2019 marks 475th anniversary of birth of Archbishop Bancroft
By Joanne Sloan
Richard Bancroft (1544–1610) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1604 to 1610 and oversaw the production of the King James Bible. This year marks the 475th anniversary of his birth.
On Sept. 12, 1544, he was born to John and Mary Bancroft in the village of Farnworth in Lancashire County, England. His parents were members of the upper class.
He attended Farnworth grammar school and later Cambridge University. He spent more than a decade there where he immersed himself in scholarship. He received his bachelor’s degree in 1567 and his master’s three years later. He was chosen to meet Queen Elizabeth I when she visited.
Ordained as a priest in 1574 he was one of 12 university preachers two years later at Cambridge. He received his doctorate of theology in 1585 at Cambridge.
Bancroft spent his career in different appointments in the Church of England. He defended the Anglican episcopacy against Puritan attempts at restructuring it.
He was named treasurer of St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1586 and an official of Westminster Abbey in 1587.
In 1597, Bancroft became a household chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury, John Whitgift. The same year he was named Bishop of London, an important leadership role in the Church of England. He was present with Elizabeth I when she died in 1603.
After Archbishop Whitgift died in February 1604 Bancroft was confirmed — with the backing of King James I — as the new archbishop on Dec. 10, 1604.
His most important legacy was his work on a new English translation of the Bible, the King James Version. Once James I decided on a new translation in 1604, Bancroft managed the project and approved 47 of the most acclaimed scholars in England to participate.
Bancroft divided the translators into six companies: three for the Old Testament, two for the New Testament and one for the Apocrypha. He encouraged them to build on the works of Tyndale, Wycliffe and Coverdale. Bancroft acted as a facilitator and kept them working together as a harmonious group.
In the end it was Bancroft who read and edited the new translation.
Bancroft died Nov. 2, 1610. He did not live to see the King James Bible sent to press on May 2, 1611.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Joanne Sloan, a member of First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, has been a published writer of articles and books for 30 years. She has a bachelor’s degree double majoring in history and English from East Texas State University (now Texas A&M–Commerce) and a master’s degree specializing in English from the University of Arkansas (1978).
Share with others: