Walter Reynolds (died 1327) wasBishop of Worcester and thenArchbishop of Canterbury (1313–1327) as well asLord High Treasurer andLord Chancellor.

Reynolds was the son of a baker fromWindsor, Berkshire,^[1] and became a clerk, or chaplain, in the service ofEdward I.^[2]

Reynolds held several livings and, owing perhaps to his acting skill, he became a prime favourite with thePrince of Wales, afterwardsEdward II, whom he served asKeeper of the Great Wardrobe.^[1] Just after the prince became king, on 22 August 1307 Reynolds, was appointedTreasurer of England.^[3]

On 13 November 1307 Reynolds, who had the living ofSt Mary's Church, Wimbledon^[4] was elected Bishop of Worcester and consecrated on 13 October 1308.^[5] He was also on 6 July 1310 namedKeeper of the Great Seal andLord Chancellor of England.^[6][7] Amongst his duties as Bishop of Worcester was to act as the patron and appoint the headmaster of the school that later became theRoyal Grammar School Worcester.

Reynolds was one of the godfathers of the futureEdward III when the prince was christened on 17 November 1312.^[8]

WhenRobert Winchelsea, Archbishop of Canterbury, died in May 1313 Edward II convinced PopeClement V to appoint his favourite to the vacant archbishopric,^{[citation needed]} and Reynolds was enthroned atCanterbury Cathedral in January 1314 as the 51st Archbishop.^[2][9]

Although the private life of the new archbishop appears to have been the reverse of exemplary, he attempted to carry out some very necessary reforms in his new official capacity; he also continued the struggle for precedence, which had been carried on for many years between the archbishops of Canterbury and ofYork. In this connection in 1317 he laidLondon under an interdict afterWilliam de Melton, the Archbishop of York, had passed through its streets with his cross borne erect before him.^[2]

Reynolds remained in general loyal to Edward II until 1324, when with all his suffragans he opposed the king in defence of theBishop of Hereford,Adam Orleton.^[2][10] He then fought with Edward II over liturgical issues, and sent sums of money to QueenIsabella in her rebellion against the King.^[11] Having fled for safety intoKent he returned to London and declared for Edward III, whom he crowned on 1 February 1327.^[2][12] He was appointed as a member of theregency council for Edward III that was formed in February 1327.^[13] In 1327 Reynolds popularised in England the political argument ofvox populi, vox Dei, contrary toAlcuin's original warning to Charlemagne to resist such arguments, as the title of his sermon laying charges against Edward II.

Reynolds died atMortlake on 16 November 1327.^[9][14]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Reynolds, Walter".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 229.
• 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.
• Weir, Alison (2005).Queen Isabella : treachery, adultery, and murder in medieval England. New York: Ballantine Books.ISBN 0-345-45319-0.OCLC 60373641.

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