Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms

Archbishops of Canterbury

The organisation of the church in Roman Britannia is very poorly known, but there may have been an archbishop for each of the four Late Roman provinces: Maxima Caesariensis at Londinium; Flavis Caesariensis at Linnius (Anglian Lindsey, modern Lincoln); Britannia Secunda at Eboracum (British Ebrauc, modern York); and Britannia Prima at Corinum (Caer Ceri, modern Cirencester). This organisation was swept away by the collapse of British government in the fifth and sixth centuries, with a rump church surviving only in Ireland. This now Celtic church was reintroduced into Britain via pagan Pictland, but in the south-east of Britain a rival was introduced by the Christian Frankish wife of King Ethelbert of Kent. In time this became the dominant church in the British Isles.

As metropolitan archbishops, Canterbury and York each have the right and the obligation to confirm the election of new diocesan bishops, and to ordain all new bishops within their province. By ancient and regular precedent the archbishop of Canterbury also has the right to preside at the Eucharist during which he anoints and crowns a new British monarch.

596 - 597

In 596 Augustine is sent by Pope Gregory to England to establish the Catholic church and Christianise the Anglo-Saxons. Landing at Ebbsfleet in 597, he is cautiously received in Kent, thanks to Ethelbert's Christian wife, and, using the already-existing church of St Martin's as his first place of worship, he establishes the archbishopric at Canterbury. Details of his life are scarce, but he had been prior of St Andrew's in Rome before being selected to lead the first mission to England.

597 - 604/609

Augustine

First archbishop of Canterbury. Died 26 May 604 or 609.

601

The pallium, the symbol of office, is sent by Pope Gregory from Rome.

The Roman city of Canterbury was, by the sixth century, in ruins, with small Anglo-Saxon houses built in between. The remains of the city wall can be seen in the distance

c.604

In around 604, Sæberht is the first East Saxon king to be baptised (by Mellitus, first bishop of London, consecrated by Augustine himself, and later archbishop in his own right), but upon his death the kingdom reverts to paganism. Also in 604, the first church is built at Rochester, within the kingdom of Kent.

604 - 619

Laurentius / Laurence

616

Sexred of the East Seaxe shares power with his two brothers, and they take an equal share in making decisions regarding the kingdom, jointly agreeing to expel Mellitus and his Gregorian missionaries from the kingdom and inadvertently ensuring that Canterbury remains the centre of Christianity in England. Mellitus takes refuge in Francia for a time before returning to take up the post of archbishop. He is never able to return to London, which remains part of a pagan kingdom for the remainder of his lifetime.

619 - 624

Mellitus

Formerly the first bishop of London. Died 24 April 624.

624 - 627

Justus

Formerly the first bishop of Rochester.

627

Justus is responsible for consecrating Paulinus as the first bishop of York.

627 - 655

Honorius

Member of the first Gregorian mission in 597.

655 - 664

St Deusdedit

First Saxon archbishop, a West Saxon.

664

Wighard / Wigheard

Jutish priest from Kent.

664

The Synod of Whitby in Northumbria sees Oswiu accept the Catholic church of Rome in preference to the Celtic church based at Iona, thereby sidelining the latter. The seat of the church in Northumbria is moved from Lindisfarne to York.

664 - 668

Deusdedit is killed by plague. Wighard is selected to be archbishop by the new king of Kent, Egbert I, perhaps with support from Oswiu of Northumbria. He is sent to Rome to receive consecration from Pope Vitalianus, but is also killed by bubonic plague before the act can be carried out. The post remains vacant for four years.

668 - 690

Theodore of Tarsus

Friend of Pope Vitalianus selected for the post.

678

A reformer of the English church, Theodore proposes dividing the Northumbrian diocese in two, which brings him into conflict with the bishop of York, Wilfred. He has to depose and expel the bishop before he can carry out his reform.

c.680

Theodore establishes a bishopric for the kingdom of the Magonset at Hereford, possibly as a result of a re-organisation agreed at the Synod of Hertford in 673. Merewalh is believed to erect a new cathedral at Hereford (although its location is uncertain) for the new bishop Putta, the former bishop of Rochester in Kent.

