AS THE installation of the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury is soon to take place, a new exhibition at Lambeth Palace Library explores the historic office and its responsibilities.
Through documents, seals, prints, and latterly photographs and newspaper cuttings, “Primate of All England: The Archbishop of Canterbury Through Time” presents visitors with a spiritual journey across nearly 1500 years.
Beginning with a photo of a statue of Augustine, who was sent by Pope Gregory in 597 to introduce Christianity to southern Britain, the exhibits highlight his successors, including Theodore of Tarsus, appointed in 668 at the age of 66, Norman-born Theobald, installed as Archbishop in 1139, and Theobald’s famous protégé, Thomas Becket, who became Archbishop in 1162.
Becket’s murder in Canterbury Cathedral, eight years after his installation, by followers of Henry II, illustrates the complex relationship between Church and State. An illuminated manuscript from Lambeth Palace, shows a standing Becket in blue chasuble, run through with a lance, his mitre falling from his hand. In a 17th-century oil-on-oak panel, a kneeling, tonsured Becket holds up his hands, as sword and lance blows rain down.
Stephen Langton was the choice of Pope Innocent III to be Archbishop in 1207, overriding the preferences of King John I and the Canterbury Cathedral monks. Langton’s return to England in 1213, with his support for the barons in the power struggle between monarch and government, made him key in shaping Magna Carta.
Richard III imprisoned John Morton, who was installed in 1486, but the Archbishop became a trusted adviser to Henry VII, and negotiated the royal marriage between the Houses of Lancaster and York, leading to the Tudor dynasty. Morton’s material legacy includes a Lambeth Palace tower that bears his name, and Canterbury Cathedral’s Bell Harry Tower. Richard’s unfavourable historical reputation was also influenced by Morton, and he mentored the young Thomas More.
Reginald Pole was the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury. In his 1536 treatise, Pro Ecclesiasticae Unitatis Defensione, he condemned Henry VIII’s break with Rome as heretical and dangerous. Nearly elected Pope, Pole returned under Mary I to restore England to the Roman obedience.
The cultural impact of the Archbishops of Canterbury of the 17th century remains with us today. Richard Bancroft, installed in 1604, oversaw the commissioning of the Authorised Version, completed in 1611, a year after his death. William Laud, the 76th Archbishop, supported High Church traditions and royal authority, provoking Puritans and seeding fears about returning to Roman Catholicism. Laud was executed at Tower Hill in 1645. His successor, Willam Juxon, attended the execution of Charles I, to offer the monarch spiritual comfort. He became Archbishop in 1660, after the Restoration. An engraving from Lambeth Palace portrays Juxon with goatee beard and voluminous lawn sleeves.
A dimly lit side room offers a respite from the violence of power struggles and civil war. Here, beautiful objects such as the white kid gloves, with gold tassels at the wrist, worn by Archbishop Longley, as he conducted the Windsor Castle wedding of Edward VII (then Prince of Wales) to Princess Alexandra in 1863, are displayed near the white, lace-banded christening robe that belonged to Archbishop William Temple’s family. In 1881, the future Archbishop of Canterbury, William Temple, was baptised by his father in Exeter Cathedral. When Archbishop Davidson was Dean of Windsor, Queen Victoria presented him, in 1888, with a fluted silver teapot, milk jug, and sugar bowl, engraved Regina Decano, “From the Queen to the Dean”.
Photos of crowds gathering outside Canterbury Cathedral for the enthronement of Archbishop Lang in 1928, and the first televised enthronement of Archbishop Ramsey in 1961, underline how much has changed through 15 centuries for Archbishops of Canterbury and yet remained the same.
At Lambeth Palace Library, 15 Lambeth Palace Road, London SE1, until 4 May. Phone 020 7898 1400. lambethpalacelibrary.info
