View source for Gilbert Sheldon

{{Short description|Archbishop of Canterbury from 1663 to 1677}}
{{For|Roman Catholic prelate in the United States|Gilbert Sheldon (Bishop of Steubenville)}}
{{distinguish|Gilbert Shelton}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| honorific-prefix = {{pre-nominal styles|size=100%|MRevd|&RHPC}}
| name = Gilbert Sheldon
| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|}}
| image = Gilbert Sheldon by Sir Peter Lely.jpg
| caption = Portrait by [[Peter Lely]]
| title = [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]
| church = [[Church of England]]
| province = [[Province of Canterbury]]
| diocese = [[Diocese of Canterbury]]
| elected = 11 August 1663 (elected); 31 August 1663 (election confirmed)
| enthroned = 7 September 1663 (by proxy)
| ended = 9 November 1677 (death)
| predecessor = [[William Juxon]]
| successor = [[William Sancroft]]
| other_post = [[Dean of the Chapel Royal]] (1660–1663)<br />[[Bishop of London]] (1660–1663)<br />[[Master of the Savoy]] (1660–1663)<br />[[Chancellor of the University of Oxford]] (1667–1669)
<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_date = {{birth date|1598|6|19|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Stanton, Staffordshire]]
| death_date = {{death date and age|1677|11|9|1598|6|19|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Lambeth Palace]], [[Surrey]]
| buried = [[Croydon Minster|Croydon parish church]], [[Surrey]]
| nationality = [[English people|English]]
| religion = [[Anglicanism|Anglican]]
| residence = 
| parents = Roger Sheldon
| profession = [[Theologian]]
| alma_mater = [[Trinity College, Oxford]]
}}{{Ordination
| ordained deacon by           = [[John Howson]] ([[Bishop of Oxford|Oxford]])
| date of diaconal ordination  = 23 May 1624
| place of diaconal ordination = [[Dorchester on Thames]]
| ordained priest by           =
| date of priestly ordination  =
| place of priestly ordination =
| consecrated by               = [[Brian Duppa]] ([[Bishop of Winchester|Winch.]])
| co-consecrators              = [[Accepted Frewen]] ([[Archbishop of York|York]]),<br />[[Matthew Wren]] ([[Bishop of Ely|Ely]]),<br />[[John Warner (bishop)|John Warner]] ([[Bishop of Rochester|Rochester]]),<br />[[Henry King (poet)|Henry King]] ([[Bishop of Chichester|Chichester]])
| date of consecration         = 28 October 1660
| place of consecration        = [[Henry VII Chapel]], [[Westminster Abbey]]
| bishop 1                     =
| consecration date 1          =
| sources                      = <ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=bkROAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA206 Perceval, A.P. An Apology for the Doctrine of Apostolical Succession: with an Appendix on the English Orders] p. 206 (Google Books)</ref>
}}
'''Gilbert Sheldon''' (19 June 1598 – 9 November 1677) was an English religious leader who served as the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] from 1663 until his death.

==Early life==
Sheldon was born in [[Stanton, Staffordshire]] in the parish of [[Ellastone]], on 19 June 1598,<ref>According to a handwritten entry in the Sheldon family Bible, now in the [[Bodleian Library]], Oxford, which reads: "Gilb. Sheldon, borne 19 June 1598."</ref> the youngest son of Roger Sheldon; his father worked for [[Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury]]. He was educated at [[Trinity College, Oxford]]; he matriculated at Oxford on 1 July 1614, graduated [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] from Trinity College on 27 November 1617, and [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|MA(Oxon)]] on 28 June 1620. In 1619, he was incorporated at Cambridge.<ref>{{acad|id=SHLN619G|name=Sheldon, Gilbert}}</ref> In 1622 he was elected fellow of [[All Souls' College]], where he took the degrees of [[Bachelor of Divinity|BD]] on 11 November 1628 and [[Doctor of Divinity|DD]] on 25 June 1634. In 1622, he was ordained, and shortly afterwards he became domestic chaplain to [[Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry]].<ref name="DNB">{{Cite DNB|wstitle=Sheldon, Gilbert|last=Hutton|first=William Holden|author-link=William Holden Hutton|volume=52}}</ref>

