John Longland

For the Archdeacon of Buckingham, see John Longland (priest).

The Right Reverend John Longland
Bishop of Lincoln
Church	Roman Catholic/Church of England
Diocese	Lincoln
Appointed	20 March 1521
In office	1521-1547
Predecessor	William Atwater
Successor	Henry Holbeach
Orders
Consecration	5 May 1521 by William Warham
Personal details
Born	1473 Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England
Died	7 May 1547 Wooburn, Buckinghamshire, England
Buried	Eton College
Nationality	English
Parents	Thomas Longland & Isabel Staveley

John Longland (1473 – 7 May 1547) was an English cleric. He was Dean of Salisbury from 1514 to 1521 and Bishop of Lincoln from 1521 to his death in 1547.

Career

He was made a Demy at Magdalen College, Oxford in 1491 and became a Fellow. He was King Henry VIII's confessor^[1] and was said to have been one of those who first persuaded the King that he should annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon.^[2]

Arms of Bishop John Longland, Lincoln Cathedral

In 1519 he was appointed Canon of the sixth stall at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, a position he held until 1520. He was also Lord Almoner from c.1521.^[3] He was consecrated a bishop on 5 May 1521, by William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester; Nicholas West, Bishop of Ely; and John Vesey, Bishop of Exeter.^[4]

During the English Reformation, he was among the conservative bishops, recognizing Transubstantiation. His conservatism is attested to by his complaint in 1536 to Thomas Cromwell about Protestant preachers in his diocese.^[5] Longland is referred to by John Foxe, the martyrologist, as "a fierce and cruel vexer of the faithful, poor servants of Christ." Foxe states that he violently constrained men, women, and maidens to testify against one another. He delivered some over to the secular arm to be burned.

See also

• Lollardy, a protestant reform movement persecuted by Longland
• Agnes Ashford, a protestant evangelist threatened and intimidated by Longland
• List of chancellors of the University of Oxford

References

1. Fideler, P.A.; Mayer, T.F. (1992). Political Thought and the Tudor Commonwealth. Routledge. p. 98. ISBN 0-415-06672-7.
2. Spanish Chronicle, p. 5.
3. Athenæ Oxonienses - an Exact History of All the Writers and Bishops ..., Volume 1. p. 58.
4. Perceval, Arthur Philip. An Apology for the Doctrine of Apostolical Succession: With an Appendix, on the English Orders. second edition (London: Rivington, 1841) p. 188.
5. Eamon Duffy, The Stripping of the Altars (Yale University Press, 2005), p. 388.

Religious titles
Preceded by William Atwater	Bishop of Lincoln 1521–1547	Succeeded by Henry Holbeach
Academic offices
Preceded by William Warham	Chancellor of the University of Oxford 1532–1547	Succeeded by Richard Cox