Archbishop Warham

The Most Reverend and Right Honourable William Warham
Archbishop of Canterbury
Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger (1527)
Appointed	29 November 1503
Term ended	22 August 1532
Predecessor	Henry Deane
Successor	Thomas Cranmer
Personal details
Born	c. 1450
Died	22 August 1532 Hackington
Buried	Canterbury Cathedral, Kent
Denomination	Roman Catholic

William Warham (c. 1450 – 22 August 1532) was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1503 to his death.

Warham was the son of Robert Warham of Malshanger in Hampshire. He was educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford.

After graduating, Warham practised and taught law both in London and Oxford. His father was a tenant farmer, but his brother, Sir Hugh Warham, acquired an estate at Croydon, which passed to his daughter Agnes, who married Sir Anthony St Leger.

Later, Warham took holy orders, held two livings (Barley and Cottenham) and became Master of the Rolls in 1494. Henry VII found him a useful and clever diplomatist. He helped to arrange the marriage between Henry's son, Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Catherine of Aragon. He went to Scotland with Richard Foxe, then bishop of Durham, in 1497. He was partly responsible for several commercial and other treaties with Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, also Count of Flanders and Regent Duke of Burgundy, on behalf of his son Philip IV of Burgundy.

In 1502, he was consecrated Bishop of London and became Keeper of the Great Seal, but his tenure of both offices was short, as in 1504, he became Lord Chancellor and Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1506, he became Chancellor of Oxford University, a role he held until his death. In 1509, he married and then crowned Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.