Thomas Arundel

Thomas Arundel
Archbishop of Canterbury
A late-14th-century illumination depicting Thomas Arundel
Appointed	1396
Installed	unknown
Term ended	19 February 1414
Predecessor	William Courtenay
Successor	Henry Chichele
Other posts	Bishop of Ely Archbishop of York
Personal details
Born	1353
Died	19 February 1414
Nationality	English
Denomination	Roman Catholic

Thomas Arundel (1353 – 19 February 1414) was Archbishop of Canterbury in 1397 and from 1399 until his death, an outspoken opponent of the Lollards.

Arundel was born, probably in Etchingham, Sussex, England. a younger son of Richard Fitzalan, 10th Earl of Arundel and Eleanor of Lancaster. His elder brother was John FitzAlan, 1st Baron Arundel.

Arundel was papally provided as Bishop of Ely on 13 August 1373 entirely by reason of his father's status and financial leverage with the Crown during the dotage of Edward III, happily abandoning his student days at Oxford, from which he gained little pleasure. A hugely wealthy near-sinecure, Ely seems to have captured the young bishop's genuine interest until his brother's political opposition to Richard II's policies both at home and towards France grew rancorous and dragged him in. In an extremely grave crisis, teetering towards civil war, 1386-8, the bishop found himself, at least in formal terms, right at the front of the dangerous attempts by five leading temporal lords to purge the king's advisors and control future policy.

On 3 April 1388, Arundel was elevated to the position of Archbishop of York at a time when Richard II was, in effect, suspended from rule. Given Ely's wealth and ease, this promotion was clearly as much to do with status and consolidating the conspirators' control in the north as with remuneration.

Arundel served twice as Lord Chancellor, during the reign of King Richard II, first from 1386 to 1389, and again from 1391 to 1396. For whatever reason, the king, working his way astutely back into real authority, contrived to assure Arundel of his confidence right until the "counter-coup" of 1397, when the archbishop was deceived into bringing his brother out of hiding under a royal safe conduct—to his death. Throughout his life Arundel was more trustful than was good for him. Despite his political preoccupations, which certainly led to him being largely absent from York, he has been credited with sponsoring a lively revival of personal religious piety in the northern province. Besides, as was to prove the case at Canterbury too, he was also a very good spotter of administrative talent.