Simon Langham

Infobox Archbishop of Canterbury
Full name = Simon Langham


birth_name =
consecrated =provided 24 July 1366
began = 24 July 1366
term_end = 28 November 1368
predecessor = William Edington
successor = William Whittlesey
birth_date = 1310
death_date =22 July 1376
tomb = Westminster Abbey

Simon de Langham (1310 - 22 July 1376) was an English clergyman who was Archbishop of Canterbury and a cardinal.

Life

He 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.Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 105]

In November of 1360 he was made treasurer of EnglandFryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 104] and on 10 January 1362 he became bishop of Ely and was consecrated on 20 March 1362.Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 244] During his time as bishop of Ely he was a major benefactor of Peterhouse, Cambridge, giving them the rectory of Cherry Hinton. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=lYQCAAAAYAAJ&printsec=titlepage&dq=bernard+hale] He was appointed chancellor of England on 21 February 1363Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 86] and was chosen archbishop of Canterbury on 24 July 1366.Fryde "Handbook of British Chronology" p. 233] He resigned the Treasurership before 20 February 1363.

Perhaps the most interesting incident in his primacy was when he drove the secular clergy from their college of Canterbury Hall, Oxford, and filled their places with monks. The expelled head of the seculars was a certain John de Wiclif, who has been identified with the great reformer Wycliffe.

Notwithstanding the part Langham as chancellor had taken in the anti-papal measures of 1365 and 1366 he was made cardinal of St Sixtus by Pope Urban V in 1368. This step lost him the favour of Edward III, and 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, and 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. Langham’s tomb, the work of Henry Yevele, is the oldest monument to an ecclesiastic in Westminster Abbey. He left the residue of his estate – a large sum – and his library to the abbey, and has been called its second founder. His bequest paid for the building of the western section of the nave.

Notes

References

*

External links

* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08788b.htm Simon Langham at Catholic Encyclopedia Online]
* [http://www.britannia.com/bios/abofc/slangham.html Simon Langham at Britannia Biographies]

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Persondata
NAME= Langham, Simon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Langham, Simon de
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Bishop of Ely; Archbishop of Canterbury; Cardinal of St. Sixtus
DATE OF BIRTH= 1310
PLACE OF BIRTH=Langham, Rutland
DATE OF DEATH=22 July 1376
PLACE OF DEATH=Avignon