Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury
Which position did John Tillotson hold from 1691 to Nov 1694?
John Tillotson John Tillotson ( October 1630 – 22 November 1694 ) was the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury from 1691 to 1694 . Curate and rector . Tillotson was the son of a Puritan clothier at Haughend , Sowerby , Yorkshire . Little is known of his early youth ; he studied at Colne Grammar School , before entering as a pensioner of Clare Hall , Cambridge in 1647 . His tutor was David Clarkson and he graduated in 1650 , being made a fellow of his college in 1651 . In 1656 Tillotson became tutor to the son of Edmund Prideaux , attorney-general to Oliver Cromwell . About 1661 he was ordained without subscription by Thomas Sydserf , a Scottish bishop . Tillotson was present at the Savoy Conference in 1661 , and remained identified with the Presbyterians until the passing of the Act of Uniformity 1662 . Shortly afterwards he became curate of Cheshunt , Herts , and in June 1663 , rector of Kedington , Suffolk . He now devoted himself to an exact study of biblical and patristic catholic writers , especially Basil and Chrysostom . The result of this reading , and of the influence of John Wilkins , Master of Trinity College , Cambridge , was seen in the general tone of his preaching , which was practical rather than theological , concerned with issues of personal morality instead of theoretical doctrine . This plain style of preaching is reflective of the late 17th century , when the integration of reason into Protestant theology came to be seen as one of its finest attributes against Roman Catholicism . Tillotson himself was personally tolerant enough towards Roman Catholics , remarking in a famous sermon that while Popery was gross superstition , yet Papists , I doubt not , are made like other men . He was actually a latitudinarian , also known as Cambridge Arminianism . Besides , Tillotson adopted Arminian views . He was as man of the world as well as a divine , and in his sermons he exhibited a tact which enabled him at once to win the ear of his audience . In 1664 he became preacher at Lincolns Inn . The same year he married Elizabeth French , a niece of Oliver Cromwell ; and he also became Tuesday lecturer at St Lawrence , Jewry ( where he was later buried ) . Tillotson employed his controversial weapons with some skill against atheism and Roman Catholicism . In 1663 he published a characteristic sermon on The Wisdom of being Religious , and in 1666 replied to John Sergeants Sure Footing in Christianity by a pamphlet on the Rule of Faith . The same year he received the degree of D.D . Dean of Canterbury and Archbishop . In 1670 he became prebendary and in 1672 dean of Canterbury . That latter year he was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Society . In 1675 he edited John Wilkinss Principles of Natural Religion , completing what was left unfinished of it , and in 1682 his Sermons . Along with Burnet , Tillotson attended William Russell , Lord Russell on the scaffold in 1683 . In 1684 , he wrote a Discourse against Transubstantiation . He afterwards enjoyed the friendship of Lady Russell , and it was partly through her that he obtained so much influence with Princess Anne , who followed his advice in regard to the settlement of the crown on William of Orange . He possessed the special confidence of William and Mary , and was made clerk of the closet to the king in March 1689 . It was chiefly through his advice that the king appointed an ecclesiastical commission for the reconciliation of the Dissenters . In August of this year he was appointed by the chapter of his cathedral to exercise the archiepiscopal jurisdiction of the province of Canterbury during the suspension of Sancroft . He was also about the same time named Dean of St Pauls . Soon afterwards he was elected to succeed Sancroft as Bishop ; but accepted the promotion with extreme reluctance , and it was deferred from time to time , at his request , until April 1691 . In 1693 he published four lectures on the Socinian controversy , partly to clear his own name from charges of sympathy with Socinianism in his previous associations with Thomas Firmin , Stephen Nye and others . His attempts to reform certain abuses of the Church of England , especially that of clerical non-residence , awakened much ill-will , and of this the Jacobites took advantage , pursuing him to the end of his life with insult and reproach . He died on 22 November 1694 . For his manuscript sermons Tillotsons widow received 2500 guineas . Ralph Barker edited some 250 of them together with the Rule of Faith ( 1695–1704 ) . In 1752 an edition appeared in 3 vols. , with Life by Thomas Birch , compiled from Tillotsons original papers and letters . Various selections from his sermons and works have been published separately . AMS Press , New York , published a modern edition of his works in the 1980s . In his home town of Sowerby , a statue of Tillotson still exists in St . Peters church and an avenue is named after him in the lower end of the town . He is buried in the church of St Lawrence Jewry just west of the Bank of England in the City of London . Works . - A Discourse Against Transubstantiation - A Persuasive to Frequent Communion in the Holy Sacrament of the Lords Supper - Ten Volume Set of the Works of John Tillotson External links . - Bibliographic directory from Project Canterbury