View source for George Abbot (bishop)

{{Short description|Archbishop of Canterbury from 1611 to 1633}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
 | honorific-prefix = {{pre-nominal styles|size=100%|MRevd|&RHPC}}
 | name             = George Abbot
 | honorific-suffix =
 | archbishop_of    = [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]
 | image            = George Abbot from NPG.jpg
 | imagesize        =
 | alt              =
 | caption          = Portrait in the [[National Portrait Gallery, London|National Portrait Gallery]], 1623
 | province         =
 | diocese          = [[Diocese of Canterbury|Canterbury]]
 | see              =
 | church           = [[Church of England]] 
 | enthroned        = 4 March 1611
 | ended            = 4 August 1633
 | predecessor      = [[Richard Bancroft]]
 | successor        = [[William Laud]]
 | ordination       =
 | consecration     = 3 December 1609
 | consecrated_by   = [[Richard Bancroft]]
 | other_post       =
 | birth_name       =
 | birth_date       = 29 October 1562
 | birth_place      = [[Guildford]], Surrey, [[Kingdom of England|England]]
 | death_date       = {{death date and age|1633|08|04|1562|10|29|df=y}}
 | death_place      = [[Croydon]], Surrey, England
 | buried           =
 | nationality      = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
 | religion         = [[Anglican]]
 | residence        =
 | parents          = Maurice Abbot
 | spouse           =
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'''George Abbot''' (29 October 1562{{snd}}4 August 1633)<ref>{{cite book|url=https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/ecco/004840865.0001.000/1:4?rgn=div1;view=fulltext|title=The life of Dr. George Abbot, Lord Archbishop of Canterbury|last1=Oldys|first1=William| author-link=William Oldys |via=Text Creation Partnership|year=1777}}</ref>{{efn|1=Other sources, such as the 1911 ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' give his birth and death dates as 19 October 1562{{snd}}5 August 1633,<ref name="EB1911" /> but the majority of sources state he was born 29 October 1562,<ref name = "ODNBAbbot">{{cite ODNB |id=4 |title=Abbot, George |first=Kenneth |last=Fincham}}</ref><ref name = "DNBGeorge">{{cite DNB |wstitle=Abbot, George (1562-1633) |first=Sidney |last=Lee |author-link = Sidney Lee |volume=1 |page=5}}</ref> and the date 4 August 1633 is inscribed on his tomb}} was an English bishop who was [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] from 1611 to 1633.<ref name = "ODNBAbbot"/><ref>[[Darwall-Smith, Robin]], ''A History of University College, Oxford''. [[Oxford University Press]], 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-19-928429-0}}. ''George Abbot'', pages 120–126</ref><ref>[http://www.lcms.org/ca/www/cyclopedia/02/display.asp?t1=a&word=ABBOT.GEORGE Abbot, George in the Christian Cyclopedia]</ref> He also served as the fourth [[chancellor of the University of Dublin]], from 1612 to 1633.<ref>"[[Alumni Dublinenses]]: a register of the students, graduates, professors and provosts of [[Trinity College Dublin|Trinity College in the University of Dublin]] (1593–1860 [[George Dames Burtchaell]]/[[Thomas Ulick Sadleir]] p. 1: Dublin, Alex Thom and Co, 1935</ref>

''[[Chambers Biographical Dictionary]]'' describes him as "[a] sincere but narrow-minded [[Calvinist]]".<ref name="CBD">{{cite book|editor=Magnus Magnusson|editor-link = Magnus Magnusson |title=Chambers Biographical Dictionary|edition=Fifth|year=1990|publisher=W & R Chambers Ltd|location=Edinburgh|isbn=055016040X|page=2}}</ref> Among his five brothers,<ref name = "ODNBAbbot"/> [[Robert Abbot (bishop)|Robert]] became [[Bishop of Salisbury]]<ref name="CBD" /> and [[Maurice Abbot|Maurice]] became [[Lord Mayor of London]].<ref name="dnbMaurice">{{cite DNB |first=Sidney |last=Lee |author-link = Sidney Lee|wstitle=Abbot, Maurice |volume=1 |pages=21–24}}</ref> He was a translator of the [[King James Version]] of the Bible.

