had formerly sheltered Becket and Langton, in despair at
the condition of England and of her Church. It was during his time that
the great movements of the Dominican and Franciscan friars reached England
and though the archbishop never actually joined their ranks, he was
doubtless much influenced by their teaching and example, and was himself
an itinerant preacher after leaving Oxford. He was canonized six years
after his death. He was succeeded by
#Boniface of Savoy# (1241-1270), one of the king's uncles, whose violence
and warlike bearing made him a strange contrast to his predecessor. His
term of office was one long history of papal exactions from the English
clergy, and of the tyranny of foreigners, creatures of Henry III., over
the rights of the nation. The revenues of the See of Canterbury and the
enormous sums wrung from the clergy were squandered on foreign wars, and
the archbishop himself resided abroad. Boniface took a leading part in the
spoliation of the English Church: he was one of the king's council at the
so-called "Mad Parliament."
#Robert Kilwardby# (1273-1278) was nominated by the pope, after a fruitless
election of their subprior by the monks. He was a very learned Dominican,
educated at Oxford and Paris.
#John Peckam# (1279-1292) was, like his predecessor, nominated by the pope
after an education at Oxford and Paris; he also was a Franciscan. He was
at first a staunch supporter of King Edward I., whom he accompanied to
Wales. It is to be regretted that he supported the king in his cruelties
to the conquered Welsh and in the expulsion of the Jews. He firmly
defended the privileges of his see against first, the Archbishop of York,
and secondly, the king. It was in his time (1279) that the famous Statute
of Mortmain was passed. The exactions of the papacy had been considerably
lessened, and the Church was beginning to recover its wealth and national
character. Peckam died at Mortlake, and was buried in the transept of the
martyrdom at Canterbury, where his tomb and effigy still remain.
#Robert Winchelsea# (1292-1313) was next nominated, king and clergy being
unanimous on this occasion, and at once proceeded to Rome, where he
remained some time before returning to England. Meanwhile, Edward I. had
demanded the enormous subsidy of one half their annual revenue from the
clergy. Winchelsea is said to have been responsible for the celebrated
Bull _Clericis laicis_ issued by Boniface VIII. in defence of the property
of the Church. On his return home the archbishop continued to lead the
clergy in their opposition to the king's demands, and paid the penalty in
the seizure of his whole estate for the king's use. He retired with a
single chaplain to a country parsonage, discharged the humble duties of a
priest, and lived on the alms of his flocks. When the war broke out Edward
sought to propitiate the clergy by restoring the archbishop to his barony,
and summoning him to a parliament at Westminster, where the clergy
abandoned their own ground of ecclesiastical immunity from taxation and
took shelter under the liberties of the realm, thus identifying themselves
with the popular cause in their opposition to the exactions of the king.
On his return from Flanders Edward accused Winchelsea of conspiring
against him in his absence, and the archbishop was again deprived of all
his possessions, and, after many privations, escaped to France.
On the accession of Edward II. he was recalled and restored to his honour,
but subsequently became again the centre of revolution, and himself
excommunicated the king's favourite, Gaveston. He nevertheless continued
undisturbed in the discharge of his office until his death. During his
prosperous years Winchelsea was famous for his charities and liberality.
After his death he was regarded as a saint, and his shrine in the
south-east transept was removed by the commissioners of Henry VIII. at
the same time as that of Saint Thomas a Becket.
#Walter Reynolds# (1313-1327) was appointed by the pope at the request
of the king, who had set aside an election of the monks. He was tutor and
subsequently Chancellor to Edward II. After Gaveston's death he became
Keeper of the Great Seal. He obtained many bulls of privilege from Rome.
In spite of the favour he had received from Edward II. he deserted him in
his troubles. His tomb remains in the south aisle of the choir.
#Simon Mepeham# (1328-1333) was elected by the monks and consecrated at
Avignon. He was opposed in his visitation by Grandisson, the powerful
Bishop of Exeter, who refused him admission to his cathedral by force. He
was unsupported by the pope, and is said to have died of a broken heart in
consequence. His tomb forms the screen of St. Anselm's Chapel.
