Cosmo Lang
Encyclopedia
William Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth GCVO
PC (known as Cosmo; 31 October 1864 – 5 December 1945) was an Anglican
prelate
who served as Archbishop of York
(1908–1928) and Archbishop of Canterbury
(1928–1942). His rapid elevation to Archbishop of York, within 18 years of his ordination
, is unprecedented in modern Church of England
history. As Archbishop of Canterbury during the abdication crisis of 1936, he took a strong moral stance and comments he made in a subsequent broadcast were widely condemned as uncharitable towards the departed king.
The son of a Scots Presbyterian
minister, Lang abandoned the prospect of a legal and political career to train for the Anglican priesthood
. Beginning in 1890, his early ministry was served in slum parishes in Leeds
and Portsmouth
, except for brief service as an Oxford college chaplain. In 1901 he was appointed suffragan
Bishop of Stepney
in London, where he continued his work among the poor. He also served as a canon
of St Paul's Cathedral
, London.
In 1908 Lang was nominated as Archbishop of York, despite his relatively junior status as a suffragan rather than a diocesan
bishop. His religious stance was broadly Anglo-Catholic, tempered by the liberal Anglo-Catholicism
advocated in the Lux Mundi
essays. He entered the House of Lords
as a Lord Spiritual
and caused consternation in traditionalist circles by speaking and voting against the Lords' proposal to reject David Lloyd George
's 1909 "People's Budget
". This apparent radicalism was not, however, maintained in later years. At the start of the First World War, Lang was heavily criticised for a speech in which he spoke sympathetically of the German Emperor. This troubled him greatly and may have contributed to the rapid ageing which affected his appearance during the war years. After the war he began to promote church unity and at the 1920 Lambeth Conference was responsible for the Church's Appeal to All Christian People. As Archbishop of York he supported controversial proposals for the revision of the Book of Common Prayer
but, after acceding to Canterbury, he took no practical steps to resolve this issue.
Lang became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1928. He presided over the 1930 Lambeth Conference
, which gave limited church approval to the use of contraception
. After denouncing the Italian invasion
of Abyssinia
in 1935 and strongly condemning European anti-semitism
, Lang later supported the appeasement policies of the British government. On retirement in 1942 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Lang of Lambeth and continued to attend and speak in House of Lords debates until his death in 1945. Lang himself believed that he had not lived up to his own high standards. Others, however, have praised his qualities of industry, his efficiency and his commitment to his calling.
Cosmo Gordon Lang was born in 1864 at the manse
in Fyvie
, Aberdeenshire
, the third son of the local Church of Scotland
minister, the Reverend John Marshall Lang
, and his wife Hannah Agnes Lang. Cosmo was baptised at Fyvie church by a neighbouring minister, the name "William" being added inadvertently to his given names, perhaps because the local laird
was called William Cosmo Gordon. The additional name was rarely used subsequently. In January 1865 the family moved to Glasgow
on John Lang's appointment as a minister in the Anderston
district. Subsequent moves followed: in 1868 to Morningside
, Edinburgh and, in 1873, back to Glasgow when John Lang was appointed minister to the historic Barony Church.
In Glasgow, Lang attended the Park School, a day establishment where he won a prize for an essay on English literature and played the occasional game of football; otherwise, he recorded, "I was never greatly interested in [the school's] proceedings." Holidays were spent in different parts of Scotland, most notably in Argyll
to which, later in life, Lang would frequently return. In 1878, at the age of 14, Lang sat and passed his matriculation
examinations. Despite his youth, he began his studies at the University of Glasgow
that autumn.
, the physicist William Thomson (who was later created Lord Kelvin) and the philosopher Edward Caird
. Long afterwards Lang commented on the inability of some of these eminent figures to handle "the Scottish boors who formed a large part of their classes". Lang was most strongly influenced by Caird, who gave the boy's mind "its first real awakening". Lang recalled how, in a revelation as he was passing through Kelvingrove Park
, he expressed aloud his sudden conviction that: "The Universe is one and its Unity and Ultimate Reality is God!" He acknowledged that his greatest failure at the University was his inability to make any progress in his understanding of mathematics, "to me, then and always, unintelligible".
In 1881 Lang made his first trip outside Scotland, to London where he heard the theologian and orator Henry Parry Liddon
preach in St Paul's Cathedral
. He also heard William Ewart Gladstone
and Joseph Chamberlain
debating in the House of Commons. Later that year he travelled to Cambridge to stay with a friend who was studying there. A visit to King's College Chapel persuaded Lang that he should study at the College; the following January he sat and passed the entrance examination. However, when he discovered that as part of his degree studies he would be examined in mathematics, his enthusiasm disappeared. Instead, he applied to Balliol College, Oxford, and was accepted. In the summer of 1882 he ended his studies at Glasgow with a Master of Arts
degree, and was awarded prizes for essays on politics and church history.
Lang started at Balliol in October 1882. In his first term he successfully sat for the Brakenbury Scholarship, described by his biographer John Gilbert Lockhart as "the Blue Ribbon of history scholarship at any University of the British Isles". In February 1883 his first speech at the Oxford Union
, against the disestablishment
of the Church of Scotland, was warmly received; the chairman likened his oratory to that of the Ancient Greek statesman, Demosthenes
. He became the Union's president in the Trinity term
of 1883, and the following year was a co-founder of the Oxford University Dramatic Society
(OUDS).
Although Lang considered himself forward-thinking, he joined and became secretary of the Canning Club, the university's principal Conservative
society. His contemporary Robert Cecil
recorded that Lang's "progressive" opinions were somewhat frowned upon by traditional Tories
, who nevertheless respected his ability. Lang later assisted in the founding of the University settlement of Toynbee Hall
, a mission to help the poor in the East End of London
. He had been first drawn to this work in 1883, after listening to a sermon in St Mary's Church, Oxford, by Samuel Augustus Barnett
, Vicar of Whitechapel. Barnett became the settlement's first leader, while Lang became one of its first undergraduate secretaries. He spent so much time on these duties that he was chided by the Master of Balliol, Benjamin Jowett
, for neglecting his studies. In 1886 Lang graduated with first-class honours
in History; in October of that year he failed to secure a Fellowship of All Souls College, blaming his poor early scholastic training in Glasgow.
Lang's career ambition from early in life was to practise law, enter politics and then take office in some future Conservative administration. In 1887 he began his studies for the English Bar, working in the London chambers of W.S. Robson
, a future Attorney-General, whose "vehement radicalism was an admirable stimulus and corrective to [Lang's] liberal Conservatism". During these years Lang was largely aloof from religion, but continued churchgoing out of what he termed "hereditary respect". He attended services at the nonconformist
City Temple
church and sometimes went to St Paul's Cathedral. Of his life at that time he said: "I must confess that I played sometimes with those external temptations that our Christian London flaunts in the face of its young men."
In October 1888 Lang was elected to an All Souls Fellowship and began to divide his time between London and Oxford. Some of his Oxford friends were training for ordination and Lang was often drawn into their discussions. Eventually the question entered Lang's mind: "Why shouldn't you be ordained?" The thought persisted, and one Sunday evening in the spring of 1889, after a visit to the theological college at Cuddesdon, Lang attended evening service at the Cuddesdon parish church. By his own account, during the sermon he was gripped by "a masterful inward voice" which told him "You are wanted. You are called. You must obey." He immediately severed his connection with the Bar, renounced his political ambitions and applied for a place at Cuddesdon College. With the help of an All Souls contact, the essential step of his confirmation into the Church of England was supervised by the Bishop of Lincoln
. Lang's decision to become an Anglican and seek ordination disappointed his Presbyterian father, who nