WHITGIFT, Joint, the third Protestant archbishop of Canterbury-, was b. at Great Grimsby-, in Lincolnshire, according to one account in 1530, according to another in 1533. His father was a merchant, and is said to have belonged to a family long estab lished in Yorkshire. His early years were passed within the abbey of Wellow, near Grimsby, of which his uncle was' the abbot; and from that lie went to St. Antony's school in London, a religious house then in great reputation. About 1548 he was entered at Queen's college, Cambridge. After a short time he removed to Pembroke hall, of which he continued a member till 1555, when he was elected a fellow of Peterhouse. He took orders in 1560, and as lie showed a remarkable talent for preaching, the bishop of Ely appointed him his chaplain, 'and gave him the living of Feversham. In 1563 he was appointed lady Margaret's professor of divinity. In 1567 he became master of Pembroke hall; and in the course of the same year queen Elizabeth, who admired his preaching, and had made him one of her chaplains, appointed him to the mastership of Trinity college. About this time he also obtained the regius professorship of divinity, and took his doctor's degree. He was appointed dean of Lincoln in 1571, bishop of Worcester in 1577, and archbishop of Canterbury in 1583. He at one time held together —under a dispensation from the arelibishop--the deanery of Lincoln, the mastership of Trinity, the regius professorship of divinity, and the living of Feversham: and the dis pensation enabled him to hold, along with these, any other benefice whatever. This cannot have been often paralleled, even in the history of pluralities. Of course the man so favored had rendered and was rendering considerable services to the church and to the crown.
His first work, on becoming master of Trinity, was upon a revisal of the statutes of the university. lie obtained such powers for the heads of houses as enabled them to eject from the lady Margaret's professorship the able and energetic Puritan, Cartwright, on the score of his Calvinistic creed. He afterward, at the request of archbishop Parker, published an answer to an "Admonition of Parliament" (drawn up by a clergyman named Field), presented to the house of commons on behalf of the Puritans, in which it was maintained that, in matters of doctrine and discipline, the church should admit nothing as authoritative but what was contained in the word of God. This work was
published in 1572. It has always been held that in it Whitgift vindicated the position of the Anglican church against the Puritans with no less ability than bishop Jewell showed in defending it against the Romanists. He was answered by Cartwright on behalf of the Puritans; he replied, and Cartwright rejoined; and as the works on either side were revised by the most learned and eminent men of the two parties, they give an excellent view of the state of opinions in the Anglican church at this time. After becom ing primate, Whitgift labored assiduously to secure uniformity of discipline in the church. He had the full confidence of queen Elizabeth, who placed all the church patronage of the crown, including the bishoprics, in his disposal, and he was armed with ° full powers for carryino. out his design. He required the clergy not only to subscribe to the royal supremacy, the liturgy, and the thirty-nine articles of the church, but also to a set of additional articles framed mainly with the view of purging the church of Puri tanism. The bishops were required to administer those tests; and the clergymen who refused to accept them were deprived of their livings. This measure was harshly con ceived; but Whitgift is said to have been a kindly man, and to have used his authority over the clergy gently, especially in his later years. He was made a privy councilor in 1536, and in that capacity drew up a set of statutes for cathedral churches, to make their services conform to the principles of the reformation. He was offered the chancellor ship by queen Elizabeth, but he declined the office. On the accession of king James, he seems to have been much alarmed for the stability of the system which he had spent his life in rearing; and though the monarch treated him with the utmost observance, anxiety upon this account is said to have hastened his end. IIe died of paralysis Feb. 29, 1603. He is undoubtedly entitled to rank with the ablest and most distinguished prelates that have adorned the English church. Ile founded a magnificent hospital and a grammar school at Croydon.