GILBERT SHELDON, ARCHITECT OF ANGLICAN SURVIVAL, 1640-1675 ARCHIVES INTERNA TIONALES D'HISTOIRE DES IDEES INTERNA TIONAL ARCHIVES OF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS Series Minor 12 VICTOR D. SUTCH GILBERT SHELDON, ARCHITECT OF ANGLICAN SURVIVAL, 1640-1675 Directors: P. Dibon (Paris) and R. Popkin (Univ. of California, La Jolla) Editorial board: J. Aubin (Paris); J. Collins (St. Louis Univ.); P. Costabel (Paris); A. Crombie (Oxford); I. Dambska (Cracow); H. de la Fontaine-Verwey (Amsterdam); H. Gadamer (Heidelberg); H. Gouhier (Paris); T. Gregory (Rome); T. E. Jessop (Hull); P. O. Kristeller (Columbia Univ.); Elisabeth Labrousse (Paris); S. Lindroth (Upsala); A. Lossky (Los Angeles); J. OrcibaI (Paris); I. S. Revaht (Paris); J. Roger (Paris); H. Rowen (Rutgers Univ., N.J.); G. Sebba (Emory Univ., Atlanta); R. Shackleton (Oxford); J. Tans (Groningen); G. Tonelli (Binghamton, N.Y.). GILBERT SHELDON Architect of Anglican Survival, 1640-1675 by VICTOR D. SUTCH MARTINUS NIJHOFF / THE HAGUE / 1973 © 1973 by Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands Soflcover reprint of the hardcover 1st Edition 1973 All rights reserved, including the right to translate or to reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form ISBN -13: 978-90-247-1567-1 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-0 I 0-2003-9 DOl: 10.1007/978-94-0 I 0-2003-9 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface VII CHAPTER I: EARLY LIFE CHAPTER II. THE CIVIL WAR 13 CHAPTER III. SHELDON DURING THE INTERREGNUM 32 CHAPTER IV. THE RESTORATION 61 CHAPTER V. ARCHBISHOP VS. KING I 91 CHAPTER VI. ARCHBISHOP VS. KING II 107 CHAPTER VII. SHELDON AND PARLIAMENT 130 CHAPTER VIII. SHELDON, PASTOR AND HIS PEOPLE 148 Conclusions 167 Bibliography 176 PREFACE The place of Gilbert Sheldon in seventeenth century history and his influence upon the events of the period have long presented a tantalizing problem. A historian exploring the archives of the time cannot help but be impressed by the ubiquitous appearances of the archbishop. Yet the frequent references too often provide little detail, so that what emerges is a wraith-like picture of the man and a very uncertain account of his activities. As a result it is difficult to know what to think of Sheldon. He has been termed a "Laudian," but Mathew Wren, Laud's loyal assistant and sharer of his imprisonment, was cempletely baffled by the initials "G. Sh." which appeared in a letter sent to him in the early 1650's. Also labeled a staunch Tory and a firm believer in the institution of monarchy, Shelden showed no compunction whatever about lecturing the king on his duties or in boldly epposing the royal wishes when his lectures were ignored. He has been described as a man of "iron character," yet he was invariably soft-spoken and gentle to those in his immediate presence. He is pictured as a ruthless persecutor, but he often offered assistance, material and otherwise, to those who had been his opponents. Supposedly he was avaricious, yet the record suggests that during the Interregnum he impoverished himself to assist needy friends and church acquain tances, seme of whem he barely knew. These apparent paradexes are the result of two problems pertaining to the archbishop. One has to do with the times in which he lived and the other the meagerness of the sources which have come dewn to us concerning his life. The seventeenth century was a battle-riven period. Feelings ran high, and politics were bitter. There was little inclination on the part of most people to be either generous or forgiving to the foe. Consequently, the records of Sheldon vary dramatically depending on whether one is VIII PREFACE reading accDunts written by the Puritans and LDW Churchmen (his enemies usually), er those recorded by Anglicans and High Churchmen (usually his friends and fDllDwers). The scanty SDurces, Dn the Dther hand, were the result O'f several factors. During the 1650's, when Sheldon, assisted by Henry HammO'nd, virtually commanded the Church both at home and abroad, recerds are particularly sparse. This was because the powerful Sheldon had ordered that nO' written recO'rds be kept by anyone fer fear that a sudden govern ment raid upO'n some suspected Anglican might uncover and implicate numbers of Dther people. SO' succesfully did he impese this rule that few recDrds of the Anglican achievements in those years have survived. Be cause of this paucity, seme historians have scornfully concluded that Anglican activities in this period were negligible and have labeled the Church's leadership as almest universally craven. In the period Df the RestDratien Shelden himself carefully cO'llected and filed his