William Warham

The Most Reverend and Right Honourable William Warham
Archbishop of Canterbury
Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger (1527)
Appointed	29 November 1503
Term ended	22 August 1532
Predecessor	Henry Deane
Successor	Thomas Cranmer
Personal details
Born	c. 1450
Died	22 August 1532 Hackington
Buried	Canterbury Cathedral, Kent
Denomination	Roman Catholic

William Warham (c. 1450 – 22 August 1532) was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1503 to his death.

Early life and education

Warham was the son of Robert Warham of Malshanger in Hampshire. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford.

Legal career

After graduating, Warham practised and taught law both in London and Oxford.^[1] His father was a tenant farmer,^[2] but his brother, Sir Hugh Warham, acquired an estate at Croydon, which passed to his daughter Agnes, who married Sir Anthony St Leger.^[3]

Bishopric

Later, Warham took holy orders, held two livings (Barley and Cottenham) and became Master of the Rolls in 1494. Henry VII found him a useful and clever diplomatist. He helped to arrange the marriage between Henry's son, Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Catherine of Aragon. He went to Scotland with Richard Foxe, then bishop of Durham, in 1497. He was partly responsible for several commercial and other treaties with Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, also Count of Flanders and Regent Duke of Burgundy, on behalf of his son Philip IV of Burgundy.

Archbishopric

In 1502, he was consecrated Bishop of London and became Keeper of the Great Seal, but his tenure of both offices was short, as in 1504, he became Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1506, he became Chancellor of Oxford University, a role he held until his death. In 1509, he married and then crowned Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.

Warham's tomb in Canterbury Cathedral

On 28 September 1511, he made a visit to the hospital at Maison Dieu, Faversham.^[4]

As archbishop, Warham seems to have been somewhat arbitrary; for example, his actions led to a serious quarrel with Foxe, now Bishop of Winchester, and others in 1512. That made him gradually withdraw into the background after the coronation. He resigned the office of Lord Chancellor in 1515 and was succeeded by Thomas Wolsey, whom he had consecrated as bishop of Lincoln in the previous year. His resignation was possibly because of his dislike of Henry's foreign policy.

Warham was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520 and assisted Wolsey as assessor during the secret inquiry into the validity of Henry's marriage with Catherine in 1527. Throughout the divorce proceedings, Warham's position was essentially that of an old and weary man. He was named as one of the counsellors to assist the queen, but, fearing to incur the king's displeasure and using his favourite phrase ira principis mors est ("the king's anger is death"), he gave her very little help and signed the letter to Pope Clement VII that urged the pope to assent to Henry's wish. Later, it was proposed that the archbishop himself should try the case, but the suggestion came to nothing.

Warham presided over the Convocation of 1531, when the clergy of the Province of Canterbury voted £100,000 to the king to avoid the penalties of praemunire and accepted Henry as supreme head of the church with the face-saving clause "so far as the Law of Christ allows".

In Warham's concluding years, however, the archbishop showed rather more independence. In February 1532, he protested against all acts concerning the church passed by the parliament that met in 1529, but that did not prevent the important proceedings which secured the complete submission of the church to the state later in the same year. Against this further compliance with Henry's wishes, Warham drew up a protest in which he likened the action of Henry VIII to that of Henry II and urged Magna Carta in defence of the liberties of the church. He attempted in vain to strike a compromise during the Submission of the Clergy.

Death and legacy

Having been munificent in his public and moderate in his private life, he died on a visit to his nephew, also William Warham. He was buried in the Martyrdom (north) transept of Canterbury Cathedral.

References

↑ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Warham, William". Dictionary of National Biography. 59. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 384.
↑ Gwyn, Peter The King's Cardinal- the rise and fall of Thomas Wolsey 1990 Pimlico Edition p.26
↑ Lee, Sidney, ed. (1897). "St. Leger, Warham". Dictionary of National Biography. 50. London: Smith, Elder & Co. p. 167.
↑ Hasted, Edward (1798). "Parishes". Hospitals: Ospringe, A History of the County of Kent. Institute of Historical Research. 2: 222–224. Retrieved 14 March 2014.

Sources

John Sherren Brewer, Reign of Henry VIII (1884)
James Gairdner, Lee, Sidney, ed. (1899). "Warham, William". Dictionary of National Biography. 58. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
James Gairdner, The English Church in the 16th Century (1902)
W. F. Hook, Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury (1860?1876)
A. F. Pollard, Henry VIII (1905)
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Warham, William". Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Burton, Edwin Hubert (1912). "William Warham". In Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Scarisbrick, J. J. "Warham, William (1450?–1532)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28741. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Henry Deane (Keeper of the Great Seal)	Keeper of the Great Seal 1502–1504	Succeeded by Thomas Wolsey (Lord Chancellor)
Preceded by Henry Deane (Keeper of the Great Seal)	Lord Chancellor 1504–1515	Succeeded by Thomas Wolsey (Lord Chancellor)
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Thomas Savage	Bishop of London 1502–1504	Succeeded by William Barnes
Preceded by Henry Deane	Archbishop of Canterbury 1503–1532	Succeeded by Thomas Cranmer
Academic offices
Preceded by Richard Mayew	Chancellor of the University of Oxford 1506–1532	Succeeded by John Longland

