65-415: Henry Chichele ( / ˈ tʃ ɪ tʃ ə l iː / CHICH -ə-lee , also Checheley ; c. 1364 – 12 April 1443) was Archbishop of Canterbury (1414–1443) and founded All Souls College, Oxford . Chichele was born at Higham Ferrers , Northamptonshire , in 1363 or 1364; Chichele told Pope Eugene IV , in 1443, in asking leave to retire from the archbishopric, that he was in his eightieth year. He
130-456: A diplomatic career by a mission to the new Roman Pope Innocent VII , who was professing his desire to end the schism in the papacy by resignation, if his French rival at Avignon would do likewise. Next year, on 5 October 1406, he was sent with Sir John Cheyne to Paris to arrange a lasting peace and the marriage of Prince Henry with the French princess Marie, which was frustrated by her becoming
195-485: A general council at Pisa . In November 1408 Chichele was back at Westminster, when Henry IV received the cardinal archbishop of Bordeaux and determined to support the cardinals at Pisa against both popes. In January 1409 Chichele was named with Bishop Hallam of Salisbury and the prior of Canterbury to represent the Southern Convocation at the council, which opened on 25 March 1409, arriving on 24 April. Obedience
260-548: A half-yearly inquisition by archdeacons to hunt out heretics. On 12 February 1420 proceedings were begun before him against William Taylor, priest, who had been for fourteen years excommunicated for heresy, and was now degraded and burnt for saying that prayers ought not to be addressed to saints, but only to God. A striking contrast was exhibited in October 1424, when a Stamford friar, John Russell, who had preached that any religious potest concumbere cum muliere and not mortally sin,
325-454: A latere to supersede the legatine jurisdiction of Canterbury . But during the regency, after Henry VI's accession, Beaufort was successful, and in 1426 became cardinal and legate. This brought Chichele into collision with Martin V . The struggle between them has been represented as one of a patriotic archbishop resisting the encroachments of the papacy on the Church of England. In point of fact it
390-720: A line of succession going back to Augustine of Canterbury , the "Apostle to the English", who was sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great and arrived in 597. From the time of Augustine until the sixteenth century, the archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and usually received the pallium from the Pope . During the English Reformation , King Henry VIII broke communion with Rome and became
455-474: A number of years before the arrival of the first Christian mission to England. He permitted the preaching of Christianity. The first archbishop of Canterbury was Saint Augustine of Canterbury (not to be confused with Saint Augustine of Hippo ), who arrived in Kent in 597 AD, having been sent by Pope Gregory I on a mission to the English. He was accepted by King Æthelbert , on his conversion to Christianity, about
520-502: A nun at Poissy next year. In 1406 renewed efforts were made to stop the schism, and Chichele was one of the envoys sent to the new Pope Gregory XII . Here he utilised his opportunities. On 31 August 1407 Guy Mone (he is always so spelt and not Mohun, and was probably from one of the Hampshire Meons; there was a John Mone of Havant admitted a Winchester scholar in 1397), Bishop of St Davids , died, and on 12 October 1407 Chichele
585-595: A precedence of honour over the other bishops of the Anglican Communion. He is recognised as primus inter pares , or first amongst equals. He does not, however, exercise any direct authority in the provinces outside England, except in certain minor roles dictated by Canon in those provinces (for example, he is the judge in the event of an ecclesiastical prosecution against the archbishop of Wales). He does hold metropolitical authority over several extra-provincial Anglican churches , and he serves as ex officio bishop of
650-458: A scholar of Winchester College, and for this reason can be considered an Old Wykehamist . Chichele appears in the Hall-books of New College up to the year 1392/93, when he was a B.A. and was absent for ten weeks from about 6 December to 6 March, presumably for the purpose of his ordination as a sub-deacon, which was performed by the bishop of Derry, acting as suffragan to the bishop of London . He
715-412: A step in advance was made by the masters being made fellows and so members of the governing body. Attached was also a bede or almshouse for twelve poor men. Both school and almshouse had existed before, and this was merely an additional endowment. The endowment was in 1535 worth some £200 a year, about a fifth of that of Winchester College. The college at Higham Ferrers fell with other colleges not part of
SECTION 10
