thumb|right|200px|John Sentamu Archibishop of York (2005-present)
Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the
Church of England, second only to the
Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the
diocesan bishop of the
Diocese of York and
metropolitan of the
Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England (north of the
Trent) as well as the
Isle of Man. The archbishop is a member
ex officio of the
House of Lords, and is styled
Primate of England. (The Archbishop of Canterbury is "Primate of All England".)
His throne is in
York Minster in central
York and his official residence is
Bishopthorpe Palace in the village of
Bishopthorpe, outside York.
The incumbent, since 5 October 2005, is the Most Reverend
John Sentamu. It is customary for a Church of England Bishop or Archbishop to sign himself with his given name and the (usually abbreviated) Latin name of his See - in this case "Ebor:" which is an abbreviation of
Eboracum, the Latin name for
York. The present archbishop has chosen to sign himself "Sentamu Ebor" instead of "John Ebor" because Sentamu is in fact not his surname but another given name (in Uganda surnames (family names) are uncommon, most people simply having several given names, often one from Christian tradition and one from Ugandan, which can be used interchangeably).
History
thumb|right|200px|[[William Temple (archbishop)|William Temple Archibishop of York (1929-42)]]
Roman
There was a bishop in York from very early Christian times. Bishops of York were particularly present at the Councils of
Arles and
Nicaea. However, this early Christian community was later destroyed by the pagan
Saxons and there is no direct line of descent from these bishops to the post-Augustinian ones.
Saxon, Viking and Medieval
The diocese was refounded by
Paulinus (a member of
Augustine's mission) in the 7th century. Notable among these early bishops is
Wilfrid. These early bishops of York acted as diocesan rather than archdiocesan prelates until the time of
Ecgbert of York, who received the
pallium from
Pope Gregory III in 735 and established metropolitan rights in the north. Until the Danish invasion the archbishops of Canterbury occasionally exercised authority, and it was not till the
Norman Conquest that the archbishops of York asserted their complete independence.
At the time of the Norman invasion York had jurisdiction over
Worcester,
Lichfield, and
Lincoln, as well as the dioceses in the Northern Isles and
Scotland. But the first three sees just mentioned were taken from York in 1072. In 1154 the suffragan sees of the
Isle of Man and
Orkney were transferred to the Norwegian
archbishop of Nidaros (today's Trondheim), and in 1188 all the Scottish dioceses except
Whithorn were released from subjection to York, so that only the dioceses of
Whithorn,
Durham, and
Carlisle remained to the Archbishops as suffragan sees. Of these, Durham was practically independent, for the
palatine bishops of that see were little short of sovereigns in their own jurisdiction. Sodor and Man were returned to York during the fourteenth century, to compensate for the loss of Whithorn to the Scottish Church.
Several of the archbishops of York held the ministerial office of
Lord Chancellor of England and played some parts in affairs of state. As
Peter Heylyn (1600–1662) wrote: "This see has yielded to the Church eight saints, to the Church of Rome three cardinals, to the realm of England twelve Lord Chancellors and two
Lord Treasurers, and to the north of England two
Lord Presidents." The bishopric's role was also complicated by
continued conflict over primacy with the see of Canterbury.
Reformation
At the time of the
Reformation York possessed three suffragan sees, Durham, Carlisle, and Sodor and Man, to which during the brief space of
Queen Mary I's reign (1553-1558) may be added the Diocese of Chester, founded by
Henry VIII, but subsequently recognized by the Pope.
Until 1559, the bishops and archbishops were in Communion with the
Pope in Rome. This is no longer the case as the Archbishop of York together with the rest of the
Church of England is part of the
Anglican Communion.
Walter de Grey purchased
York Place in
London, which after the fall of
Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, was to become the
Palace of Whitehall.
See also
