Archbishop Richard Bancroft, DD,
BD, MA,
BA (1544 - November
2, 1610), Archbishop of Canterbury and the
"chief overseer" of the production of the authorized version of the
Bible.
Life
Bancroft was born at Farnworth, then a village in south Lancashire, in 1544. His early education was at Farnworth grammar school which had been founded by bishop William Smyth who
had also been born in the village. He was later educated at Cambridge, first at
Christ's College and afterwards at Jesus College. He took his degree of BA in
1567 and that of MA in
1570. Ordained about that time, he was named chaplain to Richard Cox, then bishop of Ely, and in 1575 was presented to the rectory of Teversham in Cambridgeshire. The next year he was one of the preachers to the university.
He graduated BD in 1580 and DD five years later. In 1584 he was made rector of St Andrew's Church in Holborn.
In 1585 he was appointed treasurer of St Paul's
cathedral, London, and in 1586 was made a member
of the ecclesiastical commission. On February 9, 1589 he
preached at Paul's Cross a sermon, the substance of which was a passionate attack on
the Puritans. He described their speeches and proceedings, caricatured their motives, denounced
the exercise of the right of private judgment, and set forth the divine right of bishops in such strong language that one of the
queen’s councillors held it to amount to a threat against the supremacy of the crown.
In the following year Bancroft was made a prebendary of St Paul's; he had been
canon of Westminster since 1587. He was chaplain successively to Lord Chancellor Hatton and
Archbishop Whitgift. In June 1597 he was consecrated
Bishop of London; and from this time, in consequence of the age and incapacity for
business of Archbishop Whitgift, he was virtually invested with the power of primate, and had the sole management of
ecclesiastical affairs. Among the more noteworthy cases which fell under his direction were the proceedings against "Martin Mar-Prelate," Thomas
Cartwright and his friends, and John Penry, whose "seditious writings" he caused to be
intercepted and given up to the lord keeper.
In 1600 he was sent on an embassy, with others, to Emden, for the purpose of settling certain matters in dispute between the English and the Danes. This
mission, however, failed. Bancroft was present at the death of Queen
Elizabeth.
Archbishop of Canterbury
In March 1604 Bancroft, on Whitgift's death, was appointed by royal writ president of
convocation then assembled; and he there presented a book of canons collected by himself. It was adopted and received the royal
approval, but was strongly opposed and set aside by Parliament two months afterwards. In the following November he was elected
successor to Whitgift in the see of Canterbury. He continued to show the same zeal and
severity as before, and with so much success that Lord Clarendon, writing in his
praise, expressed the opinion that "if Bancroft had lived, he would quickly have extinguished all that fire in England which had
been kindled at Geneva."
In 1608 he was chosen chancellor of the University of
Oxford. One of his last public acts was a proposal laid before Parliament for improving the revenues of the Church, and a
project for a college of controversial divinity at Chelsea. In the last few months of
his life he took part in the discussion about the consecration of certain Scottish bishops, and it was in pursuance of his advice
that they were consecrated by several bishops of the English Church. By this act were laid the foundations of the
Scottish Episcopal Church. Bancroft was "the chief overseer" of the
authorized version of the Bible. He died at Lambeth Palace on 2 November 1610.
References
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