#1732859075228780-479: Is Lambeth Palace . He also has an apartment within the Old Palace , next to Canterbury Cathedral which incorporates some 13th-century fabric of the medieval Archbishop's Palace. Former seats of the archbishops include: Since 1900, the following have served as archbishop of Canterbury: From 1660 to 1902, all the archbishops of Canterbury died in office. In 1928, two years before his death, Randall Davidson became
845-552: Is also a president of Churches Together in England (an ecumenical organisation). Geoffrey Fisher , 99th archbishop of Canterbury, was the first since 1397 to visit Rome, where he held private talks with Pope John XXIII in 1960. In 2005, Rowan Williams became the first archbishop of Canterbury to attend a papal funeral since the Reformation. He also attended the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI . The 101st archbishop, Donald Coggan ,
910-509: Is often claimed that he was one of the earliest scholars of Winchester College , which was historically the sole feeder of New College. However, Winchester was not operational until 1394, by which time Chichele had already left Winchester and Oxford, and he does not feature in the College's complete Register of Scholars . He probably did study under William of Wykeham in Winchester, although not as
975-631: Is on the earliest extant list (1383) of the Grocers' Company in London. On 9 June 1405 Henry Chichele was admitted, in succession to his father, to a burgage in Higham Ferrers. His mother, Agnes Pincheon, is said to have been of gentle birth. There is therefore no foundation in fact for the account (copied into the Dictionary of National Biography from a local historian, John Cole , Wellingborough, 1838) that he
1040-469: Is shown by his being sent with Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick (1382–1439) to France in July 1413 to conclude peace. Immediately after the death of Thomas Arundel Archbishop of Canterbury the king recommended him to the pope for promotion to the archbishopric on 13 March 1414, signified his royal assent of Chichele's postulation on 23 March 1414, translated by papal bull on 28 April 1414, and received
1105-569: Is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England , the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury . Justin Welby was enthroned as archbishop of Canterbury at Canterbury Cathedral on 21 March 2013, and announced his resignation, to take effect at a later date, in November 2024. Welby is the 105th person to hold the position, as part of
1170-595: The Chair of St. Augustine . A gospel book believed to be directly associated with St Augustine's mission survives in the Parker Library, Corpus Christi College , University of Cambridge, England. Catalogued as Cambridge Manuscript 286 , it has been positively dated to 6th-century Italy and this bound book, the St Augustine Gospels , is still used during the swearing-in ceremony of new archbishops of Canterbury. Before
1235-486: The English and Welsh order of precedence , the archbishop of Canterbury is ranked above all individuals in the realm, with the exception of the sovereign and members of the royal family . Immediately below him is the lord chancellor and then the archbishop of York. The archbishop of Canterbury awards academic degrees, commonly called " Lambeth degrees ". The archbishop of Canterbury's official residence and office in London
1300-639: The Virgin Mary , St Thomas à Becket and St Edward the Confessor , and handed over the buildings to its members, the vicar of Higham Ferrers being made the first master or warden. He further endowed it in 1434 with lands in Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire , and his brothers, William and Robert, gave some houses in London in 1427 and 1438. The foundation was closely modelled on Winchester College , with its warden and fellows, its grammar and song schoolmasters, but
1365-614: The head of the church . Thomas Cranmer , appointed in 1533, was the first Protestant archbishop of Canterbury and would become one of the most important figures in the development of Anglicanism . The archbishop is appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the prime minister of the United Kingdom , however in practice candidates are chosen by the Crown Nominations Commission , a Church of England body. Currently
SECTION 20
#17328590752281430-565: The "five great sees" (the others being York , London , Durham and Winchester ), the archbishop of Canterbury is ex officio one of the Lords Spiritual of the House of Lords . He is one of the highest-ranking men in England and the highest ranking non-royal in the United Kingdom's order of precedence . Since Henry VIII broke with Rome , the archbishops of Canterbury have been selected by
