Editing Cosmo Gordon Lang (section)

==Legacy==

Although Lang was a bishop in England for longer than anyone else in the twentieth century, Hastings says that "of no other is it so hard to address his true significance".<ref>Hastings, p. 250.</ref> His biographer George Moyser said, "His lasting significance is questionable. He was immensely industrious, an exceptional administrator, and was well-connected to leading politicians and aristocrats. But his accomplishments as Archbishop of Canterbury were modest."{{sfn| Moyser|1998|p=438}}

According to Lockhart he was a complex character in whom "a jangle of warring personalities... never reached agreement among themselves."<ref name= L455>Lockhart, pp. 455–59.</ref> Lockhart writes that while Lang's many years of high office saw progress in the cause of Christian reunion, the mark he left on the Church was relatively small; many believed it could have been larger and deeper.<ref name= L377>Lockhart, p. 377.</ref> While Lang's oratorical and administrative gifts were beyond doubt, Hastings nevertheless claims that as Archbishop of Canterbury, Lang displayed no effective leadership or guidance, turning away from reform and content to be the "final sentinel to the ''ancien régime''".<ref>Hastings, p. 255</ref> Wilkinson says that Lang dealt conscientiously with problems as they arose, but without any overall strategy.<ref name= Wilk7>{{cite odnb|last= Wilkinson|first= Alan|title= (William) Cosmo Gordon Lang (1864–1945)|id=34398}} ("Estimate" section)</ref>

In Hastings's view, Lang was probably more sympathetic to Rome than any other Church of England archbishop of modern times, responsible for a discreet catholicisation of the Church of England's practices.<ref>Hastings, p. 197</ref> A small outward indication of this was his decision to use a [[cassock]] as everyday dress and to wear a [[mitre]] on formal occasions, the first archbishop since the [[English Reformation]] to do so.<ref name= Wilk4 /> Lang believed that in relation to the supreme truths of the church, rituals and dress were of small account, but that if people's worship was assisted by such customs they should be allowed.<ref>Lockhart, p. 61</ref>
[[File:Cosmo Lang by William Orpen.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Lang by [[William Orpen]]: "proud, pompous and prelatical"]]
Despite Lang's long involvement with the poorest of society, after becoming Archbishop of York he increasingly detached himself from everyday life. The historian Tom Buchanan wrote that Lang's sympathy with ordinary people was replaced by "an upper class affectation and a delight in the high society in which his office allowed him to move".<ref name= Buch170 /> No archbishop has been as close as Lang to the Royal Family; a [[Channel Four]] television history of the British monarchy maintained that Lang "held a view of Christianity in which the monarchy, rather than the cross, stood centre stage as the symbol of the nation's faith".<ref name= Monarchy/> Successive generations of the Royal Family considered him their friend and honoured him. King George V appointed him to the largely ceremonial post of [[Lord High Almoner]], and after the 1937 Coronation George VI created him a [[Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]] (GCVO), a rare honour which, like the Royal Victorian Chain, lay in the private gift of the Sovereign.<ref name=Wilk7 /> A friend, commenting on the transformation of Lang's perspective, said of him: "He might have been [[Cardinal Wolsey]] or [[St Francis of Assisi]], and he chose to be Cardinal Wolsey."<ref>Hastings, p. 250</ref>

Lang also received numerous [[honorary doctorates]] from British universities.<ref name= Wilk7/> His portrait was painted many times; after sitting for Sir [[William Orpen]] in 1924, Lang reportedly remarked to Bishop Hensley Henson of Durham that the portrait showed him as "proud, prelatical and pompous". Henson's recorded reply was "To which of these epithets does Your Grace take exception?"<ref>{{cite journal|last= Harris|first= Richard|title= The great and the fairly tipsy|journal=Times Higher Education|url= http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=170840&sectioncode=40|date= 2 August 2002|access-date=11 August 2009}}</ref>{{efn| Don, who saw the portrait at a [[Royal Academy]] exhibition in 1933, called it a "libellous, malicious caricature" while acknowledging that it was "splendidly painted [and] 
knock[ed] [[Philip de László|de László's]] effort into a cocked hat!"<ref>Don, p. 104</ref>}}

At an early stage in his priesthood Lang decided to lead a celibate life. He had no objection to the institution of marriage, but felt that his own work would be hindered by domesticity. However, he enjoyed the company of women and confessed in 1928, after a visit to the [[Rowntree's]] chocolate factory, that the sight of the girls there had "stirred up all the instincts of my youth... very little subdued by the passage of years".<ref name= Godsave />

