Stephen Langton | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury | |
 Statue of Langton from the exterior ofCanterbury Cathedral | |
| Appointed | c. 1207 |
| Term ended | 9 July 1228 |
| Predecessor | John de Gray |
| Successor | Walter d'Eynsham |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 17 June 1207 by Innocent III |
| Created cardinal | 1206 by Pope Innocent III |
| Rank | Cardinal priest ofSan Crisogono |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1150 |
| Died | 9 July 1228 Slindon,Sussex |
| Buried | Canterbury Cathedral |
| Nationality | English |
| Denomination | Catholic Church |
| Parents | Henry Langton |
Stephen Langton (c. 1150 – 9 July 1228) was an Englishcardinal of theCatholic Church andArchbishop of Canterbury from 1207 until his death in 1228. The dispute betweenKingJohn of England andPope Innocent III over his election was a major factor in the crisis which produced theMagna Carta in 1215. Langton is also credited with having divided theBible into the standard modern arrangement ofchapters used today.
His father was Henry Langton, a landowner inLangton by Wragby,Lincolnshire. Stephen Langton may have been born in a moated farmhouse in the village,[1] and was probably educated in his local cathedral school. He could also have been born atFriday Street, Surrey, according to local legend.[2]
Stephen studied at theUniversity of Paris and lectured there ontheology until 1206, whenPope Innocent III, with whom he had formed a friendship in Paris, called him to Rome and made himcardinal-priest ofSan Crisogono, Rome.[3][4] His piety and learning had already won himprebends in Paris andYork[5] and he was recognised as the foremost English churchman.
His brotherSimon Langton[6] was electedArchbishop of York in 1215, but that election was quashed by Pope Innocent III.[7] Simon served his brother Stephen as Archdeacon of Canterbury in 1227.[6] Simon and Stephen had another brother named Walter, a knight who died childless.
On the death ofHubert Walter, Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1205, the election of a successor encountered difficulties: some of the younger canons of the cathedral chapter electedReginald, the subprior of Christ Church, Canterbury, as Archbishop while another faction under pressure from King John choseJohn de Grey,Bishop of Norwich. Both elections were quashed on appeal to Rome, and sixteen canons of the chapter, who had gone to Rome with a mandate to act for the whole chapter, were ordered to proceed to a new election in presence of the Pope. The choice fell upon Langton and he was consecrated by the Pope atViterbo on 17 June 1207.[8]
There followed a hard political struggle between John of England and Pope Innocent III. The King proclaimed as a public enemy anyone who recognised Stephen as Archbishop. On 15 July 1207, John expelled the Canterbury chapter, which was now unanimous in support of Stephen. In March 1208, Pope Innocent III placed England underan interdict and at the close of 1212, after repeated negotiations had failed, he passed sentence of deposition against John, committing the execution of the sentence toPhilip II of France in January 1213.[8]
In May 1213 King John yielded and thus in July, Stephen and his fellow exiles returned to England. Till that moment, he had lived since his consecration atPontigny Abbey inBurgundy.[9] His first act as Archbishop was to absolve the King, who swore an oath (which he almost immediately violated) guaranteeing that unjust laws should be repealed and the liberties granted byHenry I should be observed.
Stephen now became a leader in the struggle against King John. At a council of churchmen atWestminster on 25 August 1213, to which certain barons were invited, he read the text of the charter of Henry I and called for its renewal. In the sequel, Stephen's energetic leadership and the barons' military strength forced John to grant his seal toMagna Carta (15 June 1215).[10]
Since King John now held his kingdom as a fief of theHoly See the Pope espoused his cause and excommunicated the barons. For refusing to publish the excommunication the king had Stephen suspended from all ecclesiastical functions by the papal commissioners[11] and on 4 November this sentence was confirmed by the Pope, although Stephen appealed to him in person. He was released from suspension the following spring on condition that he keep out of England until peace was restored, and he remained abroad till May 1218. Meanwhile, both Pope Innocent and King John died and all parties in England rallied to the support ofHenry III.
Stephen Langton continued under Henry's reign to work for the political independence of England. In 1223 he again appeared as the leader and spokesman of the barons, who demanded that King Henry confirm the charter. He went to France on Henry's behalf to call onLouis VIII of France for the restoration ofNormandy, and later he supported Henry against rebellious barons. He obtained a promise from the new pope,Honorius III, that during his lifetime no resident papal legate should be again sent to England, and won other concessions from the same pontiff favourable to the English Church and exalting the see of Canterbury.
Of great importance in the ecclesiastical history of England was a council which Stephen opened atOsney on 17 April 1222; its decrees, known as theConstitutions of Stephen Langton,[12] are the earliest provincial canons which are still recognised as binding in English Church courts.
In 1221 Langton approved the settlement of friars of theOrder of Preachers (Blackfriars) in England. They were conveyed byPeter des Roches, the Bishop of Winchester, to Canterbury where the leader of the first group of friars, Gilbert of Fresney, was asked to preach an impromptu sermon on the merits of his new order. Satisfied with his quality of preaching the friars were permitted to found priories across the country.[13]
Stephen Langton died atSlindon, near Chichester,Sussex, on 9 July 1228. He was buried in open ground beside the south transept ofCanterbury Cathedral. St Michael's Chapel was later built over this ground (now theBuffs Regimental Chapel), and the head of his tomb projects into the east end of this chapel, under its altar, with the foot outside it.
The "Stephen Langton Trail", devised to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta, starts inLangton by Wragby and leads toLincoln Cathedral, close toLincoln Castle where there is an original copy of the charter.[14]
Langton wrote prolifically. His many sermons and his glosses, commentaries, expositions, and treatises on almost all thebooks of theOld Testament are preserved in manuscript[15] atLambeth Palace, atOxford andCambridge, and in France.
According to F. J. E. Raby, "There is little reason to doubt that Stephen Langton ... was the author" of the famous sequenceVeni Sancte Spiritus.[16]
The only other of his works which has been printed, besides a few letters (inThe Historical Works ofGervase of Canterbury, ed.W. Stubbs, ii. London, 1880,Rolls Series, no. 71, appendix to preface) is aTractatus de translatione Beati Thomae (inJ. A. Giles'sThomas of Canterbury, Oxford, 1845), which is probably an expansion of a sermon he preached in 1220, on the occasion of the translation of the relics ofThomas Becket; the ceremony was the most splendid that had ever been seen in England. He also wrote a life ofRichard I, and other historical works and poems are attributed to him.
Classically, scrolls of the books of theBible have always been divided by blank spaces at the end (petuhoth) or middle (setumoth) of the lines. However, Langton is believed[17] to be the one who divided the Bible into the standard modern arrangement ofchapters. While CardinalHugo de Sancto Caro is also known to have come up with a systematic division of the Bible (between 1244 and 1248), it is Langton's arrangement of the chapters that remains in use today.[18]
Media related toStephen Langton at Wikimedia Commons
Works by or aboutStephen Langton atWikisource| Catholic Church titles | ||
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| Preceded by | Archbishop of Canterbury 1207–1228 | Succeeded by |
