John Potter (c. 167410 October 1747) was
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
(1737–1747).
Life
He was the son of a
linen draper
In the Middle Ages or 16th and 17th centuries, a cloth merchant was one who owned or ran a cloth (often wool) manufacturing or wholesale import or export business. A cloth merchant might additionally own a number of draper's shops. Cloth was ext ...
at
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
,
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
. At the age of fourteen he entered
University College, Oxford
University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the univer ...
, and in 1693 he published notes on
Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...
's ''De audiendis poetis'' and
Basil
Basil (, ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' , also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" refers to the variety also kno ...
's ''Oratio ad juvenes''. In 1694 he was elected fellow of
Lincoln College, Oxford
Lincoln College (formally, The College of the Blessed Mary and All Saints, Lincoln) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, situated on Turl Street in central Oxford. Lincoln was founded in 1427 by Richard Fleming, the ...
and in 1697 his edition of ''
Lycophron
Lycophron (; grc-gre, Λυκόφρων ὁ Χαλκιδεύς; born about 330–325 BC) was a Hellenistic Greek tragic poet, grammarian, sophist, and commentator on comedy, to whom the poem ''Alexandra'' is attributed (perhaps falsely).
Life and ...
'' appeared. It was followed by his ''Archaeologia graeca'' (2 vols. 8vo, 1697–1698), the popularity of which endured till the advent of Dr
William Smith's dictionaries. A reprint of his ''Lycophron'' in 1702 was dedicated to
Graevius
Johann Georg Graevius (originally Grava or Greffe; 29 January 1632 – 11 January 1703) was a German classical scholar and critic. He was born in Naumburg, in the Electorate of Saxony.
Life
Graevius was originally intended for the law, but made t ...
, and the ''Antiquities'' was afterwards published in Latin in the ''Thesaurus of Gronovius''.
Besides holding several livings he became, in 1704, chaplain to
Archbishop Tenison
Thomas Tenison (29 September 163614 December 1715) was an English church leader, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1694 until his death. During his primacy, he crowned two British monarchs.
Life
He was born at Cottenham, Cambridgeshire, the son ...
, and shortly afterwards was made
Chaplain-in-Ordinary to
Queen Anne. From 1708 he was
Regius Professor of Divinity and canon of
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford
Christ Church Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican diocese of Oxford, which consists of the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire. It is also the chapel of Christ Church, a college of the University of Oxford. This dual r ...
. He married Elizabeth Venner in
St. Paul's Cathedral in 1709.
[Clay, John W., ed. ''Publications of the Harleian Society, Registers, Vol. 26'', London, 1899. p. 26] She being a granddaughter of
Thomas Venner
Thomas Venner (died 19 January 1661According to the then prevailing Old Style calendar, the turn of the year occurred on Lady Day, 25 March. As such, Venner died in 1660 according to contemporary accounts, but in 1661 as described by modern histo ...
, a
Fifth Monarchy man hanged as a traitor. In 1715 he became
Bishop of Oxford
The Bishop of Oxford is the diocesan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Oxford in the Province of Canterbury; his seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. The current bishop is Steven Croft, following the confirmation of his electio ...
. In the same year appeared his edition of
Clement of Alexandria
Titus Flavius Clemens, also known as Clement of Alexandria ( grc , Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς; – ), was a Christian theologian and philosopher who taught at the Catechetical School of Alexandria. Among his pupils were Origen and ...
. In 1707 he published a ''Discourse on Church Government,'' and he took a prominent part in the controversy with
Benjamin Hoadly
Benjamin Hoadly (14 November 1676 – 17 April 1761) was an English clergyman, who was successively Bishop of Bangor, of Hereford, of Salisbury, and finally of Winchester. He is best known as the initiator of the Bangorian Controversy.
Li ...
,
Bishop of Bangor
The Bishop of Bangor is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Bangor. The see is based in the city of Bangor where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Cathedral Church of Saint Deiniol.
The ''Report of the Commissioners appointed ...
. Even though Potter was a notable
Whig, he was a
High Church
The term ''high church'' refers to beliefs and practices of Christian ecclesiology, liturgy, and theology that emphasize formality and resistance to modernisation. Although used in connection with various Christian traditions, the term originate ...
man and had opposed Hoadly. Bishop Potter also
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
John Wesley
John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...
a
deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
in the Church of England in September 1725, and ordained him a
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
in 1728.
In January 1737 Potter was unexpectedly appointed to succeed
William Wake
William Wake (26 January 165724 January 1737) was a priest in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1716 until his death in 1737.
Life
Wake was born in Blandford Forum, Dorset, and educated at Christ Church, Oxford. He took ...
in the see of Canterbury. While in that seat, he continued to represent a High Church position, but he was also ineffective at restoring the
Convocation
A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a speci ...
.
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
attacked him in the 1743 version of his ''
The Dunciad
''The Dunciad'' is a landmark, mock-heroic, narrative poem by Alexander Pope published in three different versions at different times from 1728 to 1743. The poem celebrates a goddess Dulness and the progress of her chosen agents as they bring ...
'' (book II, 323).
Potter died on 10 October 1747. His ''Theological Works'', consisting of sermons, charges, divinity lectures and the ''Discourse on Church Government'', were published in three volumes.
He was buried in
Croydon Minster
Croydon Minster is the parish and civic church of the London Borough of Croydon. There are currently more than 35 churches in the borough, with Croydon Minster being the most prominent. It is Grade I listed.
Six Archbishops of Canterbury are b ...
in Surrey.
References
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, John
1674 births
1747 deaths
People from Wakefield
Bishops of Oxford
Archbishops of Canterbury
18th-century Anglican archbishops
Alumni of University College, Oxford
Fellows of Lincoln College, Oxford
Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain
People educated at Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Wakefield
Burials at Croydon Minster
Regius Professors of Divinity (University of Oxford)
18th-century Church of England bishops
17th-century Anglican theologians
18th-century Anglican theologians