ABBOT, GEORGE: Archbishop of Canterbury;
b. at Guildford (30 m. s.w. of London) Oct. 29,
1562; d. at Croydon (10 m. s. of London) Aug. 4,
1633. He studied at Balliol College, Oxford
(B.A., 1582; probationer fellow, 1583; M.A., 1585;
B.D., 1593; D.D., 1597), took orders in 1585,
remained at Oxford as tutor, and became known as
an able preacher and lecturer with strong Puritan
sympathies. He was made master of University
College 1597; dean of Winchester 1600; vice-chancellor
of the university 1600, 1603, 1605; bishop
of Coventry and Lichfield, 1609; bishop of London
1610; archbishop of Canterbury 1611. His learning
and sincerity can not be questioned; but he
was austere, narrow, almost a fanatic. His one
great idea was to crush "popery," not only in
England, but in all Europe; and popery to him
meant every theological system except that of
Calvin. To further his purposes abroad, he meddled
persistently in the foreign policy of the State and
chose arbitrary, high-handed, and cruel means to
accomplish his ends at home. His principles
allowed him to flatter the king, to help him generously
in money matters, and to serve him in certain
political undertakings, such as the restoration of
episcopacy in Scotland in 1608-10. At other times
his conscience compelled him to be just, and consequently
he could not retain the royal favor. A
Presbyterian at heart, he accepted episcopacy
only from a love of order and sense of loyalty to
constituted authority; and his appointment as
archbishop was displeasing to the Anglican party,
who had wanted Launcelot Andrewes (q.v.). His
undiplomatic course incensed his opponents, and
they pursued him relentlessly and cruelly. In 1621
he killed a gamekeeper while hunting. It was
purely accidental, and he was deeply shocked and
grieved; nevertheless, William Laud (his successor as
archhishop and his personal enemy for years) and
others seized upon the incident to annoy him and
weaken his influence. Charles I., after his accession,
favored Laud, whd brought about Abbot's
sequestration for a year (1627-28) because he had
refused to sanction a sermon by Dr. Robert Sibthorp,
vicar of Brackley, indorsing an unlawful
attempt by the king to raise money, and showing
little sympathy with Abbot's favorite policy of
support to the German Protestants. After this
his public acts were few. But with all his faults
and disappointments he was faithful to duty as he
understood it; and he was generous with money,
charitable to the poor, and a patron of learning.
He was a member of the Oxford New Testament
Company for the version of 1611; and through him
Cyril Lucar (q.v.) presented the
Codex Alexandrinus
to Charles I. With other works, he published
A Brief Description of the Whole World
(London, 1599; 5th ed., 1664), a geography prepared
for his pupils at Oxford, containing an interesting description of America; and
An Exposition
upon the Prophet Jonah
(1600), which was reprinted
in 1845 with a life by Grace Webster.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
T. Fuller, Church History, 6 parts, London,
1655 (ed. Brewer, 1845); Biographic Britannica, 6 vols.,
ib. 1747-66 (contains his life by W. Oldys, reprinted by
Arthur Onalow, Guildford, 1777); W. F. Hook, Ecclesiastical Biography,
8 vols., London, 1845-52; idem, Lives of
Archbishops, 12 vols., ib. 1860-72; S. R. Gardiner.
History of England, 1603-1642, 10 vols., ib. 1883-84;
DNB, i. 5.
