George Abbot

Abbot, George, 1562-1633, archbishop of Canterbury. He was one of the collaborators (from the Univ. of Oxford) on the Authorized Version of the Bible and was an authority on geography. He became archbishop in 1611. His firm Puritan views and antipathy toward the growing High Church party made him unpopular. His accidental killing of a gamekeeper while hunting (1621) was used against him. His steady opposition to William Laud, together with his refusal (1627) to countenance the elevation of the king's prerogative over law and Parliament, led Charles I to force him from active control over church affairs.

Bibliography

See biography by P. A. Welsby (1962); bibliography by R. A. Christophers (1966).