page_title: Canon (priest)
section_title: Canon professors
hierarchical_section_title: Canon (priest) / Canon professors
caption_attribution_description: English: Old photo of a flemish Canon; Sint-Niklaas; Seminary Verzameling Sint-Jozef-Klein-Seminarie (college)
context_page_description: A canon is a member of certain bodies subject to an ecclesiastical rule.
  Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct of or close to a cathedral and conducting his life according to the orders or rules of the church. This way of life grew common in the eighth century. In the eleventh century, some churches required clergy thus living together to adopt the rule first proposed by Saint Augustine that they renounce private wealth. Those who embraced this change were known as Augustinians or Canons Regular, whilst those who did not were known as secular canons.
context_section_description: A canon professor is a canon at an Anglican cathedral (either lay or in orders) who also holds a university professorship. There are four canon professorships in the University of Oxford in conjunction with Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and two in Durham University in conjunction with Durham Cathedral, although academics titled "canon professor" may also be found at other universities where the appointments as canon and professor have been made independently.
  
  Section 2 of the Church of England (Miscellaneous Provisions) Measure 1995 was passed for the express purpose of enabling Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, to appoint not more than two lay canons. One of the motivations for this provision was the fact that, under section 6 of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners Act 1840, the position of Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the University of Oxford was annexed to a Residentiary Canonry of the cathedral, meaning that the Regius professorship could be held only by an Anglican priest. Following the death of Peter Hinchliff in 1995 the Regius professorship was held by Henry Mayr-Harting, a Roman Catholic layman, from 1997 until 2003, and was taken up by another lay person, Sarah Foot, in Michaelmas Term 2007. Three other Statutory Professorships, the Regius Professorship of Divinity, Lady Margaret Professorship of Divinity, recently held by the famous Anglican theologian, John Macquarrie, and Regius Professorship of Moral and Pastoral Theology, are annexed to canonries of Christ Church and were until recently held only by Anglican priests.
  At Durham, the canon professorships are the Van Mildert Professor of Divinity, the holder of which must be an Anglican priest, and the Michael Ramsey Professor of Anglican Studies, who must be Anglican but did not have to be ordained. Historically, the chair in Greek at the university was also a canon professorship. This canonry was transferred to the Lightfoot Professor of Divinity in 1940.
  The Lightfoot professorship was attached to the canonry until 1985, when the non-Anglican James Dunn was appointed.
caption: Another Flemish canon in official clerical dress of canons
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