John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Name and Titles: The Most Revered and Right Honourable John Whiftgift, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Born: circa 1530-1533 at Great Grimsby, Lincolnshire.

Died: 29 February 1604 at Lambeth Palace, London.

Buried: Croydon Minster, London.

John Whitgift was born to a middle-class merchant family in Great Grimsby, Lincolnshire. His education was entrusted to the church, with his father placing him under the tutelage of his uncle, Robert Whitgift, who was the abbot of the neighbouring Wellow Abbey.

He was a child of some ability and was soon singled out for higher education. By 1549, when he was about 19 years old, he enrolled at Queen’s College, Cambridge. Over the following 21 years, Whitgift accumulated various offices and accolades, eventually being elected vice-chancellor of the University in November 1570.

Through the 1570s, Whitgift’s star continued in its ascendency, although his religious views were divisive. His inclinations towards the High Church led to his abhorrence of Puritans and his subsequent persecution of them. However, he also defended the Church of England from Catholics. This path brought him favour with the then Queen, Elizabeth I, with whom he always shared a close understanding. He would be her last and most favoured Archbishop of Canterbury.

While his career within the church had progressed well up until the end of the 1570s, the 1580s saw John Whitgift reach the height of his status and influence. He was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury in 1583 and was elected to Elizabeth’s Privy Council three years later, in 1586.

For the remainder of Whitgift’s time in office, he pursued various anti-Puritan policies vigorously, signing the death warrants of various prominent clergy, including Henry Barrow and John Greenwood, leading lights in the Brownist movement (Brownist ‘Def’: a common designation for early Separatists from the Church of England before 1620).

One contemporary description of Whitgift comes from Barrow, who stated to Lord Burghley, ‘He is a monster, a miserable compound, I know not what to make him. He is neither ecclesiastical nor civil, even that second beast spoken of in revelation.’ While he was also well known for his generous displays of hospitality, he had a proclivity for pomp and ostentation. Clearly, he pursued the causes he believed in with inflexible zeal and some degree of ruthlessness.

John Whitgift was one of a small handful of people who attended Elizabeth I on her deathbed. A contemporary account, written by Robert Carey, Earl of Monmouth, states that Elizabeth’s Archbishop arrived about six in the evening of the 23 March. Carey describes how the Archbishop knelt by the bedside of the queen and prayed on her behalf for a long time, saying that although she had been a ‘great Queen here on Earth, she would shortly yield an account of her stewardship to the King of Kings’.

When Whitgift finally ‘blessed her, and meant to rise and leave her’, she indicated that she wanted him to continue.  So he remained with ‘earnest cries to God for her soul’s health, which he uttered with that fervency of spirit, as the Queen to all our sight much rejoiced thereat, and gave testimony to us all of her Christian and comfortable end’.

Although John Whitgift survived to crown the new king, James VI of England, he died just short of a year after his beloved Queen in February 1604, at Lambeth Palace in London.

Visitor Information:

Despite dying at Lambeth, Whitgift was laid to rest in what was then known as the Parish Chruch of St John the Baptist in Croydon. This is now known as Croydon Minster.

In the sixteenth century, Croydon lay in open countryside. Today, it has been subsumed into the suburbs of south London. It is hard to imagine the parish church and adjacent palace surrounded by pleasant countryside, far away from the bustle and dirt of the city. However, Croydon Palace was once the summer palace of the Archbishops of Canterbury. Because of this, the parish church saw the burial of no less than six Archbishops of Canterbury.

Whitgift’s resplendent and colourful tomb lies to the right of the High Altar in St Nicolas Chapel. Sadly, the medieval church was severely damaged by a fire in 1867. According to the Croydon Minster website, following the fire, ‘only the tower, south porch, and outer walls remained. Under the direction of Sir George Gilbert Scott, the church was rebuilt, incorporating the remains and essentially following the design of the medieval building, and was reconsecrated in 1870’. I believe that during this period, Whitgift’s tomb was also renovated.

If you visit the Minster, you will want to try and coordinate that visit with one of the guided tours of the nearby John Whitgift School run by the Friends of the Old Palace. The school incorporates substantial remains of Croydon Palace, with particular highlights being the Great Hall, the Chapel and remains of the Elizabethan long gallery. Tours only run around three times a year and get booked quickly.

You might also want to check out the nearby Whitgift almshouses, founded as a hospital by John Whitgift in 1596.

Other Tudor Places Nearby:

Nonsuch Park: (8 miles) The site of the old palace of Nonsuch.
Richmond: (14 miles) The remains of Richmond palace – the gatehouse and some outer services building incorporated into current private homes.
Lambeth Palace: (10 miles) Tours of the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. If you are a member at the Road Trip Traveller level, you can also read more about Lambeth in my 5-Day London itinerary.