William Warham

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William Warham by Hans Holbein the Younger , 1527 ( Louvre )

William Warham (* 1450 ; † August 22, 1532 in Hackington ) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1503 until his death .

He comes from a family in Malshanger in Hampshire . Warham attended Latin School in Winchester and then studied theology at New College , Oxford . After earning his doctorate, he held theological lectures and also studied law . In 1488 he was first a lawyer at the ecclesiastical court in London and two years later rector of the School of Civil Law at Oxford. After receiving his ordination, he took up a parish office. In 1496 Warham became Huntingdon Archdeacon and Head of the Imperial Archives. In 1502 he became Bishop of London .

Nominated Archbishop of Canterbury by Julius II on November 29, 1503 and consecrated on March 9, 1504. King Henry VII made him Lord Chancellor on January 21, 1504, and Warham was elected Chancellor of Oxford University in 1506 , an office he held until his death. With Henry VIII's accession to the throne and his marriage to Catherine of Aragon in 1509, Warham's political influence waned, as he had tried to prevent the marriage until the end in the interests of Henry VII's anti-Spanish policy. In 1515 he gave up his office as Lord Chancellor and devoted himself to his spiritual duties. However, he lacked the energy and assertiveness for a thoroughgoing reform, as his rights as a primate were curtailed by his successor as Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey , Archbishop of York and papal legate . After Wolsey's fall (1529) and death (1530), Warham was offered the lord chancellorship again and with great hopes on the part of the king, which he refused.

When Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon divorced, Warham was appointed advisor to the queen. For fear of the consequences of an overly strong defense of their rights, he held back in this role to a large extent and showed himself to be strongly indulgent to the wishes of the king. So he asked the University of Oxford, as allegedly other universities in the country, to declare the invalidity of Henry's marriage. In February 1531, under pressure from the king, the convocation granted him the title of supreme head of the church and of the English clergy . In May 1532, the convocation, under the leadership of Warham, decided to renounce the exercise of its legislative power without the consent of the king. These two resolutions encouraged the establishment of the Supremate of Henry VIII, which he introduced into parliament on November 3, 1534, which led to the Anglican Church's secession from Rome .

Warham had neither anticipated this development nor would he have wanted it. His revocation of the resolutions on his deathbed went unheard.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 240
  2. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 210
  3. ^ Powicke & Fryde: Handbook of British Chronology. Second Edition, London, 1961, p. 86
predecessor Office successor
John Blythe Master of the Rolls
1494-1502 		William Barnes
Thomas Savage Bishop of London
1502–1503 		William Barnes
Henry Deane Archbishop of Canterbury
1503–1532 		Thomas Cranmer
Henry Deane Lord Chancellor of England
1502–1515 		Thomas Wolsey
personal data
SURNAME Warham, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English clergyman, Archbishop of Canterbury (1503–1532)
DATE OF BIRTH around 1450
DATE OF DEATH August 22, 1532
Place of death Hackington