| Simon Langham O.S.B. | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal, Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of All England | |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Appointed | 24 July 1366 |
| Installed | unknown |
| Term ended | 28 November 1368 |
| Predecessor | William Edington |
| Successor | William Whittlesey |
| Other post(s) | Cardinal-Bishop of Sabina Bishop of Ely |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 20 March 1362 by William Edington |
| Created cardinal | 22 September 1368 by Pope Urban V |
| Rank | Cardinal-Bishop |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1310 Langham, Rutland, England |
| Died | 22 July 1376 Avignon, France |
| Buried | Westminster Abbey |
Simon Langham (1310 – 22 July 1376) was an English clergyman who was Archbishop of Canterbury and a cardinal.
Life
Langham was born at Langham in Rutland. The manor of Langham was a property of Westminster Abbey, and he had become a monk in the Benedictine Abbey of St Peter at Westminster by 1346, and later prior and then abbot of this house. He was the son of Thomas Langham who was buried in the abbey.
Treasurer of England
In November 1360, Langham was made Treasurer of England and on 10 January 1362 he became Bishop of Ely and was consecrated on 20 March 1362. During his time as Bishop of Ely he was a major benefactor of Peterhouse, Cambridge, giving them the rectory of Cherry Hinton. He resigned the treasurership before 20 February 1363, and was appointed Chancellor of England on 21 February 1363.
Archbishop of Canterbury
He was chosen Archbishop of Canterbury on 24 July 1366.
Perhaps the most interesting incident in Langham's primacy was when he drove the secular clergy from Canterbury College, Oxford and filled their places with monks or friars in 1366. The expelled head of the seculars was a certain John de Wiclif, who has been identified with the reformer John Wycliffe. In 1371 Wycliffe's appeal to Rome was decided and was unfavourable to him. The incident was typical of the ongoing rivalry between monks and secular clergy at Oxford University at this time.
Notwithstanding the part Langham as Chancellor had taken in the anti-papal measures of 1365 and 1366, he was made cardinal of San Sisto Vecchio by Pope Urban V in 1368. This lost him the favour of Edward III; two months later, he resigned his archbishopric and went to Avignon. He had already resigned the chancellorship on 18 July 1367. He was soon allowed to hold other although less exalted positions in England.
Death
In 1374, he was elected Archbishop of Canterbury for the second time, but he withdrew his claim and died at Avignon on 22 July 1376. He was buried in Avignon but his body was moved to Westminster Abbey in 1379. Langham's tomb, in the chapel of St Benedict, is the work of Henry Yevele and Stephen Lote, and dates from 1389-1395. It is the oldest monument to an ecclesiastic in the Abbey.
Langham left the residue of his large estate and his library to Westminster Abbey, and has been called its second founder. His bequest paid for the building of the western section of the nave. The books he gave are listed in The Manuscripts of Westminster Abbey (1909) by J. A. Robinson and M. R. James.
References
- Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 105
- ^ "Simon & Thomas Langham". westminster-abbey.org.uk. Westminster Abbey. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
- ^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 104
- Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 244
- "Lyson's Magna Britanica Vol II" The Monthly Review January–April 1812 p. 21
- ^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 86
- ^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 233
- Estep, William Roscoe (1986). Renaissance and Reformation. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 978-0802800503. Retrieved 26 October 2019 – via Google Books.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Langham, Simon". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 174.- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byJohn Sheppey | Lord High Treasurer 1360–1363 |
Succeeded byJohn Barnet |
| Preceded byWilliam Edington | Lord Chancellor 1363–1367 |
Succeeded byWilliam of Wykeham |
| Catholic Church titles | ||
| Preceded byThomas de Lisle | Bishop of Ely 1362–1366 |
Succeeded byJohn Barnet |
| Preceded byWilliam Edington | Archbishop of Canterbury 1366–1368 |
Succeeded byWilliam Whittlesey |
| English Lord High Treasurers under the House of Plantagenet (1216–1399) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Henry III (1216–1272) |
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| Edward I (1272–1307) |
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| Edward II (1307–1327) |
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| Edward III (1327–1377) |
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| Richard II (1377–1399) |
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| Bishops of Ely | |
|---|---|
| High Medieval | |
| Late Medieval | |
| Early modern |
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| Late modern | |
- Lord chancellors
- Cardinal-bishops of Palestrina
- Lord chancellors of England
- Bishops of Ely
- Archbishops of Canterbury
- Abbots of Westminster
- 14th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops
- People from Rutland
- 1310 births
- 1376 deaths
- Lord high treasurers of England
- English Benedictines
- Burials at Westminster Abbey
- 14th-century English cardinals
- 14th-century Christian abbots