William Juxon 1582 - 1663

Written by Blair Rogers

Monday, 13 March 2006

William Juxon (1582 - 4 June 1663) was an English churchman, Bishop of London from 1633 to 1649 and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1660 until his death. William Juxon He was the son of Robert Juxon and was born probably at Chichester, and educated at Merchant Taylors' School, London, and St John's College, Oxford, where he was elected to a scholarship in 1598. He studied law at Oxford, but afterwards took holy orders, and in 1609 became vicar of St Giles, Oxford, where he stayed until he became rector of Somerton, Oxfordshire, in 1615. In December 1621 he succeeded his friend, William Laud, as President (ie. principal) of St John's College, and in 1626 and 1627 he was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford. Juxon soon obtained other important positions, including that of chaplain-in-ordinary to King Charles I. In 1627 he was made Dean of Worcester and in 1632 he was nominated to the bishopric of Hereford and resigned the presidency of St John's in January 1633. However, he never took up duties at Hereford, as in October 1633 he was consecrated Bishop of London in succession to Laud. In March 1636 Charles I entrusted Juxon with important secular duties by making him Lord High Treasurer of England as well as First Lord of the Admiralty; for the next five years he had to deal with many financial and other difficulties. He resigned the treasurership in May 1641. During the Civil War, the bishop, against whom no charges were brought in parliament, lived undisturbed at Fulham Palace, and his advice was often sought by the king, who had a very high opinion of him, and who selected him to be with him on the scaffold and to offer him the last rites before his execution. Juxon was deprived of his bishopric in 1649 and retired to Little Compton in Gloucestershire, where he had bought an estate, and became famous as the owner of a pack of hounds. At the restoration of King Charles II he became Archbishop of Canterbury and in his official capacity he took part in the new king's coronation, but his health soon began to fail and he died at Lambeth. By his will the archbishop was a benefactor to St John's College, where he was buried; he also aided the work of restoring St Paul's Cathedral and rebuilt the great hail at Lambeth Palace. This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica. References     * Serving God and Mammon: William Juxon, 1582-1663 by Thomas Mason. ISBN 0874132517.

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