#John Stratford# (1333-1348) was appointed by the pope at the request
of Edward III. He was educated at Merton College, Oxford, and became
Archdeacon of Lincoln and Bishop of Winchester. He was made Lord Treasurer
by Edward II., to whose cause he remained faithful during the short-lived
triumph of Isabella and the desertion of the archbishop. Edward III. made
him Lord Chancellor, in which office he was succeeded by his own brother,
Robert. Stratford had endeavoured to dissuade the king from entering on
the French war, and the king, hard pressed for money, had the archbishop
arraigned for high treason. Stratford fled from Lambeth to Canterbury,
where he excommunicated his accusers. He subsequently returned to London
and sheltered himself, not under his ecclesiastical immunity, but under
his privileges of parliament as a member of the House of Peers, a
significant landmark in the history of the English Church. The quarrel
between the king and the archbishop was amicably settled.
Stratford held exalted opinions on the subject of clerical superiority,
and his arraignment, without the support of the pope, was a decisive blow
against the power of the Church. In his time, also, a layman was for the
first time appointed to the office of Chancellor, and Edward III. wrote a
letter to the pope protesting against the frequent papal nominations to
vacant English sees, which was followed up by the Statute of Provisors in
1350. Stratford died at Mayfield in Sussex, and was buried in his own
cathedral, where his monument still remains.
#Thomas Bradwardine# (1349) was consecrated after election by the monks of
Christ Church after the death of John Ufford, the king's nominee, who died
of the Black Death before consecration. Bradwardine had been the king's
confessor. He was educated at Merton College, and was one of the best
geometers of his time, besides being the author of an important tract
against Pelagianism.
#Simon Islip# (1349-1366), the king's secretary, built most of the palace
at Mayfield, and completed that at Maidstone. He founded and endowed
Canterbury Hall, now forming one of the quadrangles of Christ Church,
Oxford, in which he endeavoured to bring together the monastic and secular
priests.
#Simon Langham# (1366-1368) had been Bishop of Ely, Treasurer of England,
and Lord Chancellor, and also Prior and Abbot of Westminster. On being
appointed a cardinal by the Pope Urban V., he resigned his archbishopric,
the temporal powers and revenues of which had been seized by the king, and
died at Avignon.
#William Whittlesea# (1368-1374), a nephew of Islip, was translated from
Worcester.
#Simon of Sudbury# (1375-1381) was Chancellor of Salisbury and Bishop of
London, whence he was transferred to Canterbury. As chancellor he proposed
the famous poll tax, which supplied the motive for Wat Tyler's rebellion,
and, as archbishop, caused to be imprisoned the priest, John Ball. He was
captured in the tower, and beheaded during Wat Tyler's rebellion; his body
was eventually removed to Canterbury, and buried in the south aisle of
the choir. He built the west gate at Canterbury, and a great part of the
city walls.
#William Courtenay# (1381-1396) was, like his predecessor, translated from
the See of London. In a synod he condemned twenty-four articles in the
writing of Wycliffe, who was unjustly held responsible for the recent
rebellion. Much persecution of Wycliffe's followers ensued. Courtenay
succeeded in establishing his right to visit his province, although
opposed by the Bishops of Exeter and Salisbury. His monument adjoins that
of the Black Prince.
#Thomas Arundel# (1396-1414) was translated from the See of York. He was
involved in the conspiracy for which his brother, the Earl of Arundel, was
executed, and was himself exiled. He was restored after Bolingbroke's
success, and received the abdication of Richard II. In 1400 the statute
_De haeretico comburendo_ was enacted, and Arundel began to put it in
force against the Lollards. He condemned Sawtree, the first English
Protestant martyr, to be burnt, and took a prominent part in the attack
upon Sir John Oldcastle. In the parliament of 1407 he defended the clergy
against the attempts of the Commons to shift the burden of taxation upon
the wealth of the Church.
#Henry Chichele# (1414-1443) was educated at New College, Oxford. He became
successively Archdeacon of Dorset and of Salisbury, and Bishop of St.