Archbishops of Canterbury
Pre-Conquest	Augustine Laurence Mellitus Justus Honorius Deusdedit Wighard Theodore of Tarsus Berhtwald Tatwine Nothhelm Cuthbert Bregowine Jænberht Æthelhard Wulfred Feologild Ceolnoth Æthelred Plegmund Athelm Wulfhelm Oda Ælfsige Byrhthelm Dunstan Æthelgar Sigeric the Serious Ælfric of Abingdon Ælfheah Lyfing Æthelnoth Eadsige Robert of Jumièges Stigand
Conquest–Reformation	Lanfranc Anselm Ralph d'Escures William de Corbeil Theobald of Bec Thomas Becket Roger de Bailleul Richard of Dover Baldwin of Forde Reginald Fitz Jocelin Hubert Walter Reginald John de Gray Stephen Langton Walter d'Eynsham Richard le Grant Ralph Neville John of Sittingbourne John Blund Edmund of Abingdon Boniface William Chillenden Robert Kilwardby Robert Burnell John Peckham Robert Winchelsey Thomas Cobham Walter Reynolds Simon Mepeham John de Stratford John de Ufford Thomas Bradwardine Simon Islip William Edington Simon Langham William Whittlesey Simon Sudbury William Courtenay Thomas Arundel Roger Walden Thomas Arundel Henry Chichele John Stafford John Kemp Thomas Bourchier John Morton Thomas Langton Henry Deane William Warham Thomas Cranmer Reginald Pole
Post-Reformation	Matthew Parker Edmund Grindal John Whitgift Richard Bancroft George Abbot William Laud William Juxon Gilbert Sheldon William Sancroft John Tillotson Thomas Tenison William Wake John Potter Thomas Herring Matthew Hutton Thomas Secker Frederick Cornwallis John Moore Charles Manners-Sutton William Howley John Bird Sumner Charles Longley Archibald Campbell Tait Edward White Benson Frederick Temple Randall Davidson Cosmo Lang William Temple Geoffrey Fisher Michael Ramsey Donald Coggan Robert Runcie George Carey Rowan Williams Justin Welby
Italics indicate a person who was elected but not confirmed.

Bishops of London
Post-Augustine	Mellitus Cedd Wine Earconwald Waldhere Ingwald Ecgwulf Wigheah Eadberht Eadgar Coenwalh Eadbald Heathoberht Osmund Æthelnoth Ceolberht Deorwulf Swithwulf Heahstan Wulfsige Æthelweard Leofstan Theodred Brihthelm Dunstan Ælfstan Wulfstan Ælfhun Ælfwig Ælfweard Robert of Jumièges Spearhafoc
Post-Conquest	William the Norman Hugh d'Orevalle Maurice Richard de Belmeis I Gilbert Universalis Anselm (quashed) Robert de Sigello Richard de Belmeis II Gilbert Foliot Richard FitzNeal William of Sainte-Mère-Église Eustace of Fauconberg Roger Niger Fulk Basset Henry Wingham Richard Talbot Henry of Sandwich John Chishull Fulke Lovell Richard Gravesend Ralph Baldock Gilbert Segrave Richard Newport Stephen Gravesend Richard de Wentworth Ralph Stratford Michael Northburgh Simon Sudbury William Courtenay Robert Braybrooke Roger Walden Nicholas Bubwith Richard Clifford John Kemp William Grey Robert FitzHugh Robert Gilbert Thomas Kempe Richard Hill Thomas Savage William Warham William Barons Richard FitzJames Cuthbert Tunstall
During the Reformation	John Stokesley Edmund Bonner (1st) Nicholas Ridley Edmund Bonner (2nd)
Post-Reformation	Edmund Grindal Edwin Sandys John Aylmer Richard Fletcher Richard Bancroft Richard Vaughan Thomas Ravis George Abbot John King George Montaigne William Laud William Juxon Gilbert Sheldon Humphrey Henchman Henry Compton John Robinson Edmund Gibson Thomas Sherlock Thomas Hayter Richard Osbaldeston Richard Terrick Robert Lowth Beilby Porteus John Randolph William Howley Charles James Blomfield Archibald Campbell Tait John Jackson Frederick Temple Mandell Creighton Arthur Winnington-Ingram Geoffrey Fisher William Wand Henry Montgomery Campbell Robert Stopford Gerald Ellison Graham Leonard David Hope Richard Chartres Pete Broadbent (Acting)

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