John Langton (died 1337) was a chancellor of England and

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's sea ...

Life

Langton was a clerk in the royal chancery, serving as the first

Master of the Rolls The Keeper or Master of the Rolls and Records of the Chancery of England, known as the Master of the Rolls, is the President of the Civil Division of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and Head of Civil Justice. As a judge, the Master of ...

from May 1286, and became chancellor in 1292.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 85 He obtained several ecclesiastical appointments (including as Vicar of St. Mary's Church, Horncastle), but owing to the resistance of Pope

Boniface VIII Pope Boniface VIII ( la, Bonifatius PP. VIII; born Benedetto Caetani, c. 1230 – 11 October 1303) was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 24 December 1294 to his death in 1303. The Caetani family was of baronial ...

he failed to secure the

bishopric of Ely The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely. There is one suffragan (subordinate) bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon. The diocese now co ...

in 1298, although he was supported by King

Edward I of England Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vas ...

and visited Rome to attain his end.Greenway
Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066–1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Ely: Bishops
'' Resigning his office as chancellor in 1302, he was chosen Bishop of Chichester on 5 April 1305, consecrated bishop on 19 September 1305,Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 239 and again became chancellor shortly after the accession of Edward II in 1307.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 86 Langton was one of the

ordainers The Ordinances of 1311 were a series of regulations imposed upon King Edward II by the peerage and clergy of the Kingdom of England to restrict the power of the English monarch. The twenty-one signatories of the Ordinances are referred to as the L ...

elected in 1310, and it was probably his connection with this bodyBuck "Langton, John" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' that led to his losing the office of chancellor about this time. He continued, however, to take part in public affairs, mediating between the king and

Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster Thomas of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, 2nd Earl of Leicester, 2nd Earl of Derby, ''jure uxoris'' 4th Earl of Lincoln and ''jure uxoris'' 5th Earl of Salisbury (c. 1278 – 22 March 1322) was an English nobleman. A member of the House of Pl ...

in 1318, and attempting to do so between Edward and his rebellious barons in 1321. He died on 19 July 1337. Langton built the chapterhouse at Chichester, and was a benefactor of the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langton, John Year of birth missing 1337 deaths Lord chancellors of England Bishops of Chichester 14th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Clerks Masters of the Rolls