23 August 1348 A.D. John de Stratford Dies—53rd of 105 Archbishops of Canterbury; Also Born in Stratford-on-Avon, Hometown of William Shakespeare

23 August 1348 A.D.  John de Stratford Dies—53^rd of 105 Archbishops of Canterbury;  Also Born in Stratford-on-Avon, Hometown of William Shakespeare

John de Stratford (died 1348) was Archbishop of Canterbury and Treasurer and Chancellor of England.

Contents 

• 1 Life
• 2 Citations
• 3 References
• 4 Further reading

Life

De Stratford was born at Stratford-on-Avon and educated at Merton College, Oxford, afterwards entering the service of Edward II.

De Stratford served as archdeacon of Lincoln, canon of York and dean of the court of arches before 20 June 1323, when he became Bishop of Winchester,^[1] an appointment which was made during his visit to Pope John XXII at Avignon and which was very much disliked by Edward II. In 1327 the bishop joined Queen Isabella's partisans; he drew up the six articles against Edward II, and was one of those who visited the captive king at Kenilworth to urge him to abdicate in favour of his son.^{[citation needed]} On 26 November 1326 he was appointed Lord Treasurer of England, a post he held until 28 January 1327.^[2]

Under Edward III de Stratford became a member of the royal council, but his high political importance dates from the autumn of 1330, the time when Roger Mortimer lost his power. In November of that year Stratford became chancellor, and for the next ten years he was actively engaged in public business, being the king's most prominent adviser and being politically, says Stubbs, the "head of the Lancastrian or constitutional party."

On 3 November 1333 de Stratford was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury^[3] and he resigned the chancellorship in the following year; however, he held this office again from 1335 to 1337 and for about two months in 1340.^[4] In November 1340 Edward III, humiliated, impecunious and angry, returned suddenly to England from Flanders and vented his wrath upon the archbishop's brother, the chancellor, Robert de Stratford. Fearing arrest the archbishop fled to Canterbury, and entered upon a violent war of words with the king, and by his firm conduct led to the establishment of the principle that peers were only to be tried in full parliament before their own order (en pleyn parlement et devant les piers). But good relations were soon restored between the two, and the archbishop acted as president of the council during Edward's absence from England in 1345 and 1346, although he never regained his former position of influence.^[5] His concluding years were mainly spent in the discharge of his spiritual duties, and he died at Mayfield, Sussex on 23 August 1348.^[3]

Robert de Stratford and Ralph de Stratford, who Bishop of London from 1340 until 1354, were members of the same family. All three prelates were benefactors to Stratford-on-Avon.

Citations

1.       Jump up ^ Fryde. et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 277

2.       Jump up ^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 105

3.       ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 233

4.       Jump up ^ Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 86

5.       Jump up ^ Powell and Wallis House of Lords in the Middle Ages pp. 335-43

References

• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
• Powell, J. Enoch; Wallis, Keith (1968). The House of Lords in the Middle Ages: A History of the English House of Lords to 1540. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. OCLC 463626. 

Further reading

• Haines, Roy Martin (1986). Archbishop John Stratford, Political Revolutionary and Champion of the Liberties of the English Church, ca.1275/80-1348. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies. ISBN 0888440766. 
• Haines, R.M., ed. (2010). The Register of John de Stratford, Bishop of Winchester, 1323-1333: Vol. I. Surrey Record Society 42. Woking. ISBN 9780902978171. 
• Haines, R.M., ed. (2011). The Register of John de Stratford, Bishop of Winchester, 1323-1333: Vol. II. Surrey Record Society 43. Woking. ISBN 9780902978188. 

Political offices
Preceded by William Melton	Lord High Treasurer 1326–1327	Succeeded by Adam Orleton
Preceded by Henry Burghersh	Lord Chancellor 1330–1334	Succeeded by Richard Bury
Preceded by Richard Bury	Lord Chancellor 1335–1337	Succeeded by Robert de Stratford
Preceded by Richard Bintworth	Lord Chancellor 1340	Succeeded by Robert Bourchier
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Rigaud of Assier	Bishop of Winchester 1323–1333	Succeeded by Adam Orleton
Preceded by Simon Mepeham	Archbishop of Canterbury 1333–1348	Succeeded by John de Ufford