690 - 693

The post is vacant for a little over two years following Theodore's death. The reason is the political disturbance of Kent, where rival factions are pursuing claims to the throne, although Wilfred's wish to take the post based on a promise from Theodore may also be a contributing factor.

693 - 731

St Berhtwald

731 - 734

Tatwine

A Mercian.

735 - 740

Nothelm

735

In a further step in Theodore's reforms, the English church is divided into the two provinces of Canterbury and York (the Roman capital of the north). Canterbury still has seniority (although this is not laid down officially until 1353). At this time, Canterbury is still the capital of the Anglian/Jutish kingdom of Kent, while York is part of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria, where the Venerable Bede has just finished his Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum.

740 - 761

Cuthbert of Canterbury

761 - 765

Bregowine

765 - 793

Jaenbert / Jænberht

Former abbot of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury.

787 - 799

Britain briefly pays host to a third archdiocese when Offa of Mercia raises the bishopric of Lichfield. Following the reassertion of his control over Kent in 785 a dispute arises between Offa and Jaenbert. Offa creates a new archbishopric under Higbert, bishop of Lichfield within Mercia, which answers to him but which also receives the blessing of the Pope. It lasts until 799 and is officially terminated in 803, with full authority being returned to Canterbury.

793 - 805

Ethelhard / Æthelhard

Formerly bishop of Winchester.

796 - 803

Ethelhard is deposed by Eadbert II (Praen) when he seizes the kingdom of Kent from Mercian overlordship. Ethelhard flees to the court of his Mercian supporters and refuses to venture back to Canterbury, even though it seems safe. In 803, he returns to England from Rome and convenes the Council of Clovesho, which re-establishes the prime importance of Canterbury and, with papal authority, asserts the freedom of the church from secular authority.

805 - 832

Wulfred / Wilfred

Formerly archdeacon of Christ Church Canterbury.

811

During the reign of Baldred of Kent, Coenwulf of Mercia clearly retains the overlordship of Kent, as it is in this year that he sells the manor of Graveney to Wulfred for the use of Christ Church, Canterbury.

832

Feologeld

Enthroned Jun-Aug but possibly not elected due to a dispute.

833 - 870

Ceolnoth

c.850

The city of Canterbury is sacked during a Viking raid. There are further raids on Kent in 855 and 865.

870 - 888

Ethelred / Æthelred

890 - 914

St Plegmund

914 - 923

Athelm

Formerly the first bishop of Wells.

923 - 941

Wulfhelm

942 - 959

St Oda the Severe / the Good

Of Danish parentage, possibly from East Anglia.

959

Aelfsige

Appointed by Edwy of England but died before taking up the post.

959

Brithelm / Byrhthelm / Beorhthelm

Formerly the bishop of Wells.

959

Despite being nominated by King Edwy, Brithelm is deemed unsuitable for the post due to his lack of skill in governance and is sent back to his home diocese of Bath by the new king of all England, Edgar the Peaceful. Dunstan, one of the most important clerical figures of the early Middle Ages, is selected as his replacement. He reforms the English church and restores monastic life. Until Becket (1162-1170), he is the most popular saint in the country.

960 - 988

St Dunstan

Formerly the bishop of London. Canonised 1029.

988 - 990

Ethelgar / Æthelgar

Formerly the bishop of Selsey. Died 13 Feb.

990 - 994

Sigeric the Serious

991

Sigeric advises Anglo-Saxon king Ethelred II to pay tribute to the invading Danish under Sweyn Forkbeard.

995 - 1005

Aelfric / Ælfric of Abingdon

1005 - 1013

Alphege / Ælfheah of Canterbury

Killed by Danes.

1013 - 1014

Danish raiders kill Alphege before being bought off with a huge bribe, but peace in England from Danish incursions is hard to come by, at least partially due to a massacre of Danes not of the Danelaw in 1002. A Danish occupation of the country takes place under King Sweyn Forkbeard while Ethelred seeks temporary refuge in Normandy.

1013 - 1020

Lyfing

Held captive for a time by Danes in 1014.

1020 - 1038

Ethelnoth / Æthelnoth

1038 - 1050

Eadsige

Former royal priest for Canute in England.

1051 - 1052

Robert of Jumieges / Robert Chambert

First Norman archbishop of Canterbury.

1052 - 1070

Stigand

Died in captivity.

