Editing Gilbert Sheldon (section)

==Archbishop of Canterbury==
He was translated to become [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] in 1663: the ''[[congé d'élire]]'' was issued on 14 July, Sheldon was elected on 11 August, royal assent was given on 20 August and his election was confirmed (in a legal ceremony by which he officially took his new post) on 31 August at [[Lambeth Palace]];<ref group="N">The bishops present to confirm Sheldon's election were: [[George Morley (bishop)|George Morley]], [[Bishop of Winchester]]; [[William Piers (bishop)|William Piers]], [[Bishop of Bath and Wells]]; [[Robert Skinner (bishop)|Robert Skinner]], [[Bishop of Oxford]]; [[Humphrey Henchman]], [[Bishop of Salisbury]]; [[Seth Ward (bishop of Salisbury)|Seth Ward]], [[Bishop of Exeter]]; and [[John Earle (bishop)|John Earle]], [[Bishop of Worcester]].</ref><ref name="confel">{{usurped|[https://lexmedia.com.pl/l/places_of_confirmation.pdf Lambeth Palace Library Research Guide – Places of Confirmation of Election of Archbishops of Canterbury]}}Accessed 31 July 2013)</ref> he was enthroned by proxy and vested with the [[temporalities]] on 7 September.<ref name="fasti">{{Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae |last=Horn |first=Joyce M. |period=1541–1857 |volume=3 |pages=8–12}} (Accessed 31 July 2013)</ref> He was greatly interested in the welfare of the University of Oxford, of which he became Chancellor in 1667, succeeding [[Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon|Lord Clarendon]], as Hyde now was. The [[Sheldonian Theatre]] at Oxford was built and endowed at his expense.<ref name="DNB" /> He was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1665.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://collections.royalsociety.org/DServe.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqCmd=Show.tcl&dsqDb=Persons&dsqPos=0&dsqSearch=%28%28text%29%3D%27sheldon,%20gilbert%27%29|title= Fellows Details|publisher= Royal Society|access-date= 14 January 2017}}</ref>

He accepted much purely secular work, acting as arbiter on petitions presented through him, and taking up investigations passed on by the king, especially in connection with the navy. Sheldon lost political influence after the fall of Clarendon in 1667, and by making Charles's philandering a matter of religious reproach. He was vocal against the [[Declaration of Indulgence (1672)|Royal Declaration of Indulgence]] of 1672.<ref name="DNB" /><ref name="FR" /> He is depicted in a window in [[Gray's Inn Chapel]].

Sheldon is mentioned in [[Pepys' Diary]] who relates a story from his "Cozen Roger" that "...the Archbishop of Canterbury that now is, do keep a wench, and that he is a very wencher as can be and tells us that is publicly known that [[Sir Charles Sedley, 5th Baronet|Sir Charles Sedley]] had got away one of the Archbishop's wenches from him..."  Such stories, spread by his enemies, were common. There is in fact no credible evidence that Sheldon led an immoral life, though Samuel Pepys's cousin [[Roger Pepys]], a [[Puritan]], may well have believed the gossip. A later entry in Pepys' Diary praises the Archbishop as a "stout and high spirited man", who openly spoke his mind to the King on matters of morality.

Sheldon never married: this may have inspired the gossip reported by Pepys about his immoral private life. His niece, Catherine, married [[John Dolben]], [[Archbishop of York]].
[[File:Croydon Minster, Gilbert Sheldon tomb.jpg|thumb|Tomb in Croydon Minster]]
Sheldon was buried in Croydon Parish Church, now renamed [[Croydon Minster]].