The Cathedral Church of Canterbury Part 5

#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 acc.u.mulated 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 a.s.sisted the king in the removal of the Saxon bishops and the subst.i.tution 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 att.i.tude 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 invest.i.ture of the clergy, and refused to consecrate the bishops who had received their invest.i.ture 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 t.i.tle 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 t.i.tle 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 friends.h.i.+p and confidence of King Henry II. His magnificence and authority during this period of his career exceeded that of the most powerful n.o.bles, 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 G.o.d 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 att.i.tude 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 const.i.tutions 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 const.i.tution, 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 friends.h.i.+p of the King of England, maintained a vacillating att.i.tude 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 p.r.o.nounced, 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 const.i.tution 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 princ.i.p.al 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 t.i.tle 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 rest.i.tution of the church property. Here, however, he was met by an open declaration of the complaints of all cla.s.ses. 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 a.s.sistance. 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 pa.s.sed 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 pa.s.sed. 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 Suss.e.x, 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 establis.h.i.+ng 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 s.h.i.+ft 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 a.s.sisted 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 t.i.tle of Lord Keeper, after the death of Morton.

#William Warham# (1503-1532) was born of a good Hamps.h.i.+re 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 d.u.c.h.ess 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 Nottinghams.h.i.+re, 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 Wilts.h.i.+re 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 p.r.o.nounced the divorce against Catherine and crowned Anne Boleyn, and was sponsor to the Princess Elizabeth, whom he baptized. After Anne Boleyn's trial he p.r.o.nounced 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 G.o.dchild. 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 p.r.o.nounced 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 Worcesters.h.i.+re 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 pa.s.sed 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.