Thomas Langton

Last updated

Thomas Langton
Bishop of Winchester
Appointed1493
Term endedJanuary 27, 1501 (1501-01-27)
Predecessor Peter Courtenay
Successor Richard Foxe
Other post(s) Archbishop-elect of Canterbury
Orders
ConsecrationAugust or September 1483
Personal details
Born
Died27 January 1501
England
Buried Winchester Cathedral
NationalityEnglish
Denomination Roman Catholic
Previous post(s)

Thomas Langton (died 27 January 1501) was chaplain to King Edward IV, before becoming successively Bishop of St David's, Bishop of Salisbury, Bishop of Winchester, and Archbishop-elect of Canterbury.

Contents

Early life

Langton was born in Appleby-in-Westmorland, and educated by the Carmelite friars there. He matriculated at Queen's College, Oxford, but soon removed to Cambridge, probably to Clare Hall, on account of the plague. In 1461 he was elected fellow of Pembroke Hall, serving as proctor in 1462. While at Cambridge he took both degrees in canon law, and was afterwards incorporated in them at Oxford.

In 1464 he left the university, and some time before 1476 was made chaplain to King Edward IV. Langton was in high favour with the king, who trusted him much, and sent him on various important embassies. In 1467 he went as ambassador to France, and as king's chaplain was sent to treat with Ferdinand II, king of Aragon, on 24 November 1476. He visited France again on diplomatic business on 30 November 1477, and on 11 August 1478, to conclude the espousals of Edward's daughter Elizabeth and Charles, son of the French king. Two years later he was sent to demand the fulfilment of this marriage treaty, but the prince, now Charles VIII, king of France, refused to carry it out, and the match was broken off. [1]

Career

Meanwhile, Langton received much ecclesiastical preferment. In 1478 he was made treasurer of Exeter, [2] prebendary of St. Decuman's, Wells Cathedral, [3] and about the same time master of St. Julian's Hospital, Southampton, a post which he still retained twenty years later. He was presented on 1 July 1480 to All Hallows Church, Bread Street, and on 14 May 1482 to All Hallows, Lombard Street, City of London, also becoming prebendary of North Kelsey, Lincoln Cathedral, [4] in the next year. Probably by the favour of King Edward V, who granted him the temporalities of the see on 21 May, Langton was advanced in 1483 to the bishopric of St. Davids; [5] [6] the papal bull confirming the election is dated 4 July, [5] and he was consecrated in August or September. [5]

Langton's prosperity did not decline with Edward V's deposition. He was sent on an embassy to Rome and to France by King Richard III, who translated him to the bishopric of Salisbury by papal bull dated 8 February 1485. [7] [8] Langton was also elected provost of Queen's College, Oxford, on 6 December 1487, a post which he seems to have retained till 1495. He was a considerable benefactor to the college, where he built some new sets of rooms and enlarged the provost's lodgings. In 1493 King Henry VII transferred him from Salisbury to Winchester, [9] [10] a see which had been vacant over a year.

During the seven years that he was bishop of Winchester Langton started a school in the precincts of the palace, where he had youths trained in grammar and music. He was a good musician himself, used to examine the scholars in person, and encourage them by good words and small rewards. Finally, a proof of his ever-increasing popularity, Langton was elected Archbishop of Canterbury on 22 January 1501, [11] [12] but died of the plague on the 27th, [11] before the confirmation of the deed. He was buried in a marble tomb within 'a very fair chapel' which he had built south of the lady-chapel in Winchester Cathedral. [1]

Death

Before his death he had given 10 pounds towards the erection of Great St. Mary's Church, Cambridge, and in 1497 a drinking-cup, weighing 67 ounces, called the 'Anathema Cup,' to Pembroke Hall. This is the oldest extant hanap or covered cup that is hall-marked. By his will, dated 16 January 1501, Langton left large sums of money to the priests of Clare Hall, Cambridge, money and vestments to the fellows and priests of Queen's College, Oxford, besides legacies to the friars at both universities, and to the Carmelites at Appleby-in-Westmorland. To his sister and her husband, Rowland Machel, lands (probably the family estates) in Westmorland and two hundred marks were bequeathed. An annual pension of eight marks was set aside to maintain a chapel at Appleby-in-Westmorland for a hundred years to pray for the souls of Langton, his parents, and all the faithful deceased at Appleby-in-Westmorland. [1]