1070

Stigand is deposed by William of Normandy and England and is held at Winchester, where he dies in 1072. His lands and wealth are confiscated by the king.

Canterbury Cathedral was built between 1070-1077, with the original Augustinian building lying beneath the floor of the new nave

1070 - 1093

Lanfranc

c.1084

One of Lanfranc's acts is to establish St Nicholas' Hospital in the hamlet of Harbledown to the north-west of Canterbury, which also contains a church and chantry, for the relief of lepers. He also founds many churches, one of which is St Dunstan's to the north-west of Canterbury's Westgate.

1093 - 1114

Anselm of Canterbury

1114 - 1122

Ralph d'Escures

1123 - 1139

William de Corbeil

First canon to become archbishop.

1126

William de Corbeil is granted Rochester Castle by the king. He builds (or rebuilds) the keep so that it is a massive stone structure which survives in good order to the present day.

1133 - 1135

In 1133, William de Corbeil consecrates Nigel, Lord High Treasurer, as bishop of Ely. Two years later he is one of the men who is instrumental in securing King Stephen's claim to the English throne in the face of Matilda's superior claim.

1139 - 1161

Theobald of Bec / Tedbald

1162 - 1170

St Thomas Becket

1170 - 1173

Becket is murdered by four of the king's knights in Canterbury Cathedral on 29 December following a long-running dispute between him and Henry II Plantagenet over the jurisdiction of the church. The king is generally blamed for the atrocity and, accepting that he is at fault, pays public penance at Becket's tomb, stopping at St Michael's Church in Harbledown and walking to St Dunstan's Church, where he undresses before his walk into the cathedral.

It takes Henry another two years before he decides to fill the vacant position of archbishop, and he eventually selects Richard of Dover, the monk who had taken charge of Becket's body and arranged for its immediate burial in Canterbury Cathedral.

1173

Roger de Bailleul

Elected but declined the post.

1174 - 1184

Richard (of Dover)

1184 - 1190

Baldwin of Exeter

Died on the Third Crusade to Jerusalem.

1191

Reginald Fitz Jocelin / Reginald Italus

Elected but died before he could be consecrated.

1193 - 1205

Hubert Walter

c.1206

Reginald

Elected secretly against the king's wishes, denied by the Pope.

1206

John de Gray

Elected as the king's choice, but denied by the Pope.

1206 - 1207

A dispute between King John Plantagenet, the monks of Canterbury, and the Pope sees both the secretly-elected choice of the monks and the king's nomination both denied by the Pope. Instead, the monks are asked to vote on a new candidate with the Pope's full approval, although not the king's.

1207 - 1228

Stephen Langton

1207 - 1215

Playing a central role in the disagreement between the Pope and John Plantagenet, Stephen Langton is finally able to enter England as archbishop in 1213. He becomes a leader in the struggle against the king, joining forces with the barons to force John to sign Magna Carta in 1215.

1228 - 1229

Walter d'Eynsham

Elected, but denied by Henry III and the Pope.

1229 - 1231

Richard le Grant

Henry III's choice in preference to d'Eynsham.

1231 - 1232

Ralph Neville

Elected, but denied by the Pope for not being learned.

1232

John of Sittingbourne

Elected, but resigned at the Papal office.

1233

John Blund / Johannes Blund

Elected, but failed to win Papal approval.

1234 - 1245

Edmund Rich of Abingdon

1245 - 1270

Boniface of Savoy

Son of Count Thomas of Savoy.

1270

Robert Burnell

The king's choice. Superseded by the monks' choice, Chiilenden.

1270 - 1272

William Chillenden / Adam of Chillenden

Elected, but denied by Edward I and the Pope.

1273 - 1278

Robert Kilwardby

Appointed to the vacant post by the Pope.

1278 - 1279

Robert Burnell

The king's choice for a second time, but refused by the Pope.

1279 - 1294

John Peckham / Pecham

1294 - 1313

Robert Winchelsey

Fiftieth official archbishop.

1313

Thomas Cobham

Elected, but denied by Edward II and the Pope.

1314 - 1327

Walter Reynolds

Former First Lord High Treasurer (1307-1310).