[[George Bell (bishop)|George Bell]], the [[Bishop of Chichester]] who had earlier praised Lang's work for church unity, said that Lang's failure to take a lead after the Prayer Book rejection of 1928 meant that the Church of England had been unable to revise its forms of worship or take any effective control of its own affairs.<ref name= L377 /> Others have argued that Lang's ''laissez-faire'' approach to the Prayer Book controversy helped to defuse a potentially explosive situation and contributed to an eventual solution.<ref name= L455 /> Lang himself was gloomy about his legacy; he believed that since he had not led his country back into an Age of Faith, or marked his primacy with a great historical act, he had failed to live up to his own high standard. Others have judged him more charitably, praising his industry, his administrative ability and his devotion to duty.<ref name= L455 />
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==Honours==

===British Empire honours===
; British Empire honours

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:20%;"| Country
! style="width:20%;"| Date
! style="width:55%;"| Appointment
! style="width:5%;"| Post-nominal letters
|-
| {{Flagu|United Kingdom}} || '''15 February 1909{{spaced ndash}}5 December 1945''' || [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Member of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council]]<ref>{{cite web |title=The London Gazette 16 February 1909 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28224/page/1205 |website=The London Gazette |access-date=28 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> || PC
|-
| {{Flagu|United Kingdom}} || '''26 April 1923{{spaced ndash}}5 December 1945''' || [[Royal Victorian Chain]]<ref>{{cite web |title=The London Gazette 1 May 1923 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/32819/page/3135 |website=The London Gazette |access-date=28 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> || N/A
|-
| {{Flagu|United Kingdom}} || '''11 May 1937{{spaced ndash}}5 December 1945''' || [[Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order]]<ref>{{cite web |title=The London Gazette 11 May 1937 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/34396/supplement/3084 |website=The London Gazette |access-date=28 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> || GCVO
|-
| {{Flagu|United Kingdom}} || '''12 May 1937''' || [[King George VI Coronation Medal]] || N/A
|-
|}

===Scholastic===

; Chancellor, visitor, governor, rector and fellowships

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:20%;"| Location
! style="width:20%;"| Date
! style="width:40%;"| School
! style="width:20%;"| Position
|-
| {{Flagu|England}} || '''October 1888{{spaced ndash}}5 December 1945''' || [[All Souls College, Oxford]] || [[Honorary title (academic)|Fellowship]]
|}

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;Honorary degrees

{| class="wikitable" style="width:100%;"
! style="width:20%;"| Location
! style="width:20%;"| Date
! style="width:40%;"| School
! style="width:20%;"| Degree
! style="width:20%;"| Gave Commencement Address
|-
| {{Flagu|Scotland}} || '''1907''' || [[University of Glasgow]] || [[Doctor of Divinity]] (DD)<ref>{{cite web |title=Cosmo Gordon Lang Baron Lang of Lambeth |url=https://universitystory.gla.ac.uk/biography/?id=WH3042&type=P |website=The University of Glasgow |access-date=28 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> || Yes
|-
| {{Flagu|England}} || '''1909''' || [[University of Leeds]] || [[Doctor of Laws]] (LL.D)<ref>{{cite web |title=Honorary graduates: 1904 to present  1900-1920 |url=https://www.leeds.ac.uk/honorary-graduates/doc/honorary-graduates-1904-to-present/page/6 |website=The University of Leeds |access-date=28 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> || Yes
|-
| {{Flagu|England}} || '''1912''' || [[University of Sheffield]] || [[Doctor of Letters]] (D.Litt)<ref>{{cite web |title=HONORARY GRADUATES |url=https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.422814!/file/15_hon-grad.pdf |website=The University of Sheffield |access-date=28 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> || Yes
|-
| {{Flagu|New York}} || '''11 April 1918''' || [[Columbia University]] || [[Doctor of Laws]] (LL.D)<ref>{{cite web |title=YORK'S ARCHBISHOP HONORED BY COLUMBIA; President Butler Confers the Degree of Doctor of Laws withSimple Ceremony. |website=The New York Times |access-date=28 January 2022 |language=en}}</ref> || Yes
|-
| {{Flagu|England}} || '''27 November 1933''' || [[University of London]] || Doctorate<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhLTdDVP0v8|title=University Of London Foundation Day (1933)|last=British Pathé|date=28 January 2022|via=YouTube}}</ref> || Yes
|-
|}

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==Freedom of the City==
Cosmo Lang received the [[Freedom of the City|Freedom]] of several places throughout his life, These included

;British Empire 

* {{flagicon|England}} '''8 October 1928''': [[York]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q8rCzpRCOU|title=Archbishop Of York (1928)|last=British Pathé|date=28 January 2022|via=YouTube}}</ref>

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