David's. He supported Henry V. in his unjust claim to the crown of France,
and promised large subsidies from the Church for its support. There is no
doubt that this was a successful attempt at diverting the popular
attention from threatened attempts on the wealth of the Church. He was
reproached by the Pope Martin V. with lack of zeal in the interests of the
papacy in not procuring the reversal of the statutes of provisors and of
praemunire by which, amongst others, the papal power was held in check in
England. Among his foundations are the colleges of St. Bernard (afterwards
St. John's), and All Souls, at Oxford, and a library at Canterbury for the
monks of Christ Church. In his old age he was stricken with remorse for
his sin in instigating the French war, and applied to the pope for
permission to resign his see. Before a reply was received the archbishop
died, after holding the see for nearly thirty years, a longer time than
any of his predecessors. His tomb, constructed by himself during his
lifetime, is in the north aisle of the choir, and is kept in repair by
the Fellows of All Souls.
#John Stafford# (1443-1452), Bishop of Bath and Wells, was nominated by
the pope with the king's consent on the recommendation of Chichele. He also
held the office of chancellor for ten years, but was undistinguished in
either office. He lies in the south aisle of the choir.
#John Kemp# (1452-1454), Archbishop of York, succeeded. He was educated
at Merton College, and was Archdeacon of Durham and Bishop of Rochester,
Chichester, and London. He died at an advanced age, after a very brief
primacy, and was buried in the north choir aisle.
#Thomas Bourchier# (1454-1486), Bishop of Ely, was next elected by the
monks. He was a great-grandson of Edward III. He was educated at Oxford,
of which university he became chancellor; he subsequently held the sees of
Worcester and Ely. His lot fell upon difficult times, and he endeavoured
to maintain a position of neutrality in the struggle between the two
Roses, and at last effected their union by performing the marriage of
Henry VII. with Elizabeth of York. He died soon after, and his tomb
remains at Canterbury. He was bishop for fifty-one years, out of which he
held the primacy for thirty-two years. He actively encouraged education,
and helped to introduce printing into this country.
#John Morton# (1486-1500) was, like his predecessor, translated from Ely.
He was educated at Balliol College. Richard of Gloucester, after making
vain overtures to him, removed him from his office and committed him to the
Tower, and afterwards to Brecknock Castle, whence he escaped and joined
the Earl of Richmond on the Continent. After Bosworth he was recalled, and
on Bourchier's death was made archbishop. In 1493 he obtained a cardinal's
hat. In 1487 he was made Lord Chancellor, and continued for thirteen
years, until his death, in this office and in the confidence of the king,
whom he assisted in his system for controlling the great feudal barons and
in the exaction of "benevolence." His famous dilemma propounded to the
merchants was known as "Morton's fork." It was he who prevailed upon the
Pope to canonize Archbishop Anselm. His tomb, constructed during his
lifetime, may be seen in the crypt of his cathedral.
#Henry Dean# (1501-1503) was translated from Salisbury; he held the Great
Seal, with the title of Lord Keeper, after the death of Morton.
#William Warham# (1503-1532) was born of a good Hampshire family, and
educated at Winchester and New College. He was sent to Burgundy on a
mission to protest against the support of Perkin Warbeck by the Duchess
Margaret. He held the offices of Lord Keeper, Lord Chancellor, Master of
the Rolls, and Bishop of London. He crowned King Henry VIII., and
protested from the first against his marriage with Catherine. He was a
great rival of Wolsey, and retired from the court until the fall of the
cardinal. In the disputes of the time he embraced the side of the old
religion, and gave some countenance to Elizabeth Barton, the Nun of Kent.
The last part of his life was devoted to the cares of his diocese and to
letters, which he cultivated diligently. He was a personal friend of
Erasmus, whom he induced to visit England. His tomb remains in the
Transept of the Martyrdom.
#Thomas Cranmer# (1533-1556) may be considered the first Protestant
archbishop. From the first he would only accept the archbishopric as
coming from the king without intervention of the pope. He was born of a
good family in Nottinghamshire, and was educated at Cambridge, where he
became fellow of Jesus. He was first brought to the king's notice by his
suggestion that the question of Catherine's divorce might be settled
without reference to the pope. The king set him to write on the subject,
and he was rewarded with the Archdeaconry of Taunton. In 1530 he
accompanied the Earl of Wiltshire to the papal court, and was there
offered preferment by the pope. He married the niece of Osiander, who had
himself written on the subject of the divorce. On Warham's death he
succeeded him in the primacy, and returned to England. As archbishop,
Cranmer pronounced the divorce against Catherine and crowned Anne Boleyn,
and was sponsor to the Princess Elizabeth, whom he baptized. After Anne
Boleyn's trial he pronounced her marriage void, and acted as her confessor
in the Tower. Throughout his primacy Cranmer actively supported the
reforming party. In 1539 he was one of the commissioners for inspecting
into the matter of religion. In 1545 he was accused of heresy by the
opposite party led by Gardiner, and would have fallen but for the support
of the king, who befriended Cranmer throughout his life, and sent for him
to attend his death-bed. Great changes had occurred at Canterbury.
