The Archbishop of York, Primate of England, is the metropolitan bishop of the Province of York, and is the junior of the two archbishops of the Church of England, after the Archbishop of Canterbury.

His cathedral is York Minster in central York and his official residence is the Archbishop's Palace in Bishopthorpe.

The Province of York includes the 12 Dioceses north of the Midlands as well as the Diocese of Southwell (Nottinghamshire) and the Diocese of Sodor and Man (the Isle of Man). The Archbishop is also a member of the House of Lords.

History

There was a bishop in York from very early Christian times. Bishops of York were particularly present at the Councils of Arles and Nicaea. However, this early Christian community was later blotted out by the pagan Saxons. There was no important archbishop of York till the consecration of St. Wilfrid in 664. His successors acted as diocesan prelates until the time of Egbert of York , who received the pallium from Pope Gregory III in 735 and established metropolitan rights in the north. The sees of Canterbury and York were long struggling for precedence, often leading to scandalous scenes of dissension. In the 11th century, for instance, there was an arrangement which lasted until 1118 that the archbishops of York must be consecrated in Canterbury cathedral and swear allegiance to the Archbishop of Canterbury. In the mid 14th century, Pope Innocent VI confirmed an arrangement that the Archbishop of Canterbury should take precedence with the title Primate of All England, and that the Archbishop of York should retain the style of Primate of England.

Several of the archbishops of York held the office of Lord Chancellor and played some parts in affairs of state. As Peter Heylyn (1600–1662) wrote: "This see has yielded to the Church eight saints, to the Church of Rome three cardinals, to the realm of England twelve Lord Chancellors and two Lord Treasurers, and to the north of England two Lord Presidents ."

Walter de Grey purchased York Place in London, which after the fall of Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, was to become the Palace of Whitehall.

Archbishops of York, 627–present

• Paulinus, 627–633
• Chad 644–664
• St. Wilfrid 664–678
• Bosa 678–705
• St. John of Beverley 705–718
• Wilfrid II 718–732
• Egbert 735–766
• Ethelbert 767–780
• Eanbald I 780–796
• Eanbald II 796–808
• Wulfsige 808–837
• Wigmund 837–854
• Wulfhere 854–900
• Ethelbald 900–904
• Hrotheweard 904–931
• Wulfstan 931–956
• Oskytel 958–971
• Edwald 971
• Oswald 972–992
• Aldulf 992–1002
• Wulfstan II 1003–1023
• Aelfric Puttoc 1023–1051
• Cynesige 1051–1060
• Aldred 1062–1069
• Thomas I 1070–1100
• Gerard 1100–1108
• Thomas II 1109–1114
• Thurstan 1119–1140
• William I FizHerbert 1143–1147
• Henry Murdac 1147–1153
• William I FizHerbert 1153–1154
• Roger de Pont L'Evêque 1154–1181
• Geoffrey Plantagenet 1181–1212
• Walter de Gray 1216–1255
• Sewal de Bovil 1256–1258
• Godfrey Ludham 1258–1265
• Walter Giffard 1266–1279
• William II Wickwane 1279–1285
• John I le Romeyn 1286–1296
• Henry I of Newark 1298–1299
• Thomas III of Corbridge 1300–1304
• William III Greenfield 1306–1315
• William IV of Melton 1317–1340
• William V Zouche 1342–1352
• John II of Thoresby 1353–1373
• Alexander Neville 1374–1388
• Thomas IV Arundel 1388–1396
• Robert I Waldby 1397–1398
• Richard I le Scrope 1398–1405
• Henry II Bowet 1407–1423
• John III Kempe 1426–1452
• William VI Booth 1452–1464
• George I Neville 1465–1476
• Lawrence Booth 1476–1480
• Thomas V Rotherham 1480–1500
• Thomas VI Savage 1501–1507
• Christopher Bainbridge 1508–1514
• Thomas VII Wolsey 1514–1530
• Edward Lee 1531–1544
• Robert II Holgate 1545–1554 — not considered by Rome to have been an archbishop
• Nicholas Heath 1555–1559 — the last archbishop recognised as such by Rome.
• Thomas VIII Young 1561–1568
• Edmund Grindal 1570–1576
• Edwin Sandys 1577–1588
• John IV Piers 1589–1594
• Matthew Hutton 1595–1606
• Tobias Matthew 1606–1628
• George Montaigne 1628
• Samuel Harsnett 1629–1631
• Richard II Neile 1632–1640
• John V Williams 1641–1650
• Accepted Frewen 1660–1664
• Richard III Sterne 1664–1683
• John Dolben 1683–1686
• Thomas IX Lamplugh 1688–1691
• John VI Sharp 1691–1714
• Sir William VII Dawes 1714–1724
• Lancelot Blackburn 1724–1743
• Thomas X Herring 1743–1747
• Matthew Hutton 1747–1757
• John Gilbert 1757–1761
• Robert Hay Drummond 1761–1776
• William VIII Markham 1776–1807
• Edward Harcourt 1808–1847
• Thomas XI Musgrave 1847–1860
• Charles Thomas Longley 1860–1862
• William IX Thomson 1862–1890
• William Connor Magee 1891
• William X Dalrymple Maclagan 1891–1908
• Cosmo Gordon Lang 1909–1928
• William XI Temple 1929–1942
• Cyril Forster Garbett 1942–1955
• Arthur Michael Ramsey 1956–1961
• Frederick Donald Coggan 1961–1974
• Stuart Yarworth Blanch 1975–1983
• John VIII Stapylton Habgood 1983–1995
• David Hope 1995–2005

See Also

• Archbishop of Canterbury
• UK topics