1324 - 1327

Reynolds defies Edward II Plantagenet and sides with Queen Isabella in her rebellion against him. After having to flee to Kent, in 1327 he declares for Edward III and is appointed a member of the regency council.

1328 - 1333

Simon Meopham / Mepeham

Excommunicated by the Pope.

1333 - 1348

John de Stratford

Former First Lord High Treasurer (1326-1327).

1349

John de Ufford

Elected, but killed by the Black Plague before being consecrated.

1349

Thomas Bradwardine

Killed by the Black Plague.

1349 - 1366

Simon Islip

1353

Canterbury is acknowledged as the senior of the two provinces (the other being York) with the title of 'Primate of All England'.

1366

William Edington

Former First Lord High Treasurer (1344-1356).

1366

Edington is elected archbishop by Edward III Plantagenet, but he declines due to ill health.

1366 - 1368

Simon Langham

Former First Lord High Treasurer (1360-1363).

1368 - 1374

William Whittlesey

1375 - 1381

Simon Sudbury

Beheaded on Tower Hill.

1381

Responsible for the much-hated poll tax, First Lord High Treasurer, Sir Robert Hales, is beheaded on 14 June on Tower Hill during the Peasants Revolt, along with Archbishop Simon Sudbury.

1381 - 1396

William Courtenay

1396 - 1398

Thomas Arundel

Banished from the realm.

1398 - 1399

Roger Walden, First Lord High Treasurer of Parliament, becomes archbishop when Arundel is banished. However, his period in that office is short as the new king, Henry IV of Lancaster almost immediately removes and imprisons him, restoring Arundel. Once released from prison, Walden retires from public life.

1398 - 1399

Roger Walden

Former First Lord High Treasurer (1395-1398).

1399 - 1414

Thomas Arundel

Restored.

1400

Henry IV of Lancaster and Archbishop Arundel conspire to kill Richard II. Henry's reign witnesses a heavy level of censorship, and people who cross Arundel could find themselves burnt as a heretic. Geoffrey Chaucer, author of the Canterbury Tales, is outspoken in his mockery of powerful prelates who coveted worldly possessions (including Arundel), and might well be a victim of this oppressive new order.

1414 - 1443

Henry Chichele

1443 - 1452

John Stafford

1452 - 1454

John Kempe

1454 - 1486

Thomas Bourchier

1455 - 1485

The Wars of the Roses begin with Richard, Duke of York's victory at the Battle of St Albans. Lancastrians are pitched against Yorkists in England for the next thirty years. Archbishop Bourchier does not immediately take sides, and tries to negotiate a reconciliation between the warring houses. Following the return to hostilities in 1459, he appears to take the Yorkist side.

1486 - 1501

John Morton

1501

Thomas Langton

Elected, but died before he could take office.

1501 - 1503

Henry Deane

The last monastic cleric to be elected to office.

1503 - 1532

William Warham

1533 - 1555

Thomas Cranmer

A leader in the English Reformation.

1534

Cranmer supports the principle of Royal Supremacy in which Henry VIII Tudor is considered sovereign over the church within his realm.

1536 - 1541

This period witnesses the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the legal process by which Henry VIII Tudor disbands the monasteries, nunneries and friaries throughout England, disposing of all their assets (including massive tracts of land), mostly by selling them off and making a vast profit, and appropriating their income. Many monasteries, some of them already many centuries old, are destroyed, most notably at Glastonbury and Canterbury, as well as at many other major Christian locations. On the plus side, dispossessed former members are provided for as long as they acknowledge Henry's position as Supreme Head of the Church in England. The First Suppression Act is passed in 1536, with the Second Suppression Act following in 1539.

1556

Archbishop Cranmer has already been tried for treason for his part in placing Jane Grey on the throne. In an act of revenge for his declaring the marriage of Henry VIII to her mother to be invalid, Mary Tudor has Archbishop Cranmer tried for heresy as well. When he recants, an act that should be met with mercy, Mary announces that he shall be burned anyway. The act on a wet 21 March is a propaganda disaster for her, as public sympathy is clearly with the Protestant archbishop.

The burning of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, a woodcut by John Foxe from the Book of Martyrs, published in 1563

1556 - 1559

Reginald Pole

Great-grandnephew of Edward IV of York.