Becket's shrine had been destroyed, and a dean and twelve canons were
established in place of the old monastery of Christ Church, which was
dissolved. Under Henry's will Cranmer was appointed one of the Regents of
the Kingdom and Executors of the Will, and it was he who crowned Edward
VI. who, like Elizabeth, was his godchild. Throughout the reign of Edward,
Cranmer earnestly supported the cause of the Reformation. The Six Articles
were repealed and the first Book of Common Prayer was issued. On the
death-bed of Edward, Cranmer signed the king's will, in which he appointed
Lady Jane Grey his successor. On the accession of Queen Mary he was at
once ordered to appear before the council and within a month was committed
to the Tower. In November, 1553, he was pronounced guilty of high treason,
but was pardoned on this count, and it was decided to proceed against him
as a heretic. In 1554 he was sent to Oxford, with Latimer and Ridley,
where he remained two years in prison and was condemned as a heretic by
two successive commissions. After the death of Latimer and Ridley, Cranmer
was degraded and deprived. It was after this that, in the hopes of saving
his life, he made his famous recantation. He was brought into St. Mary's,
and in his address to the people withdrew his recantation and declared
that his right hand which had signed it should be the first to burn. He
was hurried to the place of execution opposite Balliol College, and, when
the pyre was lighted, held his right hand in the flames till it was
consumed, and died, calling on the Lord Jesus to receive his spirit.
#Reginald Pole# (1556-1558) a near connection of Henry VIII. then
succeeded. He was born in Worcestershire and was educated by the
Carthusians at Shene and at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was early
advanced to the Deanery of Exeter and other preferments. On leaving Oxford
he visited the universities of France and Italy and returned to England in
1525. Henry attempted in vain to secure Pole's support on the divorce
question, and on the appearance of his book, "Pro Unitate Ecclesiastica,"
he was sent for by the king, and when he refused to come, an act of
attainder was passed against him. In 1537 Pole was induced to accept a
cardinal's hat. It is said that he was most unwilling to do so on the
ground that he contemplated marrying the Princess Mary and seating himself
on the English throne. He took an active part in promoting the Pilgrimage
of Grace and the second rising in 1541. He remained in Italy until the
death of Edward VI. On the accession of Mary he returned to England as
papal legate after the question of his marriage with Mary had been again
discussed and set aside through the influence of the Emperor Charles V. On
Cranmer's execution Pole was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury. As
legate he absolved the Parliament and made a solemn entry into London. For
the next three years Pole was in sole management of the ecclesiastical
affairs of England, and was consenting to the persecutions which disgraced
the reign of Mary. He was at one time deprived of his legatine authority by
Pope Paul IV. who had wished for the elevation of Gardiner to the primacy.
The archbishop submitted to the pope and was again appointed legate shortly
before his death which occurred about the same time as that of Mary. He
was buried in the corona at Canterbury, where his tomb yet remains. He was
the last Archbishop of Canterbury to be buried in his own cathedral, until
the recent interment of Dr. Benson.
#Matthew Parker# (1559-1575) was born of an old Norfolk family and educated
at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Wolsey invited him to become a
fellow of Christ Church, his new foundation at Oxford, but this he
declined. After various other offices he was appointed to the Deanery of
Lincoln by Edward VI. On the accession of Mary he was deprived of all his
offices as a married priest, and lived privately until the accession of
Elizabeth, who made him archbishop. He was duly elected by the new Chapter
of Canterbury, and held his post during a most difficult time with
marvellous tact and judgment. Religious toleration for its own sake was an
idea yet unknown, but Parker directed that great caution should be
observed in administering the oath of supremacy to those of the clergy who
still favoured the old religion. It is much to his credit that he managed
to preserve such good relations with the queen in face of Elizabeth's
prejudice against the marriage of the clergy. He was an enlightened patron
of learning, and did much to encourage all branches of art.