In March 1636 he was elected warden of All Souls' on the death of Richard Astley.<ref>'Astley, Richard', in J. Foster (ed.), ''Alumni Oxonienses 1500–1714'' (Oxford, 1891), [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/alumni-oxon/1500-1714/pp29-50 pp. 29–50] (British History Online, accessed 22 November 2018). 'Sheldon, Gilbert' in J. Venn, ''Alumni Cantabrigienses'' Part I vol. 4 (Cambridge University Press 1927), [https://archive.org/details/p1alumnicantabri04univuoft/page/56 p. 57] (Internet Archive).</ref> He had already made the acquaintance of [[William Laud]], and corresponded with him on college business, university politics, and on the conversion of [[William Chillingworth]] from Roman Catholicism. Sheldon was not initially a Laudian, and he resisted (unsuccessfully) Laud's appointment of [[Jeremy Taylor]] to a fellowship at All Souls'. In 1634 and 1640 he was pro-vice-chancellor. In 1638 he was on the commission of visitation for Merton College; the visit produced a report requiring reforms.<ref name="DNB" />

During the years 1632–1639 he received the livings of [[London Borough of Hackney|Hackney]] (1633); [[Oddington, Oxfordshire]]; [[Ickford]], Buckinghamshire (1636); and [[Newington, Oxfordshire]]; besides being a [[prebendary]] of [[Gloucester Cathedral|Gloucester]] from 1632.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} Sheldon gravitated towards the [[Great Tew circle]] of [[Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland|Lucius Cary]] (Falkland), and was on friendly terms with [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Edward Hyde]]; he had no [[Puritan]] sympathies. He became a royal chaplain through Coventry, and the king intended preferment for him, plans interrupted by the political crises.<ref name="DNB" />

==Civil War period==
He was intimate with the Royalist leaders, and participated in the negotiations for the [[Treaty of Uxbridge|Uxbridge]] treaty of 1645.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911}} During this period he became with [[Henry Hammond]] one of the churchmen closest to the king, and attended him as [[Clerk of the Closet]] in Oxford, later in [[Newmarket, Suffolk]] and finally in the [[Isle of Wight]]. When the parliamentarians occupied Oxford in 1646 he resisted the [[Parliamentary visitation of the University of Oxford|visitation]], but was finally and physically ejected from All Souls in early 1648. Taken into custody, he was to have been imprisoned in [[Wallingford Castle]] with Hammond but the commander was unwilling to have them. He was freed, with restrictions on his movements, later that year.<ref name="DNB" />

He lived quietly for a dozen years in the Midlands, at [[Snelston]] in Derbyshire or with friends in Staffordshire,  [[Nottinghamshire]] and [[Glamorgan]], where he stayed with Sir John Aubrey. He was active in fundraising for the poor clergy and for [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] in exile. He corresponded with Jeremy Taylor, whom he supported, and with Hyde. On the death of John Palmer, whom the visitors had made warden of All Souls' in his place, on 4 March 1659, he was quietly reinstated.<ref name="DNB" />

==Bishop of London==
On 21 September 1660, Sheldon was nominated [[Bishop of London]]; he was elected on 9 October and his election was confirmed on 23 October. On 28 October, he was consecrated in the [[Henry VII Chapel]] at [[Westminster Abbey]]; he had been made [[Dean of the Chapel Royal]] not long before and became [[Master of the Savoy]] not long after. Since [[William Juxon]] was now Archbishop of Canterbury, but was aged and infirm, Sheldon in practical terms exercised many of the powers of the archbishopric in the period to 1663, and he was on the privy council. He was commissioned to consecrate the new Scottish bishops.<ref name="DNB" />

The [[Savoy Conference]] of 1661 was held at his lodgings. He hardly participated but was understood to be pulling strings in terms of the outcome. In his formulation, [[Puritan]] objections should be set out and considered; the point of the Conference was liturgical, to look into reform of the ''[[Book of Common Prayer]]''. The subsequent [[Uniformity Act 1662]] was very much in line with Sheldon's thinking.<ref name="DNB" /> The Act was a sequel to Sheldon's successful orchestration of opposition to Charles II's intended Declaration of Indulgence, earlier in 1662.<ref name="FR">Ronald H. Fritze, William B. Robison, ''Historical Dictionary of Stuart England, 1603–1689'' (1996), p. 492</ref>

