Talk:Thomas Langley

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Langley's provision the the see of Durham[edit]

The process by which Langley became bishop of Durham was quite complex.

By 1403 he was keeper of the privy seal and dean of York - the highest ecclesiastic appointment apart from the bishops - and as such, he was clearly in line for a bishopric.

In the later middle ages there were 4 stages in appointing a bishop:-

Proposal by the king

Election by the dean and chapter (or abbot and monks) of the cathedral

Confirmation by the pope in a papal Bull

Admission by the relevant archbishop

The pope could ignore the kings choice and appoint someone else, but the requirement to be admitted by the Archbishop remained

The king proposed Langley first as bishop of London when Robert Baybrooke died in August 1404.

He was opposed by the archbishop of Canterbury (Thomas Arundel) who supported Robert Hallum, chancellor of Oxford University - though Arundel later changed his support to Langley.

However the pope (Innocent VII) nominated Roger Walden - Richard II's archbishop of Canterbury appointed when Arundel was exiled. Arundel refused to admit him and the see effectively remained vacant.

After archbishop Scrope was executed in June 1405 Langley was elected as archbishop by the chapter of York minster - he was of course the dean. Once again the pope provided someone else - Robert Hallum, by now archdeacon of Canterbury, and once again Arundel refused to admit him. However, in March 1406 another vacancy arose when Walter Skirlaw, bishop of Durham died. This time everything went smoothly.

King Henry IV granted the licence to elect a bishop on April 25th and the bull of provision was issued by the pope on May 13th.

On May 17th Langley was elected by the monks (under pressure from the king) by 47 votes out of 56. Thewiltog (talk) 15:24, 26 April 2023 (UTC)[reply]