William Sancroft

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The Most Reverend and Right Honourable

William Sancroft
Archbishop of Canterbury
Portrait by Bernard Lens II
ChurchChurch of England
DioceseCanterbury
In office1677–1690
PredecessorGilbert Sheldon
SuccessorJohn Tillotson
Orders
Consecration27 January 1677
by Henry Compton
Personal details
Born(1617-01-30)30 January 1617
Ufford Hall, Fressingfield, Suffolk, England
Died24 November 1693(1693-11-24) (aged 76)
Ufford Hall, Fressingfield, Suffolk, England
BuriedChurch of St. Peter and St. Paul, Fressingfield
NationalityEnglish
DenominationAnglican
EducationKing Edward VI School
Alma materEmmanuel College, Cambridge
Arms of William Sancroft, Archbishop of Canterbury, St Lawrence's Church, Mereworth in Kent. 1740s glass by William Price the Younger in imitation of Elizabethan/Jacobean style[1]

William Sancroft (30 January 1617 – 24 November 1693) was the 79th

Mary, he later enabled and supported the consecration of new nonjuring bishops leading to the nonjuring schism
.

Life

The chapel of Emmanuel College, Cambridge; engraving by David Loggan (1690)

Sancroft was born at

Master of his alma mater Emmanuel College in 1662, serving until 1665. He began fundraising for a new chapel for the college in 1663 and contributed largely towards the cost. He continued to play a role in college affairs and the chapel was completed in 1667 to a design by Christopher Wren.[6]

In 1663 he was nominated to the

Great Plague of 1665
, though in his defence virtually all of the upper class did the same.

In 1668 he was admitted

Convocation of the English Clergy, he was unexpectedly advanced to the archbishopric of Canterbury, at the express wish of the King, who trusted in his moderation.[8] So unwilling was he to accept that the King only persuaded him by explaining that he had already appointed the new Dean of St Paul's. He attended Charles II upon his deathbed, and "made to him a very weighty exhortation, in which he used a good degree of freedom". He crowned King James II in 1685.[7] Sancroft wrote with his own hand the petition presented in 1688 against the reading of the Declaration of Indulgence, which was signed by himself and six of his suffragans (collectively known as the Seven Bishops). For this, they (of whom Sancroft was oldest, at 71) were all committed to the Tower of London, but were acquitted.[8]

Nonjuring schism

Main article: Nonjuring schism

Upon the withdrawal of

Mary were declared king and queen, he refused to take the oath to them, and was accordingly suspended and deprived in 1690.[8][9] In August 1690 John Tillotson
took over his duties. In April 1691 Tillotson officially became Sancroft's successor.

Many years after it was composed, John Overall's Convocation Book was published by Sancroft, to justify the principles of his Nonjuring party. The book was "on the subject of Government, the divine institution of which was very positively asserted". It consisted partly of canons and partly of introductory and explanatory dissertations on the matter of the canons and had been duly sanctioned in the Convocation of 1610. It was, however, a strange oversight in Sancroft's party to publish the book, as there are several canons in it which clearly lay down that a de facto government is, when completely established, to be held in the light of a de jure government; and it was upon the very grounds set forth in this book that William Sherlock took the oaths to King William.[10]

Sancroft was a patron of Henry Wharton (1664–1695), the divine and church historian, to whom on his deathbed he entrusted his manuscripts and the remains of Archbishop Laud (published in 1695).[8] Sancroft provided financial support to Mary Astell and an introduction to her future publisher; Astell later dedicated a collection of poetry to him.[11]

From 5 August 1691 until his death two years later, he lived a very retired life in his native village of Fressingfield. He died at his family home, Ufford Hall, and was buried in the churchyard of Fressingfield, where there is a Latin epitaph to his memory.[7]

See also

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ "Panel of the Month | Vidimus".
  2. ^ "William Sancroft (1617 - 1693) | Famous Members | History & Archives | About | Emmanuel College, Cambridge". www.emma.cam.ac.uk.
  3. ISBN 0851153933
  4. ^ "Sancroft, William (SNDT633W)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
  5. ^ Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900, John Venn/John Archibald Venn Cambridge University Press > (10 volumes 1922 to 1953) Part I. 1209–1751 Vol. iv. Saal – Zuinglius, (1927) p12
  6. ^ 'Emmanuel College', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the City of Cambridge (London, 1959), pp. 61-71. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/cambs/pp61-71 [accessed 11 March 2021].
  7. ^ a b c "William Sancroft". Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
  8. ^ a b c d e Chisholm 1911.
  9. ^ "William Sancroft". Archived from the original on 6 July 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
  10. ^ King's Handbook to the Cathedrals of England, by Richard John King, published by John Murray, Albemarle Street, Oxford, 1862, p166.
  11. ^ Henderson-Bryan, Bethanie (12 May 2018). "Mary Astell: the first feminist? • The Crown Chronicles". The Crown Chronicles. Retrieved 21 April 2019.

Sources

Academic offices
Preceded by
Master of Emmanuel College, Cambridge

1662–1665 		Succeeded by
Church of England titles
Preceded by Dean of York
Jan.–Nov. 1664 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Dean of St Paul's
1664–1678 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Archbishop of Canterbury
1678–1691 		Succeeded by
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