1495-629: The "mother church" of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Report of the Commissioners appointed by his Majesty to inquire into the Ecclesiastical Revenues of England and Wales (1835) noted the net annual revenue for the Canterbury see was £19,182. The archbishop of Canterbury exercises metropolitical (or supervisory) jurisdiction over the Province of Canterbury , which encompasses thirty of
1560-507: The 103rd archbishop; and Rowan Williams (born 1950), the 104th archbishop. In addition to his office, the archbishop holds a number of other positions; for example, he is joint president of the Council of Christians and Jews in the United Kingdom. Some positions he formally holds ex officio and others virtually so (the incumbent of the day, although appointed personally, is appointed because of his office). Amongst these are: The archbishop
1625-542: The 5th and 6th centuries Britannia began to be overrun by pagan , Germanic peoples who came to be known collectively as the Anglo-Saxons . Of the kingdoms they created, Kent arguably had the closest links with European politics, trade and culture, because it was conveniently situated for communication with continental Europe . In the late 6th century, King Æthelberht of Kent married a Christian Frankish princess named Bertha , possibly before becoming king, and certainly
1690-641: The English (British since the Act of Union in 1707) monarch. Since the 20th century, the appointment of archbishops of Canterbury conventionally alternates between Anglo-Catholics and Evangelicals . The most recent archbishop, Justin Welby is the 105th holder of the office. He was enthroned at Canterbury Cathedral on 4 February 2013. As archbishop he signs himself as + Justin Cantuar . On 12 November 2024 he announced his decision to resign. There are currently two other living former archbishops: George Carey (born 1935),
1755-537: The Falkland Islands . As of 2024 the archbishop has four suffragan bishops: The archbishops of Canterbury and York are both styled as "The Most Reverend"; retired archbishops are styled as "The Right Reverend". The archbishop is, by convention, appointed to the Privy Council and may, therefore, also use the style of " The Right Honourable " for life, unless later removed from the council. In formal documents,
1820-464: The University of Oxford at large. He founded three colleges: two at Oxford, one at Higham Ferrers. His first college at Oxford was St Bernard's College , founded by Chichele under licence in mortmain in 1437 for Cistercian monks , on the model of Gloucester Hall and Durham College for the southern and northern Benedictines . Nothing more than a site and building was required by way of endowment, as
1885-544: The archbishop fills four main roles: In the last two of these functions, he has an important ecumenical and interfaith role, speaking on behalf of Anglicans in England and worldwide. The archbishop's main residence is Lambeth Palace in the London Borough of Lambeth . He also has lodgings in the Old Palace, Canterbury , located beside Canterbury Cathedral , where the Chair of St Augustine sits. As holder of one of
1950-564: The archbishop of Canterbury is not always used in formal documents; often only the first name and see are mentioned. The archbishop is legally entitled to sign his name as "Cantuar" (the Latin for Canterbury). The right to use a title as a legal signature is only permitted to bishops, peers of the Realm and peers by courtesy. Justin Welby as archbishop of Canterbury usually signed as " +Justin Cantuar: ". In
2015-559: The archbishop of Canterbury is referred to as "The Most Reverend Forenames , by Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan". In debates in the House of Lords, the archbishop is referred to as "The Most Reverend Primate, the Archbishop of Canterbury". "The Right Honourable" is not used in either instance. He may also be formally addressed as "Your Grace" or, more informally, as "Archbishop". The surname of
Henry Chichele - Misplaced Pages Continue
2080-425: The bishopric, and that, spite of the maxim Papa potest omnia , a papal bull could not supersede the law of the land ( Year-book ii. H. iv. 37, 59, 79). Accordingly, he had to resign livings and canonries (28 April 1410). As, however, he had obtained a bull (20 August 1409) enabling him to appoint his successors to the vacated preferments, including his nephew William, though still an undergraduate and not in orders, to
2145-562: The break with papal authority in the 16th century, the Church of England was an integral part of the Western European church . Since the break the Church of England, an established national church , still considers itself part of the broader Western Catholic tradition (although this is not accepted by the Roman Catholic Church which regards Anglicanism as schismatic and does not accept Anglican holy orders as valid) as well as being
