George Cromer(died 16 March 1542) wasArchbishop of ArmaghandPrimate of All Irelandin the reign ofHenry VIII of England,from 1521/2.[1]
George Cromer | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Armagh Primate of All Ireland | |
| Church | Roman Catholic |
| Archdiocese | Armagh |
| Appointed | 2 October 1521 |
| In office | 1521–1543 |
| Predecessor | John Kite |
| Successor | George Dowdall |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | April 1522 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c.1470 |
| Died | 16 March 1542 |
| Nationality | English |
| Parents | Sir James Cromer, Catherine Cantelowe |
Biography
editCromer was English by birth, a descendant of the Cromer (also spelt Crowemer) family ofTunstall, KentandCromer, Norfolk.He was the younger son of Sir James Cromer of Tunstall (died 1503) and Catherine Cantelowe, daughter of Sir William Cantelowe, a wealthymerchantof Milk Street,London.[2]He was probably born around 1470.
He was referred to as aDoctor of Divinity,and appears to have been a royalchaplainattached to the English Court by 1518. He was consecrated Archbishop in 1522.[2]
Caught up in Henry'sReformationof theChurch of England,he was deprived of hisSee of Armagh.[3]He continued in place as Archbishop of Armagh, despite suspicions from Henry about his true beliefs and his loyalty to the Crown, and despite being suspended by the Pope on a charge ofheresy,and in spite of his failing health.[4][5]
He wasLord Chancellor of Ireland1532-4, as a placeman ofGerald FitzGerald, 9th Earl of Kildare,whose family dominated Irish politics from the 1470s until the late 1530s, and wielded such power that they were known as "the uncrowned Kings of Ireland".[6][7]When the FitzGeralds destroyed themselves in theRebellionofSilken Thomas,Cromer's own loyalty was naturally suspected, even though he had tried to prevent the Rebellion[2](in 1536 he had opposed theActs of Supremacywhich made Henry VIIISupreme Head of the Church of England).[2]He was suspended from office as Chancellor and narrowly escaped prosecution fortreason.In his last years, he was restored to limited royal favour, and was allowed to attendParliamentin 1541, but died the following year.[2]
References
edit- Chapter in A.J. Hughes, William Nolan (eds.) (2001),Armagh: Interdisciplinary essays on the History of an Irish County
- Ball, F. ElringtonThe Judges in Ireland 1221–1921London John Murray 1926
Notes
edit- ^The Succession of the Bishops of Armagh [ Succession list ]: Free Genealogy Pages from Ulster Ancestry
- ^abcdeBall p.198
- ^George Cromer
- ^Concise Dictionary of National Biography
- ^MacCaffrey, James."History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution, Volume 2".Archived fromthe originalon 26 August 2005.Retrieved31 October2020.dating this at 1539.
- ^Garrett, Ninth Earl of Kildare (1513–1534)
- ^[1][usurped],[2][usurped].Archived26 September 2007 at theWayback Machine