#Edmund Grindall# (1576-1583) was born at St. Bees and educated at
Cambridge, where he became Master of Pembroke Hall. He was Chaplain to
Edward VI. During the troubles of Mary's reign he lived in Germany, and on
Elizabeth's accession became the first Protestant Bishop of London. Thence
he was removed to York and in 1575 was appointed as archbishop. He was
inclined to view the Puritans with more leniency than his predecessor and
always refused to forbid the prophesyings, or meetings of the clergy for
discussing the meaning of scripture, which Elizabeth disliked so much, and
was in consequence deprived of his jurisdiction. He went blind before his
death and was buried at Croydon.
#John Whitgift# (1583-1604) was born at Great Grimsby and educated at
Cambridge, where John Bradford was his tutor: he became one of Elizabeth's
chaplains and Master of Pembroke Hall and of Trinity. He wrote an answer
to Cartwright's "Admonition" and was preferred to the Deanery of Lincoln
and Bishopric of Worcester. After Grindall's death he was translated to
Canterbury. From this date his severity towards the Puritans increased. He
insisted that every minister of the Church should subscribe to three
points: the queen's supremacy, the Common Prayer, and the Thirty-nine
Articles, and enforced his principle with much vigour, contrary to the
advice of the more enlightened Lord Burleigh. The severity of these
measures called into existence the "Martin Marprelate" libels and produced
much dissatisfaction and suffering among the more Puritanical clergy,
which was by no means lessened by the accession of James, who, on his way
to London rejected a petition signed by more than one thousand Puritan
ministers. Whitgift was buried at Croydon where he founded a school and
hospital.
#Richard Bancroft# (1604-1610) was born near Manchester and educated at
Jesus College, Oxford. He became one of Elizabeth's chaplains, and Bishop
of London, whence he was translated to Canterbury. He was even more severe
than his predecessor against the Puritans, and was a most stern champion
of conformity. He advocated the king's absolute power beyond the law and
attempted to establish episcopacy in Scotland. He died at Lambeth and was
buried in the parish church there.
#George Abbot# (1610-1633) was born at Guildford and educated at Balliol
College. He assisted in establishing union between the Scotch and English
Churches and was rewarded with the Bishopric of Lichfield and Coventry.
Thence he was translated to London, and on the death of Bancroft was
appointed to the primacy. In contrast to his predecessor he connived at
some irregularities of discipline in the Puritanical clergy. At the same
time he was a zealous Calvinist and hater of popery, and disapproved of
those who preached up the arbitrary power of the king. These latter views
rendered him unpopular with the courtiers and the party of Laud. The
accidental death of a keeper at the hands of the archbishop was utilized
against him by his enemies and he was with difficulty restored to his
archiepiscopal functions. On refusing to licence a sermon by Dr.
Sibthorpe, asserting the king's right to tax his subjects without their
consent, he was obliged to retire to his palace of Ford, near Canterbury.
He assisted at the coronation of Charles I., but never managed to win the
favour of that monarch. He died at Croydon, and was buried at Guildford,
where his tomb and effigy still remain.
#William Laud# (1633-1645) was born at Reading, and educated at St. John's
College, Oxford. At the university he soon became conspicuous for his
hatred of the Puritans and his devotion to High Church doctrines. He
became President of St. John's in spite of the opposition of Archbishop
Abbot. He became successively one of the royal chaplains, Dean of
Gloucester, Bishop of St. David's, Bath and Wells, and London. He acted as
Dean of Westminster at Charles I.'s coronation. He was made Dean of the
Chapel Royal, Chancellor of Oxford, and a Privy Councillor of Scotland. On
Abbot's death he was elevated to the primacy, and is said to have refused
the offer of a cardinal's hat. As archbishop he was responsible for the
general Church persecution which produced his own unpopularity and
downfall, and was one of the main causes of the Civil War. Prosecutions
for non-conformity were enforced with the utmost severity. The courts of
Star Chamber and High Commission were brought to bear on the Puritans, and
Laud became universally detested. The superiority of the king over the law
was openly preached, and the Irish and Scotch Puritans were alienated by
the severity of the measures taken against them. On the common idea of
popular government, the Puritans were driven into coalition and
identification with the national party, while the king, court, bishops,
and judges represented the High Church movement and the doctrine of the
king's absolute authority. In 1639 the palace at Lambeth was attacked, but
the archbishop was removed to Whitehall and escaped for the time. In 1640,
however, he was impeached for high treason, and confined in the Tower.
