William Wake (26 January 165724 January 1737) was a priest in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

and

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 Just ...

from 1716 until his death in 1737.

Life

Wake was born in

Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and it ...

, Dorset, and educated at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniq ...

. He took orders, and in 1682 went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

as chaplain to the ambassador Richard Graham, Viscount Preston (1648–1695). Here he became acquainted with many of the savants of the capital, and was much interested in French clerical affairs. He also collated some Paris

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

of the '' Greek New Testament'' for John Fell, bishop of Oxford. He returned to England in 1685; in 1688 he became preacher at

Gray's Inn The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the bar in order to practise as a barrister in England and W ...

, and in 1689 he received a canonry of

. In 1693 he was appointed rector of

St James's Church, Piccadilly St James's Church, Piccadilly, also known as St James's Church, Westminster, and St James-in-the-Fields, is an Anglican church on Piccadilly in the centre of London, United Kingdom. The church was designed and built by Sir Christopher Wren. Th ...

. Ten years later he became

Dean of Exeter The Dean of Exeter is the head of the Chapter of Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, England. The chapter was established by William Briwere, Bishop of Exeter (1224–44) who set up the offices of dean and chancellor of Exeter Cathedr ...

, and in 1705 he was consecrated

bishop of Lincoln The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury. The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...

. He was translated to the see of

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

in 1716 on the death of

Thomas 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 a ...

. Tenison had been his mentor, and was responsible for his obtaining his bishopric, despite the notable reluctance of Queen Anne, who regarded the appointment of bishops as her prerogative and distrusted Tenison's judgment. In 1718 he negotiated with leading French churchmen about a projected union of the Gallican and English churches to resist the claims of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. In dealing with

Nonconformism Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

he was tolerant, and even advocated a revision of the Prayer Book if that would allay the scruples of dissenters. His writings are numerous, the chief being his ''State of the Church and Clergy of England ... historically deduced'' (London, 1703). In these writings he produced a massive defence of Anglican Orders and again disproved the Nag's Head Fable by citing a number of documentary sources. The work was written in part as a refutation of the arguments of the "

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 ...

" opposition to the perceived

erastian Thomas Erastus (original surname Lüber, Lieber, or Liebler; 7 September 152431 December 1583) was a Swiss physician and Calvinist theologian. He wrote 100 theses (later reduced to 75) in which he argued that the sins committed by Christians shou ...

policies of King William and the then Archbishop of Canterbury

. He died at his official home,

Lambeth Palace Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It is situated in north Lambeth, London, on the south bank of the River Thames, south-east of the Palace of Westminster, which houses Parliament, on the opposit ...

. He was grandfather of the noted English Geologist Etheldred Benett. 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.

Collections

Wake bequeathed his collections of printed books, manuscripts and coins to Christ Church. The manuscript volumes include 31 bound volumes of Wake's correspondence. To the collection of manuscripts belonged minuscule manuscripts of the New Testament: 73, 74, 506- 520. These manuscripts came from Constantinople to England about 1731.

Notes

References

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wake, William 1657 births 1737 deaths 18th-century Anglican archbishops Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Archbishops of Canterbury Bishops of Lincoln Chancellors of the College of William & Mary Deans of Exeter Members of the Privy Council of Great Britain People from Blandford Forum Burials at Croydon Minster 17th-century Anglican theologians 18th-century Anglican theologians