William Wake

2025-03-28T21:46:29Z

82.37.4.97: It is confusing to describe him as a "priest and Archbishop", as if he skipped the bishopric! It's much better to describe him as a minister and Archbishop.

{{short description|Archbishop of Canterbury from 1716 to 1737}}
{{Other people}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}

{{Infobox Christian leader
| honorific-prefix = {{pre-nominal styles|size=100%|MRevd|&RHPC}}
| name = William Wake
| honorific-suffix =
| archbishop_of = [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]
| image = William Wake (Gibson).jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption = Portrait by [[Thomas Gibson (artist)|Thomas Gibson]]
| province =
| church = [[Church of England]]
| diocese = [[Diocese of Canterbury|Canterbury]]
| see =
| term = 1716–1737
| predecessor = [[Thomas Tenison]]
| successor = [[John Potter (Archbishop)|John Potter]]
| ordination =
| consecration = 21 October 1705
| consecrated_by = [[Thomas Tenison]]
| previous_post = [[Dean of Exeter]] (1703–1705)<br/>[[Bishop of Lincoln]] (1705–1716)
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1657|1|26}}
| birth_place = [[Blandford Forum]], [[Dorset]], [[England]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1737|1|24|1657|1|26}}
| death_place = [[Lambeth Palace]]
| buried = [[Croydon Minster]]
| nationality = [[English people|English]]
| religion = [[Anglicanism|Anglican]]
| residence =
| parents =
| spouse =
| children =
| occupation =
| profession =
| alma_mater = [[Christ Church, Oxford]]
| signature =
}}
'''William Wake''' (26 January 1657{{snd}}24 January 1737) was a minister in the [[Church of England]] and [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] from 1716 to his death.

==Life==
Wake was born in [[Blandford Forum]], [[Dorset]], and educated at [[Christ Church, Oxford]]. He took orders, and in 1682 went to [[Paris]] as chaplain to the ambassador; [[Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston|Richard Graham, Viscount Preston]] (1648–1695). There, he became acquainted with many of the savants of the capital, and was much interested in French clerical affairs. He also collated some Paris [[New Testament manuscript|manuscripts]] of the ''[[Textus Receptus|Greek New Testament]]'' for [[John Fell (clergyman)|John Fell]], [[bishop of Oxford]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}<ref>In his private collection he had f.e. minuscules [[Minuscule 73|73]], [[Minuscule 74|74]].</ref>

He returned to England in 1685. In 1688, he became preacher at [[Gray's Inn]], and in 1689, he received a canonry of [[Christ Church, Oxford]]. In 1693, he was appointed rector of [[St James's Church, Piccadilly]]. Ten years later, he became [[Dean of Exeter]], and in 1705, he was consecrated [[bishop of Lincoln]]. He was translated to the see of [[Canterbury]] in 1716 on the death of [[Thomas Tenison]].{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Tenison had been his mentor and was responsible for his obtaining his bishopric despite the notable reluctance of [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]], who regarded the appointment of bishops as her prerogative and distrusted Tenison's judgment.{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}

In 1718, he negotiated with leading French churchmen about a projected union of the [[Catholic Church in France|Gallican]] and English churches to resist the claims of [[Roman Catholicism|Rome]].<ref>[[Joseph Hirst Lupton]], ''Archbishop Wake and the Project of Union'', 1896</ref> In dealing with [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformism]], he was tolerant and even advocated a revision of the ''[[Book of Common Prayer (1662)|Book of Common Prayer]]'' if that would allay the scruples of dissenters.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}}

His writings are numerous, the chief being his ''State of the Church and Clergy of England... historically deduced'' (London, 1703).{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} In those writings, he produced a massive defence of Anglican Orders and again disproved the [[Nag's Head Fable]] by citing a number of documentary sources.<ref>William Wake: Archbishop of Canterbury, 1657–1737 by Norman Sykes</ref> The work was written in part as a refutation of the arguments of the "[[high church]]" opposition to the perceived [[Thomas Erastus|Erastian]] policies of [[William III of England|King William]] and the Archbishop of Canterbury, [[Thomas Tenison]]. He died at his official home, [[Lambeth Palace]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2020}}

He was grandfather of the noted English geologist [[Etheldred Benett]].

He was buried in [[Croydon Minster]], 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=William Wake Microfilms |url=https://www.chch.ox.ac.uk/library-and-archives/william-wake-microfilms |publisher=Christ Church |access-date=26 October 2020}}</ref>

To the collection of manuscripts belonged [[New Testament minuscule|minuscule manuscripts of the New Testament]]: [[Minuscule 73|73]], [[Minuscule 74|74]], [[Minuscule 506|506]]-[[Minuscule 520|520]]. These manuscripts came from Constantinople to England about 1731.<ref name = Gregory>{{cite book
| last = Gregory
| first = Caspar René
| author-link = Caspar René Gregory
| title = Textkritik des Neuen Testaments, Vol. 1
| year = 1900
| location = Leipzig
| page = 197
}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Wake, William|volume=28|pages=247–248}}
* {{cite DNB|wstitle=Wake, William}}

== External links ==
{{Wikisource author}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=Wake,+William }}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=William Wake}}
* {{Librivox author |id=10814}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|en}}
{{succession box | before=[[James Gardiner (bishop)|James Gardiner]] | title=[[Bishop of Lincoln]] | after=[[Edmund Gibson]] | years=1705–1716}}
{{succession box | before=[[Thomas Tenison]] | title=[[Archbishop of Canterbury]] | after=[[John Potter (Archbishop)|John Potter]] | years=1716–1737}}
{{s-end}}
{{Deans of Exeter}}
{{Bishops of Lincoln}}
{{Archbishops of Canterbury}}
{{College of William & Mary chancellors}}

{{Authority control}}

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

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William Wake