==Life and career==

===Early years===
Born at [[Guildford]] in [[Surrey]], where his father Maurice Abbot (died 1606) was a cloth worker,<ref name="CBD" /> he was taught at the [[Royal Grammar School, Guildford]].<ref name = "ODNBAbbot"/> According to an eighteenth-century biographical dictionary, when Abbot's mother was pregnant with him she had a dream in which she was told that if she ate a [[Northern pike|pike]] her child would be a son and rise to great prominence. Some time afterwards, she accidentally caught a pike while fetching water from the [[River Wey]], and it "being reported to some gentlemen in the neighbourhood, they offered to stand sponsors for the child, and afterwards shewed him many marks of favour".<ref>{{cite book|author=Society of gentlemen|title=The Biographical Dictionary, Or, Complete Historical Library: Containing the Lives of the Most Celebrated Personages of Great Britain and Ireland, Whether Admirals, Generals, Poets, Statesmen, Philosophers, Or Divines: a Work Replete with Instruction and Entertainment|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8jtQAQAAIAAJ|year=1780|publisher=F. Newbery|page=5}}</ref> He later studied and then taught under many eminent scholars, including [[Thomas Holland (translator)|Thomas Holland]], at [[Balliol College, Oxford]], was chosen Master of [[University College, Oxford|University College]] in 1597, and appointed [[Dean (religion)|Dean]] of [[Winchester Cathedral|Winchester]] in 1600. He was three times [[Vice-Chancellor]] of the [[University of Oxford|University]] and took a leading part in preparing the [[Authorized King James Version|authorised version]] of the [[New Testament]]. In 1608, he went to [[Scotland]] with [[George Home, 1st Earl of Dunbar]] to arrange for a union between the churches of England and Scotland. He so pleased [[James I of England|King James]] in this affair that he was made [[Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry]] in 1609 and was translated to the [[episcopal see|see]] of [[Bishop of London|London]] a month afterwards.<ref name=EB1911/>

[[File:Abbot Hospital, Guildford, front (perspective adjusts).JPG|thumb|right|[[Abbot's Hospital]] in [[Guildford]]]]

===Archbishop of Canterbury===
On 4 March 1611, Abbot was raised to the position of [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] by [[James VI and I|King James I]]. As archbishop, he defended the [[apostolic succession]] of Anglican bishops and the validity of the church's priesthood in 1614. In consequence of the [[Nag's Head Fable]], the archbishop invited certain Roman Catholics to inspect the register in the presence of six of his episcopal colleagues, the details of which inspection were preserved. It was agreed by all parties that:

{{blockquote|The register agrees in every particular with what we know of the history of the times, and there exists not the semblance of a reason for pronouncing it a forgery.<ref>{{Cite web | author=John Wordsworth | author-link = John Wordsworth|title=A Letter on the Succession of Bishops in the Church of England | url=http://anglicanhistory.org/england/jwords/heykamp.html |website=Project Canterbury |date=13 May 1890 | access-date=5 October 2008}}</ref>}}

Despite his defence of the catholic nature of the priesthood, his [[Puritan]] instincts frequently led him not only into harsh treatment of Roman Catholics but also into courageous resistance to the royal will, such as when he opposed the scandalous divorce suit of the Lady [[Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset|Frances Howard]] against [[Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex]], and again in 1618 when, at [[Croydon]], he forbade the reading of the [[Declaration of Sports]] listing the permitted Sunday recreations. He was naturally, therefore, a promoter of the match between the king's daughter, [[Elizabeth of Bohemia|Princess Elizabeth]], and [[Frederick V, Elector Palatine]], and a firm opponent of the projected marriage of the new Prince of Wales (later [[Charles I of England|Charles I]]) and the Spanish Infanta, [[Maria Anna of Spain|Maria Anna]]. This policy brought upon the archbishop the hatred of [[William Laud]] (with whom he had previously come into collision at Oxford) and the king's court, although the king himself never forsook Abbot.<ref name=EB1911/>

In July 1621,<ref>''BBC History'', July 2011, p. 12</ref> while hunting in [[Edward la Zouche, 11th Baron Zouche|Lord Zouch]]'s park at [[Bramshill House|Bramshill]] in [[Hampshire]], a bolt from his cross-bow aimed at a deer happened to strike one of the keepers, who died within an hour, and Abbot was so greatly distressed by the event that he fell into a state of settled [[melancholia]]. His enemies maintained that the fatal issue of this accident disqualified him for his office and argued that, though the [[homicide]] was involuntary, the sport of hunting that had led to it was one in which no clerical person could lawfully indulge. The king had to refer the matter to a commission of ten, though he said that "an angel might have miscarried after this sort". The commission was equally divided, and the king voted in Abbot's favour, though also signing a formal pardon or dispensation.<ref name=EB1911/> Gustavus Paine notes that Abbot was both the "only translator of the [[Authorized King James Version|1611 Bible]] and the only [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] ever to kill a human being".<ref>{{cite book|last=Paine|first=Gustavus S|title=The Men Behind the King James Version|year=1977|publisher=Baker|page=157}}</ref>{{efn|This ceased to be true, by some definitions, in 1980 with the appointment of former soldier and [[Military Cross]] recipient [[Robert Runcie]]. Abbot remains the only known Archbishop of Canterbury to kill while in office.}}

