Richard Bancroft

Richard Bancroft

Infobox Archbishop of Canterbury
Full name = Richard Bancroft


birth_name =
began = November 1604
term_end = 2 November 1610
predecessor = John Whitgift
successor = George Abbot
birth_date = 1544 | birthplace = Farnworth, Lancashire
death_date = 2 November 1610| deathplace =
Lambeth, London
tomb = Lambeth

Archbishop Richard Bancroft, DD, BD, MA, BA (1544 - November 2, 1610), Archbishop of Canterbury and the "chief overseer" of the production of the authorized version of the Bible.

Life

Bancroft was born at Farnworth, then a village in south Lancashire, in 1544. His early education was at Farnworth grammar school which had been founded by bishop William Smyth who had also been born in the village. He was later educated at Cambridge, first at Christ's College and afterwards at Jesus College. He took his degree of BA in 1567 and that of MA in 1570. Ordained about that time, he was named chaplain to Richard Cox, then bishop of Ely, and in 1575 was presented to the rectory of Teversham in Cambridgeshire. The next year he was one of the preachers to the university.

He graduated BD in 1580 and DD five years later. In 1584 he was made rector of St Andrew's Church in Holborn. In 1585 he was appointed treasurer of St Paul's cathedral, London, and in 1586 was made a member of the ecclesiastical commission. On February 9, 1589 he preached at Paul's Cross a sermon, the substance of which was a passionate attack on the Puritans. He described their speeches and proceedings, caricatured their motives, denounced the exercise of the right of private judgment, and set forth the divine right of bishops in such strong language that one of the queen’s councillors held it to amount to a threat against the supremacy of the crown.

In the following year Bancroft was made a prebendary of St Paul's; he had been canon of Westminster since 1587. He was chaplain successively to Lord Chancellor Hatton and Archbishop Whitgift. In June 1597 he was consecrated Bishop of London; and from this time, in consequence of the age and incapacity for business of Archbishop Whitgift, he was virtually invested with the power of primate, and had the sole management of ecclesiastical affairs. Among the more noteworthy cases which fell under his direction were the proceedings against "Martin Mar-Prelate," Thomas Cartwright and his friends, and John Penry, whose "seditious writings" he caused to be intercepted and given up to the lord keeper.

In 1600 he was sent on an embassy, with others, to Emden, for the purpose of settling certain matters in dispute between the English and the Danes. This mission, however, failed. Bancroft was present at the death of Queen Elizabeth.

Archbishop of Canterbury

In March 1604 Bancroft, on Whitgift's death, was appointed by royal writ president of convocation then assembled; and he there presented a book of canons collected by himself. It was adopted and received the royal approval, but was strongly opposed and set aside by Parliament two months afterwards. In the following November he was elected successor to Whitgift in the see of Canterbury. He continued to show the same zeal and severity as before, and with so much success that Lord Clarendon, writing in his praise, expressed the opinion that "if Bancroft had lived, he would quickly have extinguished all that fire in England which had been kindled at Geneva."

In 1608 he was chosen chancellor of the University of Oxford. One of his last public acts was a proposal laid before Parliament for improving the revenues of the Church, and a project for a college of controversial divinity at Chelsea. In the last few months of his life he took part in the discussion about the consecration of certain Scottish bishops, and it was in pursuance of his advice that they were consecrated by several bishops of the English Church. By this act were laid the foundations of the Scottish Episcopal Church. Bancroft was "the chief overseer" of the authorized version of the Bible. He died at Lambeth Palace on 2 November 1610.

References

*1911|article=Richard Bancroft|url=http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Richard_Bancroft
*Foster, Alan, "A History of Farnworth Church, its Parish and Village", 1981.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Richard Bancroft — (* 1544 in Farnworth, Lancashire; † 2. November 1610 in London) war Erzbischof von Canterbury. Bancroft studierte zunächst am Christ s College Cambridge, und danach am Jesus College. Er absolvierte 15 …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Richard Bancroft — (1544 – 2 novembre 1610) est un ecclésiastique anglais, et le soixante quatorzième archevêque de Cantorbéry. Il est également le superviseur de la conception de la Bible du roi Jacques …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Bancroft — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Ann Bancroft (* 1955), amerikanische Polarforscherin und Autorin Anne Bancroft (1931–2005), amerikanische Schauspielerin Dave Bancroft (1891–1972), amerikanischer Baseballspieler Edward Bancroft (Chemiker) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bancroft — may refer to:People* Ann Bancroft, an American explorer * Anne Bancroft, an American actress * Billy Bancroft, Welsh international rugby union player and county cricketer * Dave Bancroft, an American baseball player and member of the Baseball… …   Wikipedia

  • Bancroft, Richard — (1544–1610)    Archbishop and Theologian.    Bancroft was educated at the University of Cambridge. He rose rapidly in the Church, becoming Canon of Westminster in 1587, Bishop of London in 1597 and Archbishop of Canterbury in 1604. He is… …   Who’s Who in Christianity

  • Bancroft — This famous Cheshire and South Lancashire surname, is believed to derive from a lost village of the same name. Bancroft describes a hamlet on a hill side, the origin being olde English pre 7th century ban a hillside or bank and crofta a farmstead …   Surnames reference

  • Richard Weber — Richard Weber, M.S.M. (né le 9 juin, 1959 à Edmonton en Alberta) est un explorateur polaire canadien de renommée mondiale. De 1978 à 2006, il a participé, a guidé et a organisé plus de 45 expéditions en Arctique. Richard est la seule personne à… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Richard Wigginton Thompson — Richard W. Thompson Richard Wigginton Thompson (* 8. Juni 1809 im Culpeper County, Virginia; † 9. Februar 1900 in Terre Haute, Indiana) war ein US amerikanischer Politiker, der als Marineminis …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Richard J. Danzig — Richard Jeffrey Danzig (* 8. September 1944 in New York City) ist ein US amerikanischer Rechtsanwalt und ehemaliger Marineminister unter Präsident Bill Clinton in den Jahren 1998 bis 2001. Danzig studierte …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Richard Attenborough — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Richard Attenborough Nombre real Richard Samuel Attenborough Nacimiento 29 de agosto de …   Wikipedia Español

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”