SIMON SUDBURY

'Simon Theobald' a.k.a "Simon of Sudbury" (d. June 14, 1381) was an Archbishop of Canterbury (1375 - 1381) as well as Bishop of London.

Contents

Life

Notes

References

See also

External links

Life

He was born at Sudbury in Suffolk, studied at the University of Paris, and became one of the chaplains of Pope Innocent VI, who sent him, in 1356, on a mission to Edward III of England.
In October 1361 the pope appointed him Bishop of London, and he was consecrated on March 20, 1362.Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 240 He was soon serving the king as an ambassador and in other ways. On May 4, 1375 he succeeded William Whittlesey as archbishop of Canterbury,Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 211 and during the rest of his life was a partisan of John of Gaunt.
In July 1377, he crowned Richard II, and in 1378 John Wycliffe appeared before him at Lambeth, but he only undertook proceedings against the reformer under great pressure.
In January 1380, Sudbury became chancellor of England,Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 84 and the insurgent peasants regarded him as one of the principal authors of their woes. Having released John Ball from his prison at Maidstone, the Kentish insurgents attacked and damaged the archbishop's property at Canterbury and Lambeth; then, rushing into the Tower of London, they seized the archbishop himself. So unpopular was Sudbury that guards simply allowed the rebels through the gates.
Sudbury was dragged to Tower Hill and, on June 14 1381, was beheaded. His body was afterwards buried in Canterbury Cathedral, though his head (after being taken down from London Bridge) is still kept at the church of St Gregory at Sudbury in Suffolk, which Sudbury rebuilt part of [1]. With his brother, John of Chertsey, he also founded a college in Sudbury; he also did some building at Canterbury. His father was Nigel Theobald, and he is sometimes called Simon Theobald or Tybald.

Notes

References

★ Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde ''Handbook of British Chronology'' 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961

See also

★ List of Archbishops of Canterbury

★ List of bishops of London

★ List of Lord Chancellors and Lord Keepers

External links

★ Simon of Sudbury at Catholic Encyclopedia Online

★ Simon of Sudbury at 1911 Britannica Encyclopedia Online
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