THOMAS ARUNDEL

'Thomas Arundel' (1353 - February 19 1414) was Archbishop of Canterbury in 1397 and from 1399 until his death, an outspoken opponent of the Lollards. He was perhaps the consummate example of the political "aristocratic clergyman", appointed to his position without any theological training.

Contents

Life

Anti-Lollard

The Transubstantiation litmus test

Notes

References

See also

External link

Life

A younger son of Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel, he was provided to the Bishopric of Ely on Augus 13, 1373.Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 84 On April 3, 1388 he was transferred to archbishopric of York.Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 265 Eventually he was moved to Canterbury on September 25, 1397.Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 211 However, he was exiled by King Richard II of England, and his tenure was interrupted by that of Roger Walden.
After being removed as Archbishop of Canterbury by both King Richard II and the Pope, he was in exile in Florence, Italy where he plotted his return to England and power. This opportunity came via his backing of Henry, Earl of Derby (soon to become Duke of Lancaster and then, after his usurpation of the English throne, Henry IV) in the latter's quest to commit an act of treason by returning to England from his exile in France and taking the throne from Richard II.
On the accession of Henry IV, Roger Walden, his successor in the primatial see, was declared a usurper, and Arundel restored, 21 October, 1399, Walden eventually being translated to London with the support of Arundel.
He served several stints as Lord Chancellor, the first three being under Richard II and the last two under Henry IV.Powicke ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 84

Anti-Lollard

A century and a half earlier Pope Innocent III, in 1215, gathered church advisors and formulated provisions for the universal instruction of church laity, which in practical terms meant providing religious instruction in the vernacular language of the common people, rather than clerical Latin. This position was supported by John Peckham, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1281 who developed a comprehensive program for instruction of the laity in the English vernacular. As late as 1357, Archbishop of York, John Thoresbey, had his instructions to parish priests distributed in English rather than Latin.
However, Arundel is conspicuous as having taken an extremist stand against the Lollards whose new doctrine he, in company with the bishops of the province, petitioned Rome to condemn. Herein (allegedly) lie the roots of the Catholic and Protestant feud; Arundel sought to consolidate the power of the church over people's lives, without toleration of dissent. The Lollards, on the other hand, sought to nullify some of the church's more antiquarian perspectives, and as such were seen as reformist predecessors of Protestantism. Amongst other plights, they sought an end to the church's insistence on publishing all texts in Latin, which meant that the common man was unable to understand them.
Contemporary literary figures such as Geoffrey Chaucer were behind this campaign, and many speculate that this may have been the cause of Chaucer's premature death. (See Terry Jones book ''). Naturally, the Catholic church was anxious to preserve its position at the forefont of English society, and Arundel spearheaded the bloody backlash against the Lollards. As such, he was selected by the BBC History Magazine as the 15th century's worst Briton. (BBC), and
in 2006, he was selected by the BBC History Magazine as the 9th worst Briton in the last 1000 years.

The Transubstantiation litmus test

Arundel was also vehement in his sturdy assertion of Transubstantiation as a litmus test for doctrinal orthodoxy, using it to eliminate those he believed to be the enemies of the "church commercial" (of which he was a great beneficiary) such as the theological scholar John Wycliffe who posited an alternative view in his 1379 treatise ''De Eucharistia'', even though Arundel lacked the training to understand the nuances of the theological (as opposed to the political)arguments which surrounded this religious concept. Arundel's position was that the bread and wine used in the Catholic mass were completely changed into Jesus Christ's actual body and blood; alternative interpretations held that the bread and wine was either symbolic of Christ's body and blood, or that it was physically unaltered, but sacramentally changed. These alternative views were commonly held and accepted by theological scholars in the period 1350-1380. In 1401 Arundel launched his "war on heresy".
Arundel also supported the prerogatives and divine institution of the Papacy. He was less popular with Henry's son and successor, Henry V. He died February 19, 1414.

Notes

References

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

See also

★ List of bishops of Ely

★ List of Archbishops of Canterbury

★ List of Lord Chancellors and Lord Keepers

External link

★ Constitutions (1408) Latin transcription; Arundel's prohibition of Bible translation into vernacular languages.

★ Are these the 10 Worst Britons? accessed on September 7, 2007
----