Editing Stephen Langton

{{Short description|Archbishop of Canterbury from 1207 to 1228}}
{{distinguish|Stephen Langdon (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = cardinal
| name = Stephen Langton
| title = [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]]<br />[[Archbishop of Canterbury]]
| image = Stephenlangtonstatuecanterburycathedraloutside.jpg
| image_size = 
| alt = Statue of Langton from the exterior of Canterbury Cathedral
| caption = Statue of Langton from the exterior of [[Canterbury Cathedral]]
| church = 
| appointed = {{circa|1207}}
| term_end = 9 July 1228
| predecessor = [[John de Gray]]
| successor = [[Walter d'Eynsham]]
| other_post = 
| ordination = 
| ordinated_by = 
| consecration = 17 June 1207
| consecrated_by = [[Pope Innocent III|Innocent III]]
| cardinal = 1206
| created_cardinal_by = Pope Innocent III
| rank = [[Cardinal priest]] of [[San Crisogono]]
| birth_date = c. 1150
| death_date = 9 July 1228
| death_place = [[Slindon]], [[Sussex]]
| buried = [[Canterbury Cathedral]]
| nationality = [[English people|English]]
| religion = [[Catholic Church]]
| parents = Henry Langton
}}

'''Stephen Langton''' (c.&nbsp;1150 – 9 July 1228) was an English [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] of the [[Catholic Church]] and [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] from 1207 until his death in 1228. The dispute between [[list of English kings|King]] [[John of England]] and [[Pope Innocent III]] over his election was a major factor in the crisis which produced the [[Magna Carta]] in 1215. Langton is also credited with having divided the [[Bible]] into the standard modern arrangement of [[Chapters and verses of the Bible|chapters]] used today.

==Early life and career==
His father was Henry Langton, a landowner in [[Langton by Wragby]], [[Lincolnshire]]. Stephen Langton may have been born in a moated farmhouse in the village,<ref name =DNB>[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/16044?docPos=1 Christopher Holdsworth, ''Stephen Langton'', Oxford Online Dictionary of National Biography, 2004]</ref> and was probably educated in his local cathedral school. He could also have been born at [[Friday Street]], Surrey, according to local legend.<ref>{{cite web |title=Stephan Langton Inn, Friday Street. |url=https://whatpub.com/pubs/REI/178/stephan-langton-inn-friday-street |website=What Pub |access-date=21 August 2018}}</ref>

Stephen studied at the [[University of Paris]] and lectured there on [[theology]] until 1206, when [[Pope Innocent III]], with whom he had formed a friendship in Paris, called him to Rome and made him [[cardinal-priest]] of [[San Crisogono, Rome]].<ref>[http://www.fiu.edu/~mirandas/bios1205.htm#Langton Stephen Cardinal Langton]. ''The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church''. Retrieved 22 November 2008.</ref><ref name=BHOCant>[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=33853 British History Online Archbishops of Canterbury]. Retrieved 11 September 2007.</ref> His piety and learning had already won him [[Prebendary|prebends]] in Paris and [[York Minster|York]]<ref name=BHOMisc>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=11328&strquery=langton#s79 British History Online Canons whose Prebends cannot be identified]. Retrieved 11 September 2007.</ref> and he was recognised as the foremost English churchman.

His brother [[Simon Langton (priest)|Simon Langton]]<ref name=BHOArchDCant>[http://british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=33855 British History Online Archdeacons of Canterbury]. Retrieved 14 September 2007.</ref> was elected [[Archbishop of York]] in 1215, but that election was quashed by Pope Innocent III.<ref>[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/16043 Fred A. Cazel Jnr, ''Simon Langton'', Oxford Online National Dictionary of Biography, 2004]</ref> Simon served his brother Stephen as Archdeacon of Canterbury in 1227.<ref name=BHOArchDCant/> Simon and Stephen had another brother named Walter, a knight who died childless.

==Archbishop==
[[File:Arms displayed by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, at the signing of Magna Charta.png|thumb|150px|Arms displayed by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, at the signing of [[Magna Carta]] in 1215: ''Argent, a cross quarter-pierced gules'']]
On the death of [[Hubert Walter]], Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1205, the election of a successor encountered difficulties: some of the younger canons of the cathedral chapter elected [[Reginald (sub-prior)|Reginald]], the subprior of Christ Church, Canterbury, as Archbishop while another faction under pressure from King John chose [[John de Grey]], [[Bishop of Norwich]]. Both elections were quashed on appeal to Rome, and sixteen canons of the chapter, who had gone to Rome with a mandate to act for the whole chapter, were ordered to proceed to a new election in presence of the Pope. The choice fell upon Langton and he was consecrated by the Pope at [[Viterbo]] on 17 June 1207.<ref name=Bartlett404>Bartlett, Robert ''England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings: 1075–1225'' Oxford: Clarendon Press 2000 {{ISBN|0-19-822741-8}} pp. 404–405</ref>