2210-414: The chancellorship of Salisbury, and a prebend at Lichfield, he did not go empty away. In May 1410 he went again on an embassy to France; on 11 September 1411 he headed a mission to discuss Henry V's marriage with a daughter of the duke of Burgundy ; and he was again there in November. In the interval Chichele found time to visit his diocese for the first time and be enthroned at St Davids on 11 May 1411. He
2275-470: The choir, is known as the "Chichele Gate". His elaborate and colourful tomb, built years before his death, depicts his naked corpse on the lower level, while on the upper level he is depicted resplendent in archiepiscopal vesture, his palms together in prayer. "I was pauper-born," reads the inscription on his tomb, "then to primate raised. Now I am cut down and served up for worms. Behold my grave." Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury
2340-401: The church with the exception of the two archbishops—serves as Canterbury's provincial dean , the bishop of Winchester as chancellor , the bishop of Lincoln as vice-chancellor, the bishop of Salisbury as precentor , the bishop of Worcester as chaplain and the bishop of Rochester as cross-bearer . Along with primacy over the archbishop of York , the archbishop of Canterbury also has
2405-478: The college was obtained on 21 June 1439, and further patents for endowments from May 1441 to January 1443. Early in 1443, not long before his death, Chichele opened the college. Chichele died on 12 April 1443. He is buried in Canterbury Cathedral , in a " cadaver tomb " between the upper choir and the choir ambulatory , adjacent to the north-east transept . The neighbouring gateway, from the transept into
2470-403: The first voluntarily to resign his office. All his successors except William Temple (who died in office in 1944) have also resigned their office before death. All those who retired have been given peerages : initially hereditary baronies (although both recipients of such titles died without male heirs and so their titles became extinct on their deaths), and life peerages after the enactment of
2535-514: The followers of religions and cultures." Delegates said that "the deepening of moral values and ethical principles, which are common denominators among such followers, would help strengthen stability and achieve prosperity for all humans." It has been suggested that the Roman province of Britannia had four archbishops, seated at Londinium (London), Eboracum ( York ), Lindum Colonia ( Lincoln ) and Corinium Dobunnorum ( Cirencester ). However, in
2600-522: The forty-two dioceses of the Church of England, with the rest falling within the Province of York . The four Welsh dioceses were also under the province of Canterbury until 1920 when they were transferred from the established church of England to the disestablished Church in Wales . The archbishop of Canterbury has a ceremonial provincial curia , or court, consisting of some of the senior bishops of his province. The bishop of London —the most senior cleric of
2665-406: The heresies commonly called Lollardy which aimed at the destruction of the king and all temporal estates, making Lollards felons and ordering every justice of the peace to hunt down their schools, conventicles, congregations and confederacies. In his capacity of archbishop, Chichele remained what he had always been chiefly, the lawyer and diplomatist . He was present at the siege of Rouen , and
Henry Chichele - Misplaced Pages Continue
2730-483: The immediate occasion was to prevent the introduction of the bulls making Beaufort a cardinal. Chichele had been careful enough to obtain Papal provisions for himself, his pluralities, his bishopric and archbishopric. In addition to his accomplishments as an archbishop and statesman, Chichele is remembered for his educational foundations. He endowed a "hutch" (chest or loan-fund) for poor scholars at New College, and another for
2795-574: The king committed to him personally the negotiations for the surrender of the city in January 1419 and for the marriage of Katherine. He crowned Katherine at Westminster (20 February 1421), and on 6 December baptised her child Henry VI . He was a persecutor of heretics. No one could have attained or kept the position of archbishop at the time without being so. He presided at the trial of John Claydon, skinner and citizen of London, who after five years imprisonment at various times had made public abjuration before
2860-484: The late archbishop, Arundel, but now was found in possession of a book in English called The Lanterne of Light , which contained the heresy that the principal cause of the persecution of Christians was the illegal retention by priests of the goods of this world, and that archbishops and bishops were the special seats of Antichrist . As a relapsed heretic, he was left to the secular arm by Chichele, which resulted in burning at Smithfield . On 1 July 1416 Chichele directed