==Archbishop of Canterbury==
He was translated to become [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] in 1663: the ''[[congé d'élire]]'' was issued on 14 July, Sheldon was elected on 11 August, royal assent was given on 20 August and his election was confirmed (in a legal ceremony by which he officially took his new post) on 31 August at [[Lambeth Palace]];<ref group="N">The bishops present to confirm Sheldon's election were: [[George Morley (bishop)|George Morley]], [[Bishop of Winchester]]; [[William Piers (bishop)|William Piers]], [[Bishop of Bath and Wells]]; [[Robert Skinner (bishop)|Robert Skinner]], [[Bishop of Oxford]]; [[Humphrey Henchman]], [[Bishop of Salisbury]]; [[Seth Ward (bishop of Salisbury)|Seth Ward]], [[Bishop of Exeter]]; and [[John Earle (bishop)|John Earle]], [[Bishop of Worcester]].</ref><ref name="confel">{{usurped|[https://lexmedia.com.pl/l/places_of_confirmation.pdf Lambeth Palace Library Research Guide – Places of Confirmation of Election of Archbishops of Canterbury]}}Accessed 31 July 2013)</ref> he was enthroned by proxy and vested with the [[temporalities]] on 7 September.<ref name="fasti">{{Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae |last=Horn |first=Joyce M. |period=1541–1857 |volume=3 |pages=8–12}} (Accessed 31 July 2013)</ref> He was greatly interested in the welfare of the University of Oxford, of which he became Chancellor in 1667, succeeding [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Lord Clarendon]], as Hyde now was. The [[Sheldonian Theatre]] at Oxford was built and endowed at his expense.<ref name="DNB" /> He was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1665.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27sheldon,%20gilbert%27%29|title= Fellows Details|publisher= Royal Society|access-date= 14 January 2017}}</ref>

He accepted much purely secular work, acting as arbiter on petitions presented through him, and taking up investigations passed on by the king, especially in connection with the navy. Sheldon lost political influence after the fall of Clarendon in 1667, and by making Charles's philandering a matter of religious reproach. He was vocal against the [[Declaration of Indulgence (1672)|Royal Declaration of Indulgence]] of 1672.<ref name="DNB" /><ref name="FR" /> He is depicted in a window in [[Gray's Inn Chapel]].

Sheldon is mentioned in [[Pepys' Diary]] who relates a story from his "Cozen Roger" that "...the Archbishop of Canterbury that now is, do keep a wench, and that he is a very wencher as can be and tells us that is publicly known that [[Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet|Sir Charles Sedley]] had got away one of the Archbishop's wenches from him..."  Such stories, spread by his enemies, were common. There is in fact no credible evidence that Sheldon led an immoral life, though Samuel Pepys's cousin [[Roger Pepys]], a [[Puritan]], may well have believed the gossip. A later entry in Pepys' Diary praises the Archbishop as a "stout and high spirited man", who openly spoke his mind to the King on matters of morality.

Sheldon never married: this may have inspired the gossip reported by Pepys about his immoral private life. His niece, Catherine, married [[John Dolben]], [[Archbishop of York]].
[[File:Croydon Minster, Gilbert Sheldon tomb.jpg|thumb|Tomb in Croydon Minster]]
Sheldon was buried in Croydon Parish Church, now renamed [[Croydon Minster]].

==Notes==
<references group="N" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
*{{EB1911|wstitle=Sheldon, Gilbert|volume=24|page=827}}
*{{DNB|wstitle=Sheldon, Gilbert}}

==Further reading==
*Victor D. Sutch (1973), ''Gilbert Sheldon, Architect of Anglican Survival 1640–1675''
{{S-start}}
{{S-rel|en}}
|-
{{s-vac | last   = [[William Juxon]]}}
{{S-ttl | title  = [[Bishop of London]]
        | years  = 1660–1663}}
{{S-aft | after  = [[Humphrey Henchman]]}}
{{S-bef | before = [[William Juxon]]}}
{{S-ttl | title  = [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]
        | years  = 1663–1677}}
{{S-aft | after  = [[William Sancroft]]}}
{{S-aca}}
{{S-bef | before = [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|The Earl of Clarendon]]}}
{{S-ttl | title  = [[Chancellor of the University of Oxford]]
        | years  = 1667–1669}}
{{S-aft | after  = [[James Butler, 1st Duke of Ormonde|The Duke of Ormonde]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Archbishops of Canterbury}}
{{Bishops of London}}
{{Deans of the Chapel Royal}}
{{Masters of the Savoy}}
{{Clerks of the Closet}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheldon, Gilbert}}
[[Category:1598 births]]
[[Category:1677 deaths]]
[[Category:People from the Borough of East Staffordshire]]
[[Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Deans of the Chapel Royal]]
[[Category:Doctors of Divinity]]
[[Category:Bishops of London]]
[[Category:Archbishops of Canterbury]]
[[Category:17th-century Anglican archbishops]]
[[Category:Participants in the Savoy Conference]]
[[Category:Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Oxford]]
[[Category:Masters of the Savoy]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:Burials at Croydon Minster]]
[[Category:Clerks of the Closet]]
[[Category:17th-century Church of England bishops]]
[[Category:17th-century Anglican theologians]]