Thomas Arundel

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Archbishop Arundel

Thomas Arundel (also Thomas FitzAlan) (* 1353 ; † February 19, 1414 ) was Bishop of Ely , Archbishop of York and Canterbury and several times Lord Chancellor of England under Kings Richard II and Henry IV.

Early years

Thomas Arundel was the son of Richard FitzAlan, 10th Earl of Arundel and his wife Eleanor and brother of Richard FitzAlan, 11th Earl of Arundel and John Arundel. As the youngest of three brothers, a career in the church was planned for him. His father was ambassador to the papal curia for a while and was therefore able to intercede well for his son. So it happened that at the age of just 20, on April 9, 1373, he was ordained Bishop of Ely.

Start of political career

His career was influenced by his father and after his father's death in January 1376 he came more under the influence of his brother Richard. Richard was an outspoken critic of Richard II (England) . He belonged to the Lords Appellant who in 1386 enforced extended rights for parliament against the king. In the course of this dispute, the previous Lord Chancellor Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk , lost his office to the Bishop of Ely, Thomas Arundel. His first term of office was to last three years. During this time he became a mediator between the King and Parliament. In 1388 he was appointed Archbishop of York .

In 1389 Richard II regained control of the government and Archbishop Arundel lost his office as Lord Chancellor on May 4th. While his brother was increasingly isolated in the following time, he was able to increase his reputation with the king again so far that on September 27, 1391 he took over the office of Lord Chancellor again. He became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1396 and resigned as Lord Chancellor on November 15.

Deposition as bishop and exile

In the course of the indictment against his brother, he was deposed as archbishop and, with papal help, appointed bishop of St. Andrews . He then went into exile to present his case to the Pope in Rome. From Rome he traveled to Paris via Florence, Cologne and Utrecht. There he met Henry Bolingbroke, with whom he returned to England in July 1399. He mediated between Richard II and Henry Bolingbroke and was Lord Chancellor again from August 23, 1399 to September 3, 1399. He received the post of Archbishop of Canterbury again.

Under Henry IV.

With the coronation of Henry IV, he withdrew a little from politics. The relationship between the two cooled off. In 1405, rumors first emerged that he was involved in a conspiracy against the king. He could only dispel doubts about his loyalty by kneeling in public before the king. Shortly afterwards, his friend the Archbishop of York, Richard le Scrope, was charged with conspiracy and, despite his best efforts, executed. But this event also marked a turning point in the relationship between Arundel and the king. He ignored the excommunication of the king by the pope after this incident.

He had now become the king's advisor again and was appointed Lord Chancellor on January 30, 1407. By this time in office the king was already weakened by a mysterious illness that was supposed to be God's punishment for the execution of the Archbishop of York. In 1409 he was so weakened that his son Heinrich together with the Beaufort family prevailed in parliament and Thomas Arundel lost his office as Lord Chancellor again. At the end of 1411 the king was able to consolidate his authority again and reappoint Arundel as Lord Chancellor on January 5, 1412. With the death of Henry IV on March 21, 1413, he lost this post for good.

Fight against the lollards

In 1382 the synods in London and Oxford condemned the writings of John Wycliffe as heretical. But Wyclif remained undisturbed until his death, for fear of a popular uprising. The pursuit of the lollards began later. King Henry IV issued the de combrende heretico statute as early as 1401 , but systematic persecution did not begin until later. The 1410 trial of John Badby was chaired by Thomas Arundel. In 1413 he opened the case against John Oldcastle . He was found guilty of heresy and sentenced to death. The sentence was not carried out because he was able to flee.

death

He died on February 19, 1414 after a stroke. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral. His grave and the chapel were destroyed in 1540 by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 224
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, 85
  3. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 265
  4. ^ A b Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 211
  5. ↑ Dieter Berg: The Anjou Plantagenets: The English kings in Europe in the Middle Ages (1100-1500). Kohlhammer, 2003, ISBN 3-17-014488-X , page 270
  6. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 301
  7. ↑ H. Vollrath & N. Fryde (eds.): The English Kings in the Middle Ages; From William the Conqueror to Richard III. Beck, 2004, ISBN 3-406-49463-3 , page 169
  8. ↑ Peter McNiven, Scrope, Richard (c.1350-1405) , Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2008 viewed on December 12, 2011
  9. ↑ a b H. Vollrath & N. Fryde (eds.): The English Kings in the Middle Ages; From William the Conqueror to Richard III. Beck, 2004, ISBN 3-406-49463-3 , page 172
  10. ↑ H. Vollrath & N. Fryde (eds.): The English Kings in the Middle Ages; From William the Conqueror to Richard III. Beck, 2004, ISBN 3-406-49463-3 , page 175
predecessor Office successor
Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk Lord Chancellor
1386-1389 		William of Wykeham
William of Wykeham Lord Chancellor
1391-1396 		Edmund Strafford
Edmund Strafford Lord Chancellor
1399 		John Scarle
Thomas Langley Lord Chancellor
1407-1409 		Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter
Thomas Beaufort, 1st Duke of Exeter Lord Chancellor
1412-1413 		Henry Beaufort


predecessor Office successor
John Barnet Bishop of Ely
1373-1388 		John Fordham
Alexander Neville Archbishop of York
1388-1396 		Robert Waldby
William Courtenay Archbishop of Canterbury
1396-1397 		Robert Walden
Walter Trail Bishop of St. Andrews
1398-1399 		Thomas Stewart
Robert Walden Archbishop of Canterbury
1399-1414 		Henry Chichele
personal data
SURNAME Arundel, Thomas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES FitzAlan, Thomas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bishop of Ely, Archbishop of Canterbury and York, and Lord Chancellor
DATE OF BIRTH 1353
DATE OF DEATH February 19, 1414