[[File:Holy Trinity Church Guildford Abbot Tomb Above.jpg|thumb|150px|The tomb of George Abbot in [[Holy Trinity Church, Guildford]]|left]]

After this, Abbot seldom appeared at the council, chiefly because of his infirmities. In 1625, he attended the king constantly; however, in his last illness, he performed the coronation ceremony of [[Charles I of England|King Charles I]] as king of England. His refusal to license the [[assize sermon]] preached by [[Robert Sibthorp]] at [[Northampton]] on 22 February 1627, in which cheerful obedience was urged to the king's demand for a general loan, and the duty proclaimed of absolute non-resistance even to the most arbitrary royal commands, led Charles to deprive him of his functions as [[primate (bishop)|primate]], putting them in commission. However, the need to summon parliament soon brought about a nominal restoration of the archbishop's powers. His presence was unwelcome at court, and he lived from that time on retirement, leaving Laud and his party in undisputed ascendancy. He died at Croydon on 4 August 1633 and was buried at Guildford, his native place, where he had endowed [[Abbot's Hospital]] with lands valued at £300 a year.<ref name=EB1911/>

==Legacy==
[[File:George Abbot.jpg|thumb|upright|Abbot's statue in High Street, Guildford]]

Abbot was a conscientious [[prelate]], though narrow in view and often harsh towards separatists and Roman Catholics. He wrote many works, the most interesting being his discursive ''Exposition on the Prophet Jonah'' (1600), which was reprinted in 1845. His ''Geography, or a Brief Description of the Whole World'' (1599) passed through numerous editions.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Abbot, George (Archbishop)|display=Abbot, George |volume=1 |pages=22–23}}</ref> The newest edition, edited by the current Master of the Abbot's Hospital, was published by Goldenford Publishers Ltd on 20 June 2011, to commemorate the 400th anniversary of his enthronement as Archbishop of Canterbury.

Abbot had an extensive private library of over 8000 volumes, most of which he left to Lambeth Palace Library. Books bearing his armorial stamp can still be found in libraries today.<ref>{{Cite web |title=George Abbot 1562-1633 - Book Owners Online |url=https://www.bookowners.online/George_Abbot_1562-1633 |access-date=8 August 2022 |website=www.bookowners.online |language=en-GB}}</ref>

Guildford remembers Abbot with his hospital<ref>[http://www.abbotshospital.org/ Abbot's Hospital], retrieved 9 January 2016</ref> and a statue in the High Street. The [[George Abbot School]] in Burpham and a pub in the High Street are named after him. His tomb can be found in [[Holy Trinity Church, Guildford|Holy Trinity Church]].<ref name="DNBGeorge" />

==Notes==
{{notes}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{prdl|3443}}
* {{NPG name}}

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{{House of Stuart Lord High Treasurers}}
{{Archbishops of Canterbury}}
{{Bishops of London}}
{{Bishops of Coventry and Lichfield}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbot, George (Archbishop)}}
[[Category:1562 births]]
[[Category:1633 deaths]]
[[Category:Clergy from Guildford]]
[[Category:17th-century Anglican archbishops]]
[[Category:People educated at Royal Grammar School, Guildford]]
[[Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Archbishops of Canterbury]]
[[Category:Bishops of London]]
[[Category:Bishops of Lichfield]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Dublin]]
[[Category:17th-century English translators]]
[[Category:Vice-chancellors of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Masters of University College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Translators of the King James Version]]
[[Category:17th-century English Anglican priests]]
[[Category:17th-century English diplomats]]
[[Category:Scottish Episcopal Church]]
[[Category:Deans of Winchester]]
[[Category:Burials in Surrey]]
[[Category:English male poets]]
[[Category:17th-century Anglican theologians]]
[[Category:16th-century Anglican theologians]]