Simon Langham (1310 – 22 July 1376) was an English clergyman who was

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

and a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

Life

Langham was born at Langham in

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

. The manor of Langham was a property of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

, and he had become a

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

in the

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

Abbey of St Peter at Westminster by 1346, and later prior and then abbot of this house.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 105 He was the son of Thomas Langham who was buried in the abbey.

Treasurer of England

In November 1360, Langham was made

Treasurer of England The Lord High Treasurer was an English government position and has been a British government position since the Acts of Union of 1707. A holder of the post would be the third-highest-ranked Great Officer of State in England, below the Lord Hig ...

Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 104 and on 10 January 1362 he became

Bishop of Ely The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire (with the exception of the Soke of Peterborough), together with ...

and was consecrated on 20 March 1362.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 244 During his time as Bishop of Ely he was a major benefactor of

Peterhouse, Cambridge Peterhouse is the oldest Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate stud ...

, giving them the rectory of

Cherry Hinton Cherry Hinton is a village and electoral ward in Cambridge, England. As of the 2021 UK census, the ward's population was 9,343 people. History The rectangular parish of Cherry Hinton occupies the western corner of Flendish hundred on the ...

.Lyson's Magna Britanica Vol II
''The Monthly Review'' January–April 1812 p. 21 He resigned the treasurership before 20 February 1363, and was appointed

Chancellor of England The Lord Chancellor, formally titled Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom. The lord chancellor is the minister of justice for England and Wales and the highest-ra ...

on 21 February 1363.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 86

Archbishop of Canterbury

He was chosen Archbishop of Canterbury on 24 July 1366.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 233 Perhaps the most interesting incident in Langham's primacy was when he drove the

secular clergy In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. Secular priests (sometimes known as diocesan priests) are priests who commit themselves to a certain geograph ...

from

Canterbury College, Oxford Canterbury College was a University of Oxford college, owned and run by Christ Church Priory, Canterbury. Shortly after the dissolution of the monasteries, the college's hall, chapel and other buildings were surrendered on 10 April 1540 and ac ...

and filled their places with monks or friars in 1366. The expelled head of the seculars was a certain John de Wiclif, who has been identified with the reformer

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, Christianity, Christian reformer, Catholic priest, and a theology professor at the University of Oxfor ...

. In 1371 Wycliffe's appeal to Rome was decided and was unfavourable to him. The incident was typical of the ongoing rivalry between monks and secular clergy at Oxford University at this time. Notwithstanding the part Langham as Chancellor had taken in the anti-papal measures of 1365 and 1366, he was made cardinal of

San Sisto Vecchio The Basilica of San Sisto Vecchio (in Via Appia) is a Catholic minor basilica and Dominican conventual church in Rome, Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western ...

Pope Urban V Pope Urban V (; 1310 – 19 December 1370), born Guillaume de Grimoard, was head of the Catholic Church from 28 September 1362 until his death, in December 1370 and was also a member of the Order of Saint Benedict. He was the only Avignon pope ...

in 1368. This lost him the favour of

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring royal authority after t ...

; two months later, he resigned his archbishopric and went to

Avignon Avignon (, , ; or , ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the Communes of France, commune had a ...

. He had already resigned the chancellorship on 18 July 1367. He was soon allowed to hold other although less exalted positions in England.

Death

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. He was buried in Avignon but his body was moved to Westminster Abbey in 1379. Langham's tomb, in the chapel of St Benedict, is the work of Henry Yevele and Stephen Lote, and dates from 1389-1395. It is the oldest monument to an ecclesiastic in the Abbey. Langham left the residue of his large estate and his library to

, and has been called its second founder. His bequest paid for the building of the western section of the nave. The books he gave are listed in ''The Manuscripts of Westminster Abbey'' (1909) by J. A. Robinson and

M. R. James Montague Rhodes James (1 August 1862 – 12 June 1936) was an English medievalist scholar and author who served as provost of King's College, Cambridge (1905–1918), and of Eton College (1918–1936) as well as Vice-Chancellor of the Univers ...

References

--------------------- * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langham, Simon Cardinal-bishops of Palestrina Lord chancellors of England Bishops of Ely Archbishops of Canterbury Abbots of Westminster 14th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops People from Rutland 1310 births 1376 deaths Lord high treasurers of England English Benedictines Burials at Westminster Abbey 14th-century English cardinals 14th-century Christian abbots