There followed a hard political struggle between John of England and Pope Innocent III. The King proclaimed as a public enemy anyone who recognised Stephen as Archbishop. On 15 July 1207, John expelled the Canterbury chapter, which was now unanimous in support of Stephen. In March 1208, Pope Innocent III placed England under [[Papal Interdict of 1208|an interdict]] and at the close of 1212, after repeated negotiations had failed, he passed sentence of deposition against John, committing the execution of the sentence to [[Philip II of France]] in January 1213.<ref name=Bartlett404/>

In May 1213 King John yielded and thus in July, Stephen and his fellow exiles returned to England. Till that moment, he had lived since his consecration at [[Pontigny Abbey]] in [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]].<ref>[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0040571X2801709805?journalCode=tjxa Powicke, F.M., "Stephen Langton", ''Theology'', Volume 17, Issue 98]</ref> His first act as Archbishop was to absolve the King, who swore an oath (which he almost immediately violated) guaranteeing that unjust laws should be repealed and the liberties granted by [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] should be observed.

Stephen now became a leader in the struggle against King John. At a council of churchmen at [[Westminster]] on 25 August 1213, to which certain barons were invited, he read the text of the charter of Henry I and called for its renewal. In the sequel, Stephen's energetic leadership and the barons' military strength forced John to grant his seal to ''[[Magna Carta]]'' (15 June 1215).<ref name=Smith2000>{{citation |last=Smith |first=Esther |contribution=Langton, Stephen (c. 1155–1226) |title=Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature |url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/gwmedieval/langton_stephen_c_1155_1226 |year=2000 |publisher=Greenwood |edition=online |access-date=20 August 2010}} {{subscription required}}</ref>

[[File:John Thomas maquette 017.jpg|thumb|left|Plaster maquette of Stephen Langton by [[John Thomas (sculptor)|John Thomas]] at [[Canterbury Heritage Museum]]]]
Since King John now held his kingdom as a fief of the [[Holy See]] the Pope espoused his cause and excommunicated the barons. For refusing to publish the excommunication the king had Stephen suspended from all ecclesiastical functions by the papal commissioners<ref>{{cite web |url=http://magnacarta800th.com/schools/biographies/magna-carta-bishops/stephen-langton/ |last=Ambler |first=Sophie |author-link=Sophie T. Ambler |title=Stephen Langton |date=5 September 2014 |publisher=Magna Carta Trust}}</ref> and on 4 November this sentence was confirmed by the Pope, although Stephen appealed to him in person. He was released from suspension the following spring on condition that he keep out of England until peace was restored, and he remained abroad till May 1218. Meanwhile, both Pope Innocent and King John died and all parties in England rallied to the support of [[Henry III of England|Henry III]].

Stephen Langton continued under Henry's reign to work for the political independence of England. In 1223 he again appeared as the leader and spokesman of the barons, who demanded that King Henry confirm the charter. He went to France on Henry's behalf to call on [[Louis VIII of France]] for the restoration of [[Normandy]], and later he supported Henry against rebellious barons. He obtained a promise from the new pope, [[Pope Honorius III|Honorius III]], that during his lifetime no resident papal legate should be again sent to England, and won other concessions from the same pontiff favourable to the English Church and exalting the see of Canterbury.

Of great importance in the ecclesiastical history of England was a council which Stephen opened at [[Osney]] on 17 April 1222; its decrees, known as the ''Constitutions of Stephen Langton'',<ref>[https://www.proquest.com/openview/280d5eaa997a7761/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=1592 White, John William. "The Oxford Constitutions of Stephen Langton,...", ''The British magazine'', London Vol. 25,  (Jun 1844): 615–622]</ref> are the earliest provincial canons which are still recognised as binding in English Church courts.