1554 - 1559

When he arrives in London, English Papal legate Reginald Pole is seen to be standing in the ferry boat holding a large cross before him. Sent to rid the country of Protestant heretics under the reign of Mary Tudor he finds his job harder than he thinks, despite addressing Parliament to that end. He dies of influenza on the same day as his cousin Mary, his legatine powers withdrawn and a charge of heresy levelled against him by the Pope.

1559 - 1575

Matthew Parker

1563

Archbishop Parker is one of the the primary architects of the Thirty-Nine Articles, the defining principles of the Anglican Church, as England seeks to establish the path of its own form of Protestantism.

1576 - 1583

Edmund Grindal

1583 - 1604

John Whitgift

1604 - 1610

Richard Bancroft

Oversaw production of the King James Bible.

1611 - 1633

George Abbot

Also First Lord Commissioner of the Treasury (1612-1613).

1633 - 1645

William Laud

Excecuted.

1641 - 1645

William Laud is imprisoned in the Tower of London after being accused of treason by Parliament. In 1645, the Royalists of Charles Stuart are routed at the Battle of Philiphaugh during the English Civil War, defeating the king's cause in Scotland. In the same year, Laud is beheaded at Tower Hill for his High Church stance against the radical Puritanism which is starting to take hold in the country. The office remains vacant for the duration of the Commonwealth.

1660 - 1663

William Juxon

Appointed by the restored Stuart monarchy.

1663 - 1677

Gilbert Sheldon

1677 - 1690

William Sancroft

1690

Sancroft is suspended from and deprived of office thanks to his refusal to take the oath with the new king and queen, William of Orange and Mary Stuart.

1691 - 1694

John Tillotson

1695 - 1715

Thomas Tenison

1716 - 1737

William Wake

1737 - 1747

John Potter

Formerly chaplain to Archbishop Tenison.

1747 - 1757

Thomas Herring

1757 - 1758

Matthew Hutton

Formerly archbishop of York ((1747-1757). Died suddenly.

1758 - 1768

Thomas Secker

1768 - 1783

Frederick Cornwallis

Uncle to later governor-general of India, Charles Cornwallis.

1783 - 1805

John Moore

1805 - 1828

Charles Manners-Sutton

1828 - 1848

William Howley

1837

Archbishop Howley is one of the two men who proceed to Kensington Palace at 5:00am on 20 June to inform Princess Victoria that she is now queen of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1851, the Church of St Gregory the Great is built in Canterbury as a memorial to him.

1844

As a response to the High Church Anglo-Catholism of Henry Phillpotts, bishop of Exeter, the Low Church Free Church of England is formed, initially with support from Edward Adolphus St Maur, the eleventh duke of Somerset, who builds the first church in Bridgetown in Devon.

1848 - 1862

John Bird Sumner

1862 - 1868

Charles Thomas Longley

1863

The Free Church of England (otherwise called the Reformed Episcopal Church) is enrolled as a definite legal entity in the High Court of Chancery.

1867

The first Pan-Anglican conference of British, colonial and foreign bishops takes place at Lambeth Palace under Archbishop Longley.

1868 - 1882

Archibald Campbell Tait

1883 - 1896

Edward White Benson

1896 - 1902

Frederick Temple

1903 - 1928

Randall Thomas Davidson

First archbishop to retire from office instead of dying there.

1912

By this time, William Booth's Salvation Army is at work in a total of fifty-eight countries around the world.

1920

The Province of Canterbury, and by definition the Church of England, no longer includes the bishops and dioceses in Wales.

1928 - 1942

William Cosmo Gordon Lang

Resigned.

1932

Union is effected between three branches of Methodism.

1942 - 1944

William Temple

Son of Archbishop Frederick Temple (1896-1902).

1945 - 1961

Geoffrey Francis Fisher

Retired.

1960

Archbishop Fisher is the first incumbent of his office to visit the Pope since the Reformation.

1961 - 1974

Arthur Michael Ramsey

One hundredth official archbishop. Retired.

1972

The Congregational Church merges with the Presbyterians to form the United Reformed Church.

1974 - 1980

Donald Coggan

Formerly archbishop of York (1965-1974). Retired.

1980 - 1991

Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie

Retired.

1991 - 2002

George Leonard Carey

Retired.

2003 - Present

Rowan Douglas Williams