page_title: List of archbishops of Canterbury
section_title: After the Norman conquest
hierarchical_section_title: List of archbishops of Canterbury / List of archbishops / After the Norman conquest
caption_attribution_description: English: Arms of John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury (d.1500): Quarterly gules and ermine in the first and fourth quarters a goat's head erased armed argent or; Quarterly 1st &amp; 4th: Gules, a goat's head erased armed argent; 2nd &amp; 3rd: Ermine (A General Armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland By John Burke, Bernard Burke[1]) Also of the Morton Baronets.
context_page_description: The Archbishop of Canterbury is the "Primate of All England", effectively serving as the head of the established Church of England and, symbolically, of the worldwide Anglican Communion. From the 6th century to the 16th century, the Archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the Bishops of Rome, the Popes. Eighteen Archbishops have been canonised by the Roman Catholic Church. During the English Reformation the English church broke away from the authority of the Pope, at first temporarily, later permanently, recognising only the English monarch as a source of superior temporal authority.
  In the Middle Ages there was considerable variation in the nomination procedure of the archbishop and other bishops. At various times the nomination was made by the Canons of Canterbury Cathedral, the English monarch, or the Pope. Since the Reformation, the church is explicitly a state church and nomination is legally that of the British crown; today it is made in the name of the monarch by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from a shortlist of two selected by the Crown Nominations Commission, an ad hoc committee.
  Today the archbishop has four main roles:
caption: Arms of Morton: Quarterly 1st & 4th: Gules, a goat's head erased armed argent; 2nd & 3rd: Ermine[56]
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