Edwin Sandys (archbishop)

Infobox Archbishop of York
name = Edwin Sandys


birth_name =
began = 1576
term_end = 1588
predecessor = Edmund Grindal
successor = John Piers
birth_date = 1516
birthplace = Esthwaite Hall
death_date = 1588
deathplace =
tomb = Anglican PortalArchbishop Edwin Sandys (1519 - 1588) was an English prelate.He was Anglican Bishop of Worcester (1559-1570), London (1570-1576) and Archbishop of York (1576-1588). He was one of the translators of the Bishops' Bible.

Life before the death of Mary I

Edwin was born in 1519 at Esthwaite Hall, which is 1 mile south of Hawkshead, Cumbria, on the road to Newby Bridge. The Hall nestles in the valley and overlooks Esthwaite Water. Today it is still a family home, although the Sandys family now reside in the grander Graythwaite Hall a few miles further south.

The Sandys family have held lands in Cumbria since the 13th century. It is believed that Young Edwin received his early education at Furness Abbey. From there he went up to St John’s, Cambridge graduating BA in 1539 and then a Doctor of Divinity ten years later. In 1547 he was elected master of Catherine Hall and by the death of Edward VI in 1553 he was Vice Chancellor of the University.

On the death of King Edward, the Duke of Northumberland sought to avoid a Roman Catholic monarchy by illegally placing Lady Jane Grey on the throne. He and his followers arrived in Cambridge to raise an army in East Anglia and demanded that Edwin Sandys preach a sermon. When the rebellion failed and Mary Tudor took the throne and Edwin was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. For this he is mentioned in "Foxe's Book of Martyrs". Later he was moved to more comfortable conditions in Marchalsea prison where he made friends with the prison keeper who connived at his escape.

He went first to Antwerp and then Augsberg and Strasbourg where his wife joined him. His wife and infant son died there of a plague. He then lived in Zurich until the ascendancy of Elizabeth I made it safe for him to return to England.

Archbishop of York

On his return he became successively Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of York. He helped in the translation of a new version of the bible Bishops' Bible. Sandys own personal copy may be seen in the Hawkshead Grammar School Museum.

Along with other Marian exiles, who returned to positions of wealth and importance, Archbishop Sandys was concerned that true religion and sound learning would forever flourish in the land. They saw the necessity of education for religion’s sake and the need for the Church of England to hold their own in discussion with Roman Catholics. To these ends Edwin Sandys founded Hawkshead Grammar School in 1585 and endowed it with sufficient land and property for it to offer a free education.

His eldest son, Sir Samuel Sandys of Ombersley in Worcestershire, was ancestor of the Lords Sandys of Ombersley. His second son, Sir Edwin Sandys, was one of the colonial organizers and treasurer of the New World colony of Virginia.

ee also

* [http://www.hawksheadgrammar.org.uk Hawkshead Grammar School Museum]

External links

* [http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/images/Sandys,Edwin(ABishopYork)01.jpgHis image]