enthroned ended predecessor successor death_date imagesize birth_date image article_title name archbishop_of
1545 1554 edward lee nicholas heath 1555 200px 1481/1482 robertholgate.jpg robert holgate
 robert holgate archbishop of york
robert holgate

robert holgate -lrb- 1481/1482 -- 1555 -rrb- was bishop of llandaff and then archbishop of york -lrb- from 1545 to 1554 -rrb- .
he recognised henry viii as head of the church of england .
although a protege of thomas cromwell , 1st earl of essex , holgate had a career in the gilbertine order of which he became master .
most of the gilbertine houses were lesser establishments which should have been dissolved under the suppression of religious houses act 1535 -lrb- only four out of twenty-six houses had revenues over # 200 a year -rrb- .
however , holgate is credited with using his influence to save them for a few years .
for example , malton priory , one of the lesser gilbertine houses , was the last of them to surrender in december 1539 , whereas sempringham priory , worth more than # 200 a year , surrendered in 1538 .
in 1550 holgate married barbara wentworth , who was about 25 at the time .
this may however have been a second marriage to make it fully legal , and holgate and wentworth may have first married in late 1547 with roger tongue officiating .
in 1551 arthur norman claimed that he was already married to barbara wentworth , but the courts decided that their marriage when she was about seven had not been a binding legal transaction .
robert and barbara remained married until 1553 , when shortly after mary i of england came to the throne she imprisoned holgate on various charges , with his being a married clergy being central to these .
in 1554 holgate renounced his marriage claiming he had only entered it to avoid suspicion as a papist .
in january 1555 holgate was released from prison , but he was not restored to priestly office .
he died later that year .
in 1558 a robert holgate from yorkshire entered the university of cambridge .
he may have been a son of holgate , since there are some claims he had two children by barbara , but there is no conclusive evidence on the matter .