Various charges were brought against him and fines inflicted, and his
property was seized and sold or destroyed for the use of the commonwealth.
The charge of high treason could not be legally established, and a bill of
attainder was passed against him in 1645. He was eventually beheaded on
Tower Hill, at the age of seventy-one years; his remains were interred at
Barking, but subsequently removed to the chapel of St. John's College at
Oxford. His conduct has been differently judged by his friends and
enemies. He built the greater part of the inner quadrangle of St. John's,
and presented a large collection of important manuscripts to the
university. In his time the archiepiscopal palace at Canterbury was ruined
by the Puritans, and on the Restoration an Act was passed dispensing the
archbishops from restoring it. From this time they have had no official
residence in Canterbury.
#William Juxon# (1660-1663) was born at Chichester, and educated, like
his predecessor, at St. John's College, Oxford, where he attracted the
attention of Laud. He became successively President of St. John's, Dean of
Worcester, Bishop of Hereford, and Bishop of London. He also became Lord
Treasurer, a post which had been held by no churchman since the days of
Henry VII., and was the last instance of any of the great offices of State
being filled by an ecclesiastic. He attended Charles I. on the occasion of
his execution. On the Restoration he became Archbishop of Canterbury, and
died three years afterwards. He lies in the chapel of St. John's College.
#Gilbert Sheldon# (1663-1677) was educated at Oxford, and became Fellow and
Warden of All Souls' College. He was a strong supporter of the king during
the Civil War. He was deprived of his wardenship and imprisoned by the
Parliamentarian commissioners when they visited Oxford. He retired to
Derbyshire until the Restoration, when he was restored to his wardenship;
he was made Dean of the Chapel Royal, and succeeded Juxon in the See of
London. In 1661 he assisted at the discussion of the liturgy between the
Presbyterian and Episcopal divines known as the Savoy Conference. In 1663
he succeeded Juxon in the primacy, and in 1667 was elected Chancellor of
Oxford. He built the Sheldonian Theatre at Oxford, which building is an
early work of Sir Christopher Wren's. He offended the court party by his
open disapproval of the king's morals, and retired in 1669 to his palace
at Croydon, where he spent most of the remainder of his life. He was
buried at the parish church at Croydon, where his tomb and effigy still
remain.
#William Sancroft# (1678-1691) was born at Fresingfield, in Suffolk, and
educated at St. Edmundsbury and at Cambridge, where he became Fellow of
Emmanuel College. He was deprived of his fellowship in 1649, and retired
to the Continent, where he remained until the restoration of Charles II.
He then returned to England, and subsequently became Master of Emmanuel
College, and Dean of York, and of St. Paul's, and Archdeacon of
Canterbury, and was raised to the primacy by Charles II., whose death-bed
he attended. In the reign of James he was at the head of the seven bishops
who presented the famous petition against the Declaration of Indulgence,
for which they were committed to the Tower, tried, and acquitted amidst
immense popular excitement. After James's flight, Sancroft acted as the
head of the council of peers who took upon themselves the administration
of the government of the country. His plan was to retain James nominally
on the throne, while placing the reins of government in the hands of a
regent. He refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary,
considering himself bound by his former oath to James II. He was
accordingly suspended and deprived, and when ejected by law from Lambeth
he retired to his small ancestral property at Fresingfield, where he died
and was buried.
#John Tillotson# (1691-1694) was born of Puritan parents at Sowerby, in
Yorkshire, and was educated at Cambridge. During the Protectorate he had
followed the teachings of the Presbyterians, but on the Restoration he
submitted to the Act of Uniformity. He held among other posts those of
Preacher at Lincoln's Inn and Dean of Canterbury, and enjoyed the intimate
confidence of William and Mary. On the deprivation of Sancroft he was
reluctantly induced to accept the primacy, which he was destined to hold
only for some three years. He died at Lambeth after this short term of
office, and was buried in the Church of St. Lawrence, Jewry. As a
theologian Tillotson was remarkable for his latitudinarianism, and he was
one of the finest preachers who have ever lived.