2925-418: The ministers of the crown for the object of cutting down to the lowest level the clerical contributions to the public revenues in respect of their endowments. Chichele was tenacious of the privileges of his see, and this involved him in a constant struggle with Henry Beaufort , bishop of Winchester . In 1418, while Henry V was alive, he successfully protested against Beaufort's being made a cardinal and legate
2990-532: The pall without going to Rome for it on 24 July. These dates are important as they help to save Chichele from the charge, versified by Shakespeare ( Henry V . act 1. sc. 2) from Hall's Chronicle, of having tempted Henry V into the conquest of France for the sake of diverting parliament from the disendowment of the Church. There is no contemporary authority for the charge, which seems to appear first in Redman's rhetorical history of Henry V, written in 1540 with an eye to
3055-491: The papal nuncios, on 19 March 1423, denounced the proceeding as calculated to ensnare simple souls and extort from them a profane reward, thereby setting up themselves against the apostolic see and the Roman pontiff, to whom alone so great a faculty has been granted by God ( Cat. Pap. Reg. vii. 12). Chichele also incurred the papal wrath by opposing the system of papal provision which diverted patronage from English to Italian hands, but
3120-450: The parsonage of St Stephen Walbrook , presented on 30 March by the abbot of Colchester , no doubt through his brother Robert , who restored the church and increased its endowment. In 1397 he was made archdeacon of Dorset by Richard Mitford , bishop of Salisbury , but litigation was still going on about it in the papal court until 27 June 1399, when the pope extinguished the suit, imposing perpetual silence on Nicholas Bubwith , master of
3185-417: The political situation at that time, As a matter of fact, the parliament at Leicester , in which the speeches were supposed to have been made, began on 30 April 1414 before Chichele was archbishop. The rolls of parliament show that he was not present in the parliament at all. Moreover, parliament was so far from pressing disendowment that on the petition of the House of Commons it passed a savage act against
3250-468: The rolls, his opponent. In the first year of Henry IV Chichele was parson of Sherston , Wiltshire , and prebendary of Nantgwyly in the college of Abergwili , Wales ; on 23 February 1401/2, now called doctor of laws, he was pardoned for bringing in, and allowed to use, a bull of the pope providing to him the chancellorship of Salisbury Cathedral , and canonries in the nuns' churches of Shaftesbury and Wilton in that diocese ; and on 9 January 1402/3 he
3315-429: The universities. On 18 July 1542 it was surrendered to Henry VIII , and its possessions granted to Robert Dacres on condition of maintaining the grammar school and paying the master £10 a year, the same salary as the headmasters of Winchester and Eton , and maintaining the almshouse. All Souls College, Oxford was considerably later. The patent for it, dated 20 May 1438, is for a warden and 20 scholars. A papal bull for
SECTION 50
#17328590752283380-458: The year 598. It seems that Pope Gregory, ignorant of recent developments in the former Roman province, including the spread of the Pelagian heresy , had intended the new archiepiscopal sees for England to be established in London and York. In the event, Canterbury was chosen instead of London, owing to political circumstances. Since then the archbishops of Canterbury have been referred to as occupying
3445-792: The young monks, who were sent there to study under a provisor, were supported by the houses of the order to which they belonged. The site was five acres, and the building is described in the letters patent "as a fitting and noble college mansion in honour of the most glorious Virgin Mary and St Bernard in Northgates Street outside the Northgate of Oxford." It was suppressed with the Cistercian abbeys in 1540, and, on 11 December 1546, granted to Christ Church, Oxford , which sold it to Thomas White in 1554 for St John's College, Oxford . The college at Higham Ferrers
3510-416: Was a much earlier design. On 2 May 1422, Henry V granted for 300 marks (£200) licence to found, on three acres at Higham Ferrers, a perpetual college of eight chaplains and four clerks, of whom one was to teach grammar and the other song. A papal bull having also been obtained, the archbishop, in the course of a visitation of Lincoln diocese, executed his letters patent founding the college, dedicating it to
3575-553: Was almost wholly personal, and was rather an incident in the rivalry between the Duke of Gloucester and his half-uncle, Cardinal Beaufort, than one involving any principle. Chichele, by appointing a jubilee to be held at Canterbury in 1420, after the manner of the Jubilee ordained by the Popes, threatened to divert the profits from pilgrims from Rome to Canterbury. A ferocious letter from the pope to
