Reign of Queen Elizabeth I

In Elizabethan times, as today, the Archbishop of Canterbury was the leader of the Anglican Church. Second to him was the Archbishop Of York. Both archbishops had to answer to Queen Elizabeth who was Supreme Governor of the Church of England. Lambeth Palace has been the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury since the thirteenth century while Bishopthorpe Palace, in York, is the home of the Archbishop of York.

Over the course of her long reign Queen Elizabeth had three Archbishops of Canterbury:

Matthew Parker (1559-1575)
Edmund Grindal (1575-83)
John Whitgift (1583-1604)

Matthew Parker (1504-1575)
Archbishop 1559-1575

Matthew Parker, born in Norwich in 1504, was Queen Elizabeth's first Archbishop of Canterbury. He was largely responsible for the Elizabethan Religious Settlement. He was a dedicated and hardworking man who became known as "Nosy Parker" for prying into people's personal affairs. He and Elizabeth did not always see eye to eye so both had to make compromises in order to work together. Once issue over which they clashed was clerical marriage. Queen Elizabeth did not approve of clergymen marrying. In 1561 she issued a royal injunction forbidding any clergyman to live with his wife and children in any cathedral close or college. This was very unpopular and Matthew Parker, who was married himself, was against the prohibition. The Queen relented, as she often did when outnumbered, and allowed clerhymen to have their wives and children in cathedral closes but not in colleges. The Queen also had issues with Parker's leniency, believing he was not rigorous enough in enforing her religious settlement in areas outside London. Overall, however, the Queen worked well with Parker and they were very successful in restablishing the Anglican Church of England after the restoration of Catholicism in the reign of Queen Mary. Archbishop Parker died in 1575.

Edmund Grindal (c.1519-1583)
Archbishop 1575-83

Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of York until Parker's death, was Queen Elizabeth's second Archbishop of Canterbury. Unfortunately for the archbishop, however, his working relationship with the Queen was disastrous. Although a reformist, Queen Elizabeth was very conservative in her views, almost having a Catholic heart like her father, whereas as Grindal was an evangelist who wanted to push the church in a more Protestant direction. The Queen would not hear of it, as she believed her settlement was a compromise acceptable to both sides of the religious divide, and tensions between her and Grindal came to a head over "prophesyings". Prophesyings were meetings held by evangelist clergymen for preaching and prayer. Elizabeth feared these meetings would spread unorthodox views and wanted them suppressed. Grindal, however, supported them as he believed they helped to bring people closer to God and to the Protestant faith. The prophesyings were also supported by the majority of Anglican bishops. Grindal therefore informed the Queen that the meetings had his support and the support of most bishops. He boldly told the Queen that although she was supreme over political matters, she was not over religious matters, and that he must put the will of God above his duty to her as sovereign. The Queen was outraged by his defiance and he was consequently suspended from office. The suspension was never lifted so the Church of England was effectively without an Archbishop of Canterbury from 1577 until his death in 1583.

John Whitgift (1530-1604)
Archbishop 1583-1604

John Whitgift, born in Lincolnshire around 1530, was Queen Elizabeth's last and favourite Archbishop of Canterbury. Whitgift was a religious conservative, like the Queen, and was as suspicious of evangelists and puritans as he was of Catholics. He passionately supported the Queen's religious settlement and the fact that he was unmarried greatly pleased the Queen. Indeed, she called him her "little black husband". When the Queen lay dying in the March of 1603, she drew great comfort from Whitgift's presence and his prayers for her immortal soul, and the archbishop was one of the last people to see her alive. Whitgift died in 1604, less than a year after the Queen, but remained in office until the end and had the honour of crowning King James VI of Scotland when he succeeded Elizabeth to the throne.