#Thomas Tenison# was born at Cottenham, in Cambridgeshire, and educated at
Cambridge. His fame as a preacher procured him the Archdeaconry of London
and the Bishopric of Lincoln, in which diocese he did admirable work. He
died at Lambeth, and lies buried in the parish church there.
#William Wake# (1716-1737) was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and
became Dean of Exeter and Bishop of Lincoln. He was gifted with great
learning, and took an active part in the controversy with Atterbury on
the subject of the rights of convocation.
#John Potter# (1737-1747) was the son of a linendraper at Wakefield, in
Yorkshire, and was educated at University College, Oxford, becoming Fellow
of Lincoln and afterwards Bishop of Oxford. He was a learned divine and
writer. Like his predecessor he was buried in the parish church at
Croydon.
#Thomas Herring# (1747-1757) and
#Matthew Hutton# (1757-1758) were both translated to Canterbury from York.
#Thomas Secker# (1758-1768) was born of dissenting parents near Newark. At
the instance of Butler, afterwards the famous Bishop of Durham, he joined
the Church of England and abandoned the study of medicine, and took holy
orders. He held many posts in succession, including the Bishoprics of
Bristol and Oxford. He died and was buried at Lambeth, where his portrait,
by Sir Joshua Reynolds, still remains.
#Frederick Cornwallis# (1768-1783) was the seventh son of Charles, 4th Lord
Cornwallis. He was consecrated Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry in 1750,
and in 1766 became Dean of St. Paul's. On October 6th, 1768, he was
enthroned Archbishop of Canterbury. In Hasted's "Kent" we find him
commended highly for having abolished that "disagreeable distinction
of his chaplains dining at a separate table." More renowned for his
affability and courteous behaviour than for learning, he entertained at
times with semi-regal state; but once fell into some disfavour because
"his lady was in the habit of holding _routs_ on Sundays."
#John Moore# (1783-1805) became Dean of Canterbury in 1771. He was
consecrated Bishop of Bangor in 1775, and thence translated to the
archiepiscopal see in 1783. Although a promoter of Sunday-schools and
foreign missions, he did not escape reproach for paying undue regard to
the interests of his family. It has been well said that during his tenure
of office and that of his immediate successor, the sinecures and
pluralities held by the highest clergy were worthy of the mediaeval period.
#Charles Manners-Sutton# (1805-1828) was grandson of John, 3rd Duke of
Rutland. In 1791 he was made Dean of Peterborough, and Bishop of Norwich
in 1792. In 1794 he was appointed Dean of Windsor, and became Archbishop
of Canterbury in 1805 owing to Court influence, which outweighed the
hostility of Pitt, who wished to appoint his own nominee. As a prelate he
was distinguished for many virtues and qualities befitting his office. He
was president at the foundation of the National Society, and worked
strenuously to advance the cause of education which it represents. While
he held the primacy a fund which had been accumulated from the sale of
Croydon Palace was applied to the purchase of Addington, where he lies
buried.
#William Howley# (1828-1848) was tutor to the Prince of Orange (afterwards
William II. of Holland) then successively Regius Professor of Divinity of
Oxford, Bishop of London, 1813, and archbishop, 1823. He played a prominent
part in politics and state ceremonials and marked the transition between
the new _regime_, and the old princely days of the archbishoprics.
#John Bird Sumner# (1848-1862) was brother of Dr. C. Sumner, Bishop of
Winchester. In 1823 he was appointed Bishop of Chester, and in 1848 was
promoted to the See of Canterbury. He published a large number of works,
and by his activity and simplicity of life is "remembered everywhere as
realizing that ideal of the Apostolic ministry which he had traced in his
earliest and most popular work."[3]
[3] Diocesan Histories: "Canterbury," by R.C. Jenkins, M.A. 1880.