3640-441: Was archdeacon of Salisbury. This year his brother Robert Chichele was senior sheriff of London. On 7 May 1404, Pope Boniface IX provided him to a prebend at Lincoln , notwithstanding he already held prebends at Salisbury , Lichfield , St Martins-le-Grand and Abergwyly, and the living of Brington . On 9 January 1405 he found time to attend a court at Higham Ferrers and be admitted to a burgage there. In July 1405 Chichele began
3705-532: Was by the pope provided to the bishopric of St Davids. Another bull the same day gave him the right to hold all his benefices with the bishopric. He was consecrated on 17 June 1408. At Siena in July 1408 he and Sir John Cheyne, as English envoys, were received by Gregory XII with special honour, and Bishop Repingdon of Lincoln , ex- Wycliffite , was one of the new batch of cardinals created on 18 September 1408, most of Gregory's cardinals having deserted him. These, together with Benedict's revolting cardinals, summoned
3770-493: Was picked up, as a poor ploughboy "eating his scanty meal off his mother's lap", by William of Wykeham . This story was unknown to Arthur Duck , Fellow of All Souls, who wrote Chichele's life in 1617. The first recorded appearance of Chichele himself is at New College, Oxford , as "Checheley", eighth among the undergraduate fellows, in July 1387, in the earliest extant hall-book, which contains weekly lists of those dining in Hall. It
3835-438: Was rapid. Already on 8 February 1395/96 he was, on a commission with several knights and clerks to hear an appeal in a case of John Molton, Esquire v. John Shawe, citizen of London, from Sir John Cheyne kt., sitting for the constable of England in a court of chivalry . Like other ecclesiastical lawyers and civil servants of the day Chichele was paid with ecclesiastical preferments. On 13 April 1396, he obtained ratification of
3900-593: Was sentenced only to retract his doctrine. In 1422, in Higham Ferrers , he established a college called Chichele College for secular canons. The College had provision for 8 priests, 4 clerks, 6 choristers and a song and grammar master. Further persecutions of a number of Lollards took place in 1428. The records of convocation in Chichele's time are a curious mixture of persecutions for heresy, which largely consisted in attacks on clerical endowments, with negotiations with
3965-627: Was the first to attend a papal inauguration, that of Pope John Paul II in 1978. Since 2002, the archbishop has co-sponsored the Alexandria Middle East Peace process with the Grand Mufti of Egypt . In July 2008, the archbishop attended a conference of Christians, Jews and Muslims convened by the King of Saudi Arabia at which the notion of the "clash of civilizations" was rejected. Delegates agreed "on international guidelines for dialogue among
SECTION 60
#17328590752284030-429: Was the third and youngest son of Thomas Chichele, who appears in 1368 in extant town records of Higham Ferrers, as a suitor in the mayor's court, and in 1381–1382, and again in 1384–1385, was mayor : in fact, for a dozen years he and Henry Barton, schoolmaster of Higham Ferrers grammar school, and one Richard Brabazon, filled the mayoralty in turns. Thomas Chichele's occupation does not appear but his eldest son, William,
4095-579: Was then already beneficed, receiving a royal ratification of his estate as parson of Llanvarchell in the diocese of St Asaph on 20 March 1391/92 ( Cat. Pat. Rolls ). In the Hall-book, marked 1393/94, but really for 1394/95, Chichele's name does not appear. He had then left the University of Oxford and gone up to London to practise as an advocate in the principal ecclesiastical court, the Court of Arches . His rise
4160-472: Was with the English force under the earl of Arundel which accompanied the duke of Burgundy to Paris in October 1411 and there defeated the Armagnacs, an exploit which revealed to England the weakness of the French. On 30 November 1411 Chichele, with two other bishops and three earls and the prince of Wales, knelt to the king to receive public thanks for their administration. That he was in high favour with Henry V
4225-508: Was withdrawn from both the existing popes, and on 26 June a new pope elected instead of them. Chichele and the other envoys were received on their return as saviours of the world; though the result was summed up by a contemporary as trischism instead of schism, and the Church as giving three husbands instead of two. Chichele now became the subject of a leading case, the court of kings bench deciding, after arguments reheard in three successive terms, that he could not hold his previous benefices with
#227772