Lancelot Andrewes

Life events

1. Born — 1555

   Lancelot Andrewes was born in 1555 near All Hallows, Barking, by the Tower of London, into an ancient Suffolk family later domiciled at Chichester Hall, Rawreth in Essex; his father Thomas was master of Trinity House.

2. Educated

   Andrewes attended the Merchant Taylors' School under Richard Mulcaster, then entered Pembroke Hall, Cambridge in 1571, graduating BA and proceeding to MA in 1578; he was elected fellow of Pembroke College in 1576.

3. Ordained — 1580

   On 11 June 1580 Andrewes was ordained a priest by William Chaderton, Bishop of Chester; as catechist at Pembroke he delivered lectures on the Decalogue that attracted wide scholarly attention.

4. Other — 1601

   In July 1601 Andrewes was appointed Dean of Westminster by Elizabeth I, having declined the bishoprics of Ely and Salisbury in 1598 because of conditions that would have required alienation of ecclesiastical revenues.

5. Consecrated — 1605

   On 3 November 1605 Andrewes was consecrated Bishop of Chichester — his election confirmed 31 October — and installed at Chichester Cathedral on 18 November, simultaneously being made Lord High Almoner.

6. Wrote — 1609

   In 1609 Andrewes published Tortura Torti, a learned Latin polemic responding to Cardinal Bellarmine's Matthaeus Tortus, which had attacked James I's book on the oath of allegiance; the work grew directly from the Gunpowder Plot controversy.

7. Consecrated — 1619

   In February 1619 Andrewes was translated to the see of Winchester, his third and largest episcopal appointment, having served as Bishop of Ely from 1609; he administered Winchester with distinction until his death.

8. Died — 1626

   Andrewes died on 25 September 1626 at Winchester Palace, the bishop's residence in Southwark, and was buried in St Saviour's Church (now Southwark Cathedral) with a monument by Gerard Janssen; the Church of England commemorates him on 25 September.

Relationships

Documented claims

• Andrewes headed the First Westminster Company for the King James Version (commissioned 1604, published 1611), overseeing translation of Genesis through 2 Kings; his name stands first on the list of appointed divines. (certain)
• His Preces Privatae (Private Prayers), first published posthumously by R. Drake in 1648 and re-edited by F. E. Brightman in 1903, has remained continuously in print and is regarded as his best-known work. (certain)
• T. S. Eliot borrowed almost word for word, and without his usual acknowledgement, a passage from Andrewes's 1622 Christmas Day sermon for the opening of his poem 'Journey of the Magi'. (likely)
• Each year Andrewes spent a month with his parents, using that vacation to learn one new European language from a private master; over several years he acquired most of the modern languages of Europe. (likely)
• Andrewes articulated a distinctively Anglican position on the Eucharist: affirming 'a real change in the elements' and permitting adoration, while refusing to define the mode of Christ's presence — 'as to the mode we define nothing rashly.' (likely)