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Bradley, Emily Tennyson (1892). "Langton, Thomas"  . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography . Vol. 32. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. Horn, J. M. (1962). "Treasurers of Exeter". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300 – 1541: Volume 9: Exeter Diocese. British History Online. pp. 10–12.
  3. Jones, B (1964). "Prebendaries of St Decuman's". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300 – 1541: Volume 8: Bath and Wells Diocese. British History Online. pp. 61–62.
  4. King, H. P. F. (1962). "Prebendaries of North Kelsey". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300 – 1541: Volume 1: Lincoln Diocese. British History Online. pp. 98–100.
  5. 1 2 3 Fryde et al. 1986, p. 298.
  6. Jones, B. (1965). "Bishops of St David's". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300 – 1541: Volume 11: The Welsh Dioceses. British History Online. pp. 53–56.
  7. Fryde et al. 1986, p. 271.
  8. Horn, J. M. (1962). "Bishops of Salisbury". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300 – 1541: Volume 3: Salisbury Diocese. British History Online. pp. 1–3.
  9. Fryde et al. 1986, p. 277.
  10. Jones, B. (1962). "Bishops of Winchester". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300 – 1541: Volume 4: Monastic Cathedrals (Southern Province). British History Online. pp. 45–47.
  11. 1 2 Fryde et al. 1986, p. 234.
  12. Jones, B. (1962). "Archbishops of Canterbury". Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300 – 1541: Volume 4: Monastic Cathedrals (Southern Province). British History Online. pp. 3–5.

Related Research Articles

Eustace was the twenty-third Lord Chancellor of England, from 1197 to 1198. He was also Dean of Salisbury and Bishop of Ely.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Northburgh</span> 14th-century Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield and Treasurer of England

Roger Northburgh was a cleric, administrator and politician who was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield from 1321 until his death. His was a stormy career as he was inevitably involved in many of the conflicts of his time: military, dynastic and ecclesiastical.

Henry Wingham was a Lord Chancellor of England and Bishop of London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop of Norwich</span> Diocesan bishop in the Church of England

The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Bainbridge</span> 16th-century Archbishop of York and cardinal

Christopher Bainbridge was an English cardinal. Of Westmorland origins, he was a nephew of Bishop Thomas Langton of Winchester, represented the continuation of Langton's influence and teaching and succeeded him in many of his appointments such as provost of The Queen's College in the University of Oxford. Towards the end of the reign of King Henry VII, he was successively Master of the Rolls, a Privy Counsellor, Dean of Windsor and Bishop of Durham. Becoming Archbishop of York and therefore Primate of England in 1508, he was sent as procurator of King Henry VIII to the papal court of Pope Julius II, where he was active in the diplomatic affairs leading to Henry's war against France and took part in the election of Julius's successor, Pope Leo X. He was murdered by poisoning in Italy in 1514 and was succeeded as Archbishop of York by Thomas Wolsey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Booth</span> 15th-century Archbishop of York and Chancellor of England

Lawrence Booth served as bishop of Durham and lord chancellor of England, before being appointed archbishop of York.

Richard FitzNeal was a churchman and bureaucrat in the service of Henry II of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop of Worcester</span> Diocesan bishop in the Church of England

The Bishop of Worcester is the head of the Church of England Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop of Rochester</span> Diocesan bishop in the Church of England

The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop of Winchester</span> Diocesan bishop in the Church of England

The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (cathedra) is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop of Salisbury</span> Ordinary of the Church of Englands Diocese of Salisbury

The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The see is in the City of Salisbury where the bishop's seat is in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The current bishop is Stephen Lake.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bishop of Ely</span> Diocesan bishop in the Church of England

The Bishop of Ely is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire, together with a section of north-west Norfolk and has its episcopal see in the City of Ely, Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity. The diocesan bishops resided at the Bishop's Palace, Ely until 1941; they now reside in Bishop's House, the former cathedral deanery. Conway became Bishop of Ely in 2010, translated from the Diocese of Salisbury where he was Bishop suffragan of Ramsbury.

Simon Langton was an English medieval clergyman who served as Archdeacon of Canterbury from 1227 until his death in 1248. He had previously been Archbishop-elect of York, but the election was quashed by Pope Innocent III.

Nicholas Bubwith (1355-1424) was a Bishop of London, Bishop of Salisbury and Bishop of Bath and Wells as well as Lord Privy Seal and Lord High Treasurer of England.

Simon of Wells was a medieval Bishop of Chichester.

William of Sainte-Mère-Église was a medieval Bishop of London.

Thomas Barrett was a fifteenth-century Bishop of Annaghdown.

Robert de Stretton was Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield following the death of Roger Northburgh in 1358. A client of Edward, the Black Prince, he became a "notorious figure" because it was alleged that he was illiterate, although this is now largely discounted as unlikely, as he was a relatively efficient administrator.

James Blakedon O.P., D.Th. was a medieval prelate who served as Bishop of Achonry from 1442 to 1453, then Bishop of Bangor from 1453 to 1464.

Charles Booth, D.C.L. was a sixteenth-century clergyman who served as the Bishop of Hereford from 1516 to 1535.

References

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of St David's
1483–1485
Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Salisbury
1485–1493
Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Winchester
1493–1501
Succeeded by
Preceded by
John Morton (archbishop)
Archbishop-elect of Canterbury
1501
Succeeded by
Henry Deane (archbishop)