John Longe (1548–1589) was an English-born

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland (, ; , ) is a Christian church in Ireland, and an autonomy, autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the Christianity in Ireland, second-largest Christian church on the ...

archbishop of Armagh The Archbishop of Armagh is an Episcopal polity, archiepiscopal title which takes its name from the Episcopal see, see city of Armagh in Northern Ireland. Since the Reformation in Ireland, Reformation, there have been parallel apostolic success ...

. He had a fondness for good living, which caused him to run up massive debts, but was also noted for his literary tastes.

Life

He was born in London; little seems to be known of his parents or his family background. He was educated at

Eton College Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...

where he was a

King's Scholar A King's Scholar, abbreviated KS in the United Kingdom, is the recipient of a scholarship from a foundation created by, or under the auspices of, a British monarch. The scholarships are awarded at certain Public school (United Kingdom), public ...

. He later attended

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, where he was admitted a scholar on 13 August 1564; there is no record that he took a degree. After taking

holy orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

and holding many livings in England, he was promoted, from what was described as "a position of utter obscurity", to the see of Armagh and primacy of all Ireland in July 1584, on the nomination of

Sir John Perrot Sir John Perrot (7 November 1528 – 3 November 1592) was a member of the Welsh people, Welsh gentry who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I of England during the Tudor conquest of Ireland. It was formerly speculated that he ...

Lord Deputy of Ireland The Lord Deputy was the representative of the monarch and head of the Irish executive (government), executive under English rule, during the Lordship of Ireland and then the Kingdom of Ireland. He deputised prior to 1523 for the Viceroy of Ireland ...

, but against the inclination of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

, who had a poor opinion of him. He seems to have done little to improve the abject condition of the

, although he was fully aware of it, remarking that he doubted that there were even forty Irish-born

Protestants Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

in the whole country. A plan to strictly enforce the laws against

recusants Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

was vetoed by the Queen personally: she pointed out that by his own account, the vast majority of the population was

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

, and doubted that any good would come from provoking them. He moved in literary circles, being a friend of

Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (; – 13 January 1599 O.S.) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of na ...

and

Lodowick Bryskett Lodowick Bryskett (1547–1612 ca., fl. 1571–1611) was a poet, translator, diplomat and Irish official. He served as Special Ambassador from England to Tuscany in 1600–01. Life He is stated to have been the son of "a natural (born) Italian", ...

. Bryskett recalled that he was present at Bryskett's cottage near Dublin on a well-known occasion in the late 1580s where Spenser confided to his friends that he had begun work on ''

The Faerie Queene ''The Faerie Queene'' is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Books IIII were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books IVVI. ''The Faerie Queene'' is notable for its form: at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 sta ...

''. He was, rather belatedly, made a member of the

Irish Privy Council His or Her Majesty's Privy Council in Ireland, commonly called the Privy Council of Ireland, Irish Privy Council, or in earlier centuries the Irish Council, was the institution within the Dublin Castle administration which exercised formal execut ...

in 1585 (the delay was apparently due to the Queen's low opinion of him). He died at

Drogheda Drogheda ( , ; , meaning "bridge at the ford") is an industrial and port town in County Louth on the east coast of Ireland, north of Dublin. It is located on the Dublin–Belfast corridor on the east coast of Ireland, mostly in County Louth ...

in 1589, being buried in Primate Octavian's vault at St Peter's Church, Drogheda. Lord Deputy William Fitzwilliam, in a letter dated 12 February 1589, to William Lyon,

Bishop of Cork The Bishop of Cork was a separate episcopal title which took its name after the city of Cork in Ireland. The title is now united with other bishoprics. In the Church of Ireland it is held by the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, and in the Roman ...

, remarked that he "loved good cheer but too well". Due to his extravagant lifestyle, and the fact that his episcopal see produced little in the way of profit (the Queen had forbidden him to hold any other living in plurality), he accumulated very heavy debts, including one of £1000 to the Crown. At one point he was accused of resorting to

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally consists of the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific mens rea, intent to wikt:defraud#English, defraud. Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be fo ...

to supplement his income. His widow Anne petitioned Fitzwilliam for redress for herself and her children, complaining that her husband's goods had been seized by the Crown to satisfy Longe's debts, despite his being "a good and faithful counsellor at this Board (i.e. the Irish Privy Council)". Although Fitzwilliam evidently did not share this high opinion of the Archbishop's services to the Crown, Anne's petition was granted, and the debt, despite its size, was written off.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Longe, John 1548 births 1589 deaths Anglican clergy from London People educated at Eton College Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Anglican archbishops of Armagh 16th-century Anglican bishops in Ireland British expatriate archbishops