Robert Holgate | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of York | |
 | |
| Installed | 1545 |
| Term ended | 1554 |
| Predecessor | Edward Lee |
| Successor | Nicholas Heath |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1481/1482 |
| Died | 1555 |
Robert Holgate (1481/1482 – 1555) wasBishop of Llandaff from 1537 and thenArchbishop of York (from 1545 to 1554). He recognisedHenry VIII as head of theChurch of England.
Holgate was a canon of theGilbertine Order, and was probably educated at the Gilbertine house (St Edmund's Priory) atCambridge. He was university preacher at Cambridge in 1524, and was createdD.D. in 1537.[1]
Although a protege ofThomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, Holgate had a distinguished monastic career. He wasPrior ofSt. Catherine's Priory, Lincoln, Master of the Gilbertine Order, and also briefly Prior ofWatton Priory until itsdissolution in 1539. Most of the Gilbertine houses were lesser establishments which should have been dissolved under theSuppression of Religious Houses Act 1535 (only four out of twenty-six houses had revenues over £200 a year). However, Holgate is credited with using his influence to save them for a few years. For example,Malton Priory, one of the lesser Gilbertine houses, was the last of them to surrender in December 1539,[2] whereasSempringham Priory, worth more than £200 a year, surrendered in 1538.[3]
Holgate was consecrated asBishop of Llandaff on 25 March 1537. He translated toYork on 16 January 1545. In 1546 he founded two schools, at York a grammar school now calledArchbishop Holgate's School and in Hemsworth a grammar School later known asHolgate School.
He was President of theCouncil of the North from 1538.[4]
In 1550 Holgate, aged 68, married Barbara Wentworth, who was about 25 at the time. This might, however have been a second wedding to make it fully legal, and Holgate and Wentworth might have first married in late 1547 withRoger Tongue officiating.[5] In 1551 Anthony Norman claimed that he was already married to Barbara Wentworth, but the courts decided that their marriage when she was about seven had not been a binding legal transaction. Robert and Barbara remained married until 1553, when shortly afterMary I of England came to the throne. She imprisoned Holgate on various charges, with his being a married cleric being central to these. In 1554 Holgate renounced his marriage claiming he had only entered it to avoid suspicion as a papist. In January 1555 Holgate was released from prison, but he was not restored to priestly office. He died later that year.[6]
In 1558 a Robert Holgate from Yorkshire enteredChrist's College, Cambridge.[7] He may have been a son of Holgate, since there are some claims he had two children by Barbara, but there is no conclusive evidence on the matter.
| Church of England titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Bishop of Llandaff 1537–1545 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Archbishop of York 1545–1554 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Master of the Gilbertine Order –1539 | Vacant Title next held by None |