correspondence, records, and ether memerabilia, intending to write a histery of his own time. Unfortunately, the archbishop was engaged in pelitical activity almost to the time of his death, and when surcease finally came, he was teo ill to carry out the prO'jected werk. Subsequently much ef his data was lest or destroyed, although seme still remains in manuscript form. Finally Sheldon's own temperament and character work against the histerian. He was a terse, self-contained individual whO' seldem bothered to' discuss his thoughts. plans, er feelings. All of his efficial corre spondence, even that sent to' intimate friends, is brief. straight to' the point, almest curt in tone. Only rarely is one given a glimpse intO' the workings of the inner mind. For all of these reasons Gilbert Sheldon remains, and perhaps will ailways remain. something ef an enigma. This werk is an attempt to' reclaim a part Df the man at least. H this book has value, it is mDstly to' be attributed to' Professor Walter G. Simon of the University of Celorade. It began under his direction, and he continually offered much-needed encouragement and consistently wise advice. Colonel Alfred F. Hurley. Professor and Head, Department of History, United States Air Force Academy, assisted greatly at O'ne point by arranging a few weeks of free time. My wife, Rebecca. patiently suffered much ever several years to' make it possible. CHAPTER I EARLY LIFE Gilbert Sheldon was born at Ashboume in Derbyshire on July 19. 1598. Very little is known of his family background.! His father. Roger Sheldon. is listed simply as a "menial servant" of Gilbert Talbot. the earl of Shrewsbury. But the term "menial" cannot have been used here in its modem sense. There is evidence that both Sheldon and his older brother Ralph inherited a considerable amount of property; and the 2 earl himself. along with the father of Bishop Sanderson. stood godfather at Sheldon's christening. These facts seem to indicate that Roger Sheldon was no ordinary servant. Perhaps it would be safe to surmise that the elder Sheldon was either a trusted bailiff who managed the earl's estates. or he may have been a Shrewsbury client - a neighbor of some standing - who served in the earl's interest. Sheldon's own story begins in 1614 when he matriculated at Oxford University at the age of sixteen.s Robert Sanderson. ten years his senior and soon to become a lifelong friend and supporter. was already a 1 V. Staley, Sheldon's only biographer, says that the Sheldon family was an old and respected one in the county. See V. Staley, The Life and Times of Gilbert Sheldon (London, 1913), p. 7. While pastoring at Ickford in the 1880's, Staley saw Sheldon's entries in the parish register, became interested in him, and attempted a short biography. This work is of very little value to the student. Apparently Staley was unaware of the manuscript sources available at the British Museum and the Bodleian library. 2 Ralph Sheldon, who had the reputation of being a spendthrift, still left some property to his sons upon his death. In the fifties, Sheldon was involved on more than one occasion in suits at law aimed at protecting his nephew's holdings. See W. N. Clarke, "Illustrations of the State of the Church During the Great Re bellion." The Theologian and Ecclesiastic, (1851), XIII, 328, where Henry Ham mond is assisting Sheldon in protecting some land belonging to his nephews. One of these, Sir Joseph Sheldon, was Lord Mayor of London in the 1670's. (This work is hereafter referred to as Theologian and Ecclesiastic.) 3 Sheldon did not enter the University as a servitor as was usually the custom for very poor scholars, again indicating that his parents possessed some financial means. 2 EARLY LIFE proctor at Trinity College, and it was there that Sheldon embarked upon his academic career. He passed through the university at an average rate, taking the B. A. degree in 1617 and an M. A. in 1620. The two years following this latter accomplishment composed one of the few periods in his life when Sheldon was ruled by indecision. What was his life's work to be? Should he continue his studies at Oxford? Enter the Church? Turn to some secu1ar activity? Whether he remained at the university or returned to Ashbourne during this period is not known. However, the year 1622 saw these problems resolved. Three events of that year pro foundly influenced the remainder of his life: He was ordained into holy orders, he was elected a fellow of All Souls College, and he became chaplain to the family of Sir Thomas Coventry. It is unlikely that the young Sheldon was impelled to enter the Church as a result of any powerful religious experience. He was later described as always "placing