In 1221 Langton approved the settlement of friars of the [[Order of Preachers]] (Blackfriars) in England. They were conveyed by [[Peter des Roches]], the Bishop of Winchester, to Canterbury where the leader of the first group of friars, Gilbert of Fresney, was asked to preach an impromptu sermon on the merits of his new order. Satisfied with his quality of preaching the friars were permitted to found priories across the country.<ref>{{cite book|last=Knowles|first=David|author-link=David Knowles (scholar)|year=1956|orig-year=1948|chapter=             ?            |title=Religious Orders Vol I: The Old Monastic Orders & the Friars 1216-1340 & the Monasteries in their World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9BjEJcCKyFAC|volume=1|edition=Third|publication-place=Cambridge, Great Britain|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=163|isbn=978-0-521-29566-6 }}</ref>

==Death==
Stephen Langton died at [[Slindon]], near Chichester, [[Sussex]], on 9 July 1228. He was buried in open ground beside the south transept of [[Canterbury Cathedral]]. St Michael's Chapel was later built over this ground (now the [[The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)|Buffs]] Regimental Chapel), and the head of his tomb projects into the east end of this chapel, under its altar, with the foot outside it.

The "Stephen Langton Trail", devised to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta, starts in [[Langton by Wragby]] and leads to [[Lincoln Cathedral]], close to [[Lincoln Castle]] where there is an original copy of the charter.<ref>[https://ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Stephen+Langton+Trail "Stephen Langton Trail", The Long Distance Walkers Association]</ref>

==Works==
Langton wrote prolifically. His many sermons and his glosses, commentaries, expositions, and treatises on almost all the [[Books of the Bible|books]] of the [[Old Testament]] are preserved in manuscript<ref>[http://www.jstor.org/stable/20108626 Baldwin, John W. "Master Stephen Langton, Future Archbishop of Canterbury: The Paris Schools and Magna Carta". ''The English Historical Review'', vol. 123, no. 503, 2008, pp. 811–46. JSTOR]</ref> at [[Lambeth Palace]], at [[Oxford University|Oxford]] and [[Cambridge University|Cambridge]], and in France.

According to F. J. E. Raby, "There is little reason to doubt that Stephen Langton&nbsp;... was the author" of the famous sequence ''[[Veni Sancte Spiritus]]''.<ref>''The Oxford Book of Medieval Latin Verse'', Oxford, 1959, p. 496.</ref>

The only other of his works which has been printed, besides a few letters (in ''The Historical Works of [[Gervase of Canterbury]]'', ed. [[William Stubbs|W. Stubbs]], ii. London, 1880, ''[[Rolls Series]],'' no. 71, appendix to preface) is a ''Tractatus de translatione Beati Thomae'' (in [[J. A. Giles]]'s ''Thomas of Canterbury'', Oxford, 1845), which is probably an expansion of a sermon he preached in 1220, on the occasion of the translation of the relics of [[Thomas Becket]]; the ceremony was the most splendid that had ever been seen in England. He also wrote a life of [[Richard I of England|Richard I]], and other historical works and poems are attributed to him.

===Chapters of the Bible===
Classically, scrolls of the books of the [[Bible]] have always been divided by blank spaces at the end (''petuhoth'') or middle (''setumoth'') of the lines. However, Langton is believed<ref name=Moore>Moore, G.F. [https://www.jstor.org/pss/3259119 The Vulgate Chapters and Numbered Verses in the Hebrew Bible], 1893, at [[JSTOR]].</ref> to be the one who divided the Bible into the standard modern arrangement of [[Chapters and verses of the Bible|chapters]]. While Cardinal [[Hugh of St Cher|Hugo de Sancto Caro]] is also known to have come up with a systematic division of the Bible (between 1244 and 1248), it is Langton's arrangement of the chapters that remains in use today.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07175a.htm Hebrew Bible] article in the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]''.</ref>

==Citations==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*{{commonscat-inline}}
*{{wikisource author-inline}}
* [http://magnacarta800th.com/schools/biographies/magna-carta-bishops/stephen-langton/ Ambler, Sophie. "Stephen Langton", Magna Carta 800th Anniversary]
* [http://openn.library.upenn.edu/Data/0023/html/lewis_e_035.html Lewis E 35 Biblical commentary on the Pentateuch (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers) at OPenn]

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{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef | before=[[John de Gray]] }}
{{s-ttl| title=[[Archbishop of Canterbury]] | years=1207–1228}}
{{s-aft| after=[[Walter d'Eynsham]] }}
{{s-end}}

{{Archbishops of Canterbury}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Langton, Stephen}}
[[Category:Archbishops of Canterbury]]
[[Category:13th-century English cardinals]]
[[Category:13th-century English Roman Catholic theologians]]
[[Category:External cardinals]]
[[Category:Cardinals created by Pope Innocent III]]
[[Category:People from East Lindsey District]]
[[Category:1150s births]]
[[Category:1228 deaths]]
[[Category:Burials at Canterbury Cathedral]]
[[Category:12th-century English Roman Catholic theologians]]
[[Category:13th-century writers in Latin]]

[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]