Stephen Langton
Stephen Langton | |
---|---|
San Crisogono | |
Personal details | |
Born | c. 1150 |
Died | 9 July 1228 Slindon, Sussex |
Buried | Canterbury Cathedral |
Nationality | English |
Denomination | Catholic Church |
Parents | Henry Langton |
Stephen Langton (c. 1150 – 9 July 1228) was an English
Early life and career
His father was Henry Langton, a landowner in Langton by Wragby, Lincolnshire. Stephen Langton may have been born in a moated farmhouse in the village,[1] and was probably educated in his local cathedral school. He could also have been born at Friday Street, Surrey, according to local legend.[2]
Stephen studied at the
His brother Simon Langton[6] was elected Archbishop of York in 1215, but that election was quashed by Pope Innocent III.[7] Simon served his brother Stephen as Archdeacon of Canterbury in 1227.[6] Simon and Stephen had another brother named Walter, a knight who died childless.
Archbishop
On the death of
There followed a hard political struggle between John of England and Pope Innocent III. The King proclaimed as a public enemy anyone who recognised Stephen as Archbishop. On 15 July 1207, John expelled the Canterbury chapter, which was now unanimous in support of Stephen. In March 1208, Pope Innocent III placed England under an interdict and at the close of 1212, after repeated negotiations had failed, he passed sentence of deposition against John, committing the execution of the sentence to Philip II of France in January 1213.[8]
In May 1213 King John yielded and thus in July, Stephen and his fellow exiles returned to England. Till that moment, he had lived since his consecration at
Stephen now became a leader in the struggle against King John. At a council of churchmen at Westminster on 25 August 1213, to which certain barons were invited, he read the text of the charter of Henry I and called for its renewal. In the sequel, Stephen's energetic leadership and the barons' military strength forced John to grant his seal to Magna Carta (15 June 1215).[10]
Since King John now held his kingdom as a fief of the Holy See the Pope espoused his cause and excommunicated the barons. For refusing to publish the excommunication the king had Stephen suspended from all ecclesiastical functions by the papal commissioners[11] and on 4 November this sentence was confirmed by the Pope, although Stephen appealed to him in person. He was released from suspension the following spring on condition that he keep out of England until peace was restored, and he remained abroad till May 1218. Meanwhile, both Pope Innocent and King John died and all parties in England rallied to the support of Henry III.
Stephen Langton continued under Henry's reign to work for the political independence of England. In 1223 he again appeared as the leader and spokesman of the barons, who demanded that King Henry confirm the charter. He went to France on Henry's behalf to call on Louis VIII of France for the restoration of Normandy, and later he supported Henry against rebellious barons. He obtained a promise from the new pope, Honorius III, that during his lifetime no resident papal legate should be again sent to England, and won other concessions from the same pontiff favourable to the English Church and exalting the see of Canterbury.
Of great importance in the ecclesiastical history of England was a council which Stephen opened at Osney on 17 April 1222; its decrees, known as the Constitutions of Stephen Langton,[12] are the earliest provincial canons which are still recognised as binding in English Church courts.
Death
Stephen Langton died at
The "Stephen Langton Trail", devised to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta, starts in Langton by Wragby and leads to Lincoln Cathedral, where there is an original copy of the charter.[13]
Works
Langton wrote prolifically. His many sermons and his glosses, commentaries, expositions, and treatises on almost all the
According to F. J. E. Raby, "There is little reason to doubt that Stephen Langton ... was the author" of the famous sequence Veni Sancte Spiritus.[15]
The only other of his works which has been printed, besides a few letters (in The Historical Works of
Chapters of the Bible
Classically, scrolls of the books of the
Citations
- ^ Christopher Holdsworth, Stephen Langton, Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
- ^ "Stephan Langton Inn, Friday Street". What Pub. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ^ Stephen Cardinal Langton. The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
- ^ British History Online Archbishops of Canterbury. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
- ^ British History Online Canons whose Prebends cannot be identified. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
- ^ a b British History Online Archdeacons of Canterbury. Retrieved 14 September 2007.
- ^ Fred A. Cazel Jnr, Simon Langton, Oxford Online National Dictionary of Biography, 2004
- ^ ISBN 0-19-822741-8pp. 404–405
- ^ Powicke, F.M., "Stephen Langton", Theology, Volume 17, Issue 98
- ^ Smith, Esther (2000), "Langton, Stephen (c. 1155–1226)", Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature (online ed.), Greenwood, retrieved 20 August 2010 (subscription required)
- ^ Ambler, Sophie. "Stephen Langton". Magna Carta Trust.
- ^ White, John William. "The Oxford Constitutions of Stephen Langton,...", The British magazine, London Vol. 25, (Jun 1844): 615–622
- ^ "Stephen Langton Trail", The Long Distance Walkers Association
- ^ Baldwin, John W. "Master Stephen Langton, Future Archbishop of Canterbury: The Paris Schools and Magna Carta". The English Historical Review, vol. 123, no. 503, 2008, pp. 811–46. JSTOR
- ^ The Oxford Book of Medieval Latin Verse, Oxford, 1959, p. 496.
- ^ Moore, G.F. The Vulgate Chapters and Numbered Verses in the Hebrew Bible, 1893, at JSTOR.
- ^ Hebrew Bible article in the Catholic Encyclopedia.