William Whittlesey (or Whittlesea) (died 5 June 1374) was a Bishop of Rochester, then Bishop of Worcester, then finally Archbishop of Canterbury. He also served as Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge.

Life

Whittlesey was probably born in the

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...

village of Whittlesey, England. Whittlesey was educated at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, and owing principally to the fact that he was a nephew of

Simon Islip Simon Islip (died 1366) was an English prelate. He served as Archbishop of Canterbury between 1349 and 1366. Early life Islip was the uncle of William Whittlesey. He was a cousin of Walter de Islip, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer:Ball, F. ...

, archbishop of Canterbury, he received numerous ecclesiastical preferments; he held prebends at

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west o ...

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

and

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

, and livings at Ivychurch,

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

and Cliffe. Whittlesey was briefly appointed Master of Peterhouse on 10 September 1349 and resigned from that post in 1351. Later he was appointed vicar-general, and then

dean of the court of arches The Dean of the Arches is the judge who presides in the provincial ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This court is called the Arches Court of Canterbury. It hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary tribun ...

by Islip. On 23 October 1360 he became Bishop of Rochester and was consecrated on 6 February 1362. Two years after his consecration he was transferred to the bishopric of Worcester on 6 March 1364. On 11 October 1368 Whittlesey was transferred to the archbishopric of Canterbury in succession to Simon Langham, but his term of office was very uneventful, a circumstance due partly, but not wholly, to his feeble health. He died at Lambeth on the 5th or 6 June 1374.

Notes

References

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whittlesey, William 1374 deaths People from Whittlesey Archbishops of Canterbury Bishops of Rochester Bishops of Worcester 14th-century English Roman Catholic archbishops Masters of Peterhouse, Cambridge Burials at Canterbury Cathedral Year of birth unknown