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THE ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME II SLICE VII
Arundel, Thomas to Athens
Articles in This Slice
ARUNDEL, THOMAS ASSAB ARUNDEL (town) ASSAM ARUNDELL OF WARDOUR, THOMAS ARUNDELL ASSAMESE ARUSIANUS MESSIUS ASSAROTTI, OTTAVIO GIOVANNI BATTISTA ARVAL BROTHERS ASSARY ARVALS ASSASSIN ARVERNI ASSAULT ARYAN ASSAYE ARYA SAMAJ ASSAYING ARYTENOID ASSEGAI ARZAMAS ASSELIJN, HANS AS ASSEMANI ASA ASSEMBLY, UNLAWFUL ASAFETIDA ASSEN ASAF-UD-DOWLAH ASSER ASAPH ASSESSMENT ASBESTOS ASSESSOR ASBJÖRNSEN, PETER CHRISTEN ASSETS ASBURY, FRANCISARUNDEL, THOMAS (1353-1414), archbishop of Canterbury, was the third son of Richard Fitzalan, earl of Arundel and Warenne, by his second wife, Eleanor, daughter of Henry Plantagenet, earl of Lancaster. His family was an old and influential one, and when Thomas entered the church his preferment was rapid. In 1373 he became archdeacon of Taunton, and in April 1374 was consecrated bishop of Ely. During the early years of the reign of King Richard II. he was associated with the party led by Thomas, duke of Gloucester, Henry, earl of Derby, afterwards King Henry IV., and his own brother Richard, earl of Arundel, and in 1386 he was sent with Gloucester to Eltham to persuade Richard to return to parliament. This mission was successful, and Arundel was made lord chancellor in place of Michael de la Pole, duke of Suffolk, and assisted to make peace between the king and the supporters of the commission of regency. In April 1388 he was made archbishop of York, and, when Richard declared himself of age in 1389, he gave up the office of chancellor, to which, however, he returned in 1391. During his second tenure of this office he removed the courts of justice from London to York, but they were soon brought back to the metropolis. In September 1396 he was translated from York to Canterbury, and again resigned the office of chancellor. He began his new rule by a vigorous attempt to assert his rights, warned the citizens of London not to withhold tithes, and decided appeals from the judgments of his suffragans during a thorough visitation of his province. In November 1396 he had officiated at the marriage of Richard and Isabella, daughter of Charles VI., king of France, and his fall was the sequel of the king’s sudden attack upon the lords appellant in 1397. After the arrest of Gloucester, Warwick and Arundel, the archbishop was impeached by the Commons with the king’s consent, although Richard, who had not yet revealed his hostility, held out hopes of safety to him. He was charged with assisting to procure the commission of regency in derogation of the royal authority, and sentence of banishment was passed, forty days being given him during which to leave the realm. Towards the end of 1397 he started for Rome, and Pope Boniface IX., at the urgent request of the king, translated him to the see of St Andrews, a step which the pope afterwards confessed he repented bitterly. This translation virtually deprived Arundel of all authority, as St Andrews did not acknowledge Boniface. He then became associated with Henry of Lancaster, but did not return to England before 1399, and the account which Froissart gives telling how he was sent by the Londoners to urge Henry to come and assume the crown is thought to refer to his nephew and namesake, Thomas, earl of Arundel. Landing with Henry at Ravenspur, he accompanied him to the west. He took his place at once as archbishop of Canterbury, witnessed the abdication of Richard in the Tower of London, led the new king, Henry IV., to his throne in presence of the peers, and crowned him on the 13th of October 1399.
The main work of his later years was the defence of the church, and the suppression of heresy. To put down the Lollards, he called a meeting of the clergy, pressed on the statute de haeretico comburendo, and passed sentence of degradation upon William Sawtrey. He resisted the attempt of the parliament of 1404 to disendow the church, but failed to induce Henry to pardon Archbishop Scrope in 1405. In 1407 he became chancellor for the fourth time, and in 1408 summoned a council at Oxford, which drew up constitutions against the Lollards. These he published in January 1409, and among them was one forbidding the translation of the Bible into English without the consent of the bishop of the diocese, or of a provincial synod. In 1411 he went on an embassy abroad, and in 1412 became chancellor again, his return to power being accompanied by a change in the foreign policy of Henry IV. In 1397 he had sought to vindicate his right of visitation over the university of Oxford, but the dispute remained unsettled until 1411 when a bull was issued by Pope John XXIII. recalling one issued by Pope Boniface IX., which had exempted the university from the archbishop’s authority. In 1413 he took a leading part in the proceedings against Sir John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, and in the following year he died on the 19th of February, and was buried at Canterbury. A legend of a later age tells how, just before his death, he was struck dumb for preventing the preaching of the word of God.
The chief authorities are T. Walsingham, Historia Anglicana,
ARUNDEL, a market town and municipal borough in the Chichester parliamentary division of Sussex, England, 58 m. S.S.W. from London by the London, Brighton & South Coast railway. Pop. (1901) 2739. It is pleasantly situated on the slope of a hill above the river Arun, which is navigable for small vessels to Littlehampton at the mouth, 6 m. south. From the summit of the hill rises Arundel Castle, which guarded the passage along the river through the hills. For its connexion with the title of earl of Arundel see Arundel, Earldom of. A castle existed in the time of King Alfred, and at the time of the Conquest it was rebuilt by Roger de Montgomerie, but it was taken from his son, who rebelled against the reigning monarch, Henry I. In 1397 it was the scene of a conspiracy organized by the earl of Arundel, archbishop of Canterbury and duke of Gloucester, to dethrone Richard II. and murder the lords of his council, a plot which was discovered before it could be carried into execution. During the civil wars of the 17th century, the stronghold was frequently assaulted by the contending parties, and consequently greatly damaged; but it was restored by Charles, 11th duke of Norfolk (d. 1815), who made it what it now is, one of the most splendid baronial mansions in England. Extensive reconstruction, in the style of the 13th century, was undertaken towards the close of the 19th century. The town, according to the whimsical etymology shown on the corporation seal, takes its name from hirondelle (a swallow). The town hall is a castellated building, presented to the corporation by the duke of Norfolk. The church of St Nicholas, founded about 1375, is Perpendicular with a low tower rising from the centre. In the north aisle of the chancel there are several ancient monuments of the earls of Arundel. The church is otherwise remarkable for its reredos and iron work. The chancel is the property of the duke of Norfolk and is screened from the rest of the building, although in 1880 this exercise of right by the owner was made the subject of an action at law and subsequent appeal. The Roman Catholic church of St Philip Neri was built by the duke of Norfolk (1873). Some remains of a Maison Dieu, or hospital, erected in the time of Richard II., still exist. The borough is under a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors. Area, 2053 acres.