the chief point in religion in a good life" rather than in prayer and contemplation.4 His reasons were problaby much more prosaic. He had ambitions of becoming a scholar, and scholarship and the clerical life were still inextricably bound together in the early seven teenth century as they had been for centuries past. Then too he was ambitious in other ways. In the event that scholarship proved not to be his forte, then the Church could provide an avenue to rank, perhaps wealth, and even to positions of national influence and prestige. Indeed in that aristocratic age the Church was almost the only institution in which his low birth would not prove an insuperable handicap.5 At twenty-four Sheldon would have been well aware of all these factors. This is not to say, of course, that his religious profession was in any sense hypocritical. As a citizen of the seventeenth century, Sheldon believed profoundly in the mission and importance of the Church. In his view society could not exist without it. It was a vital aid to the individual as he sought security in this life and the next, and it was equally vital to the preservation of a proper civil order within the king dom. Sheldon was no time-server, merely seeking the main chance. To him the priestly vocation was sacred. He took his vows seriously, never married, and only one item of scandal ever arose concerning his private life - and that was probably manufactured from whole cloth by 4 Samuel Parker, History of His Own Times (London, 1777), p. 41. S To some extent the Church offered a career open to talent - one of the few areas of endeavor where that was true in the seventeenth century. After all Laud was the son of a linen draper, Jeremy Taylor the son of a Cambridge barber, Sheldon was the son of a "menial" servant, and William Sancroft, his successor at Lambeth, was also of obscure parentage. EARLY LIFE 3 a malicious enemy.s In 1622 Sheldon took his vows to the Church. and his devotion and highest loyalty were to her and to her alone throughout his life. In the seventeenth century. even as now. election to an All Souls' fellowship was recognition that one possessed scholarly potential. It provided quarters and an income and permitted Sheldon to continue his studies. thus opening the way to the fulfillment of his academic am bitions. With his election. Sheldon began a quarter century of daily activity centered at the Oxford college. Upon Warden Astley's death in 1636. he was elected to the wardenship and served in that capacity until evicted by the Presbyterians in 1648. In 1659, as the Restoration ap proached, he boldly re-occupied the warden's quarters but remained there only a few months until he was summoned to London to assume larger responsibilities. Upon being promoted to archbishop of Canter bury. Sheldon became All Souls visitor and was again intimately in volved in that college's affairs. His love for All Souls and for Oxford Utniversity, and his interest in the progress of both, never flagged to the day of his death.7 The third event of the year 1622 - appointment as chaplain to the family of Sir Thomas Coventry - was perhaps the most significant in its immediate impact upon the young scholar's future. Coventry was a rising favorite at the court of Charles I. Upon Charles' accession to the throne in 1625, he appointed Coventry Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, and three years later raised him to the rank of baron. The new lord was active in court affairs, had a great deal of pressing business to transact, and delegated some of it to his chaplain - with astonishing results. He found that the young divine combined a sound business sense with meticulous attention to detail and a truly astounding capacity for work. The result was an administrator of the first rank. Employing Sheldon in a number of enterprises, both religious and secular, Coventry became steadily more impressed with his protege's abilities.s He obtained a prebendship for Sheldon at Gloucester Cathedral, and sometime in 1630 he recommended him to the king as "one well versed in politics and business." 9 There followed an invitation to preach at court, and 6 H. B. Wheatley (ed.), The Diary of Samuel Pepys (New York, 1948), II, 612. Pepys reports gossip to the effect that Sheldon was a "wencher." 7 For a summary of Sheldon's activities as warden of All Souls see Montagu Burrows, Worthies at All Souls (London, 1874), pp. 247-250. 8 Clarendon says that Coventry employed his services "not only in all matters relating to the Church, but in many other businesses of importance" as well. Clarendon, Edward, earl of, Lite (Oxford, 1759), pp. 25-26. 9 Staley, p. 9, and Dictionary at National Biography, Sheldon's life.