#Charles Thomas Longley# (1862-1868) was the son of a Recorder of
Rochester. In 1836 he was consecrated the first bishop of the newly founded
See of Ripon, translated to Durham in 1856, became Archbishop of York in
1860, and in 1862 was transferred to Canterbury. Perhaps the most memorable
incidents in a memorable career are the Pan-Anglican Synod held at Lambeth
in 1867, and his establishment of the Diocesan Society for Church
Building.
#Archibald Campbell Tait# (1868-1882) was son of Craufurd Tait, Esq., a
Scots attorney. He succeeded Arnold as Master of Rugby in 1842, and became
Dean of Carlisle in 1850. He presided over the Pan-Anglican Synod in 1867,
and in 1868 succeeded to the archbishopric. "Memorials of Catherine and
Craufurd Tait" is a book so well known that even the barest sketch of his
career here would be superfluous.
#Edward White Benson# (1882-1896), son of Edward White Benson, Esq., of
Birmingham Heath, was a master of Rugby. He was Head Master of Wellington
from 1858 to 1872, Prebendary and Chancellor of Lincoln in 1872, was
consecrated the first bishop of the newly created See of Truro in 1877,
and translated to Canterbury in 1883. He was buried in the Cathedral on
October 16th, 1896, in a secluded corner of the north aisle, immediately
under the north-west tower, the first archbishop who was interred in the
cathedral of the metropolitan see since Reginald Pole in 1558.
#Frederick Temple# (1896- ), the present archbishop, is son
of the late Major Octavius Temple. He was Head Master of Rugby, 1858 to
1869, consecrated the sixty-first Bishop of Exeter in 1869, translated to
London in 1885, and to Canterbury in 1896. His share in the famous "Essays
and Reviews," and the many active works he has instituted, are too well
known to need comment.
PLANS OF CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL, AT DIFFERENT PERIODS.
[Illustration: Fig. 1. Plan of Saxon Cathedral (from Willis).]
[Illustration: Fig. 2. The Cathedral in 1774. The lighter shading shows
the conjectural termination of Lanfranc's church (from Willis).]
REFERENCES TO FIG. 2.
Altars.
E. Holy Cross.
F. St. Mary the Virgin.
H. St. Michael's (below).
All Saints (above).
M. St. Benedict (below).
St. Blaise (above).
X. High Altar.
[Illustration: Fig. 3. Plan of Canterbury Cathedral at the present time.]
REFERENCES TO FIG. 3.
EXTERIOR.
A. West Door.
B. South Door.
CC. Nave.
D. South Aisle.
E. North Aisle.
G. Tower, N.W.
H. Tower, S.W.
J. Transept, S.W.
K. Martyrdom, or
Transept, N.W.
L. Central Tower.
M. Choir.
N. South Aisle.
O. North Aisle.
P. Transept, S.E.
Q. Transept, N.E.
R. Presbytery.
S. Altar.
T. Trinity Chapel.
U. Aisle ditto.
W. Corona.
X. Anselm's Tower.
Y. Vestry.
Z. Treasury.
INTERIOR.
1. Doorway to Cloister.
3. " to Warrior's Chapel.
4. " to Dean's Chapel.
5. " to Crypt.
6. " to Cloister.
7. Warham's Mt. (Monument [Transcriber's Note])
8. Peckham's Mt.
9. Staircase.
10. Lady Holland's Mt.
11, 12 and 13. Stairs.
15. Walter's Mt.
16. Reynold's Mt.
17. Kemp's Mt.
18. Stratford's Mt.
19. Sudbury's Mt.
20. Mepeham's Mt.
21. Black Prince's Mt.
22. Courtney's Mt.
23. Chatillon's Mt.
24. Theobald's Mt.
25. Pole's Mt.
26. Dean Wotton's Mt.
27. Henry IV.'s Mt.
28. Henry IV.'s Chantry.
29. Bourchier's Mt.
30. Chichele's Mt.
31. Stairs to Crypt.
35. Library.
38. Chapter-House.
39. Cloister Square.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
1. Words and phrases which were italicized in the original have been
surrounded by underscores ('_') in this version. Words or phrases
which were bolded have been surrounded by pound signs ('#').
2. Obvious printer's errors have been corrected without note.
3. Inconsistencies in hyphenation or the spelling of proper names, and
dialect or obsolete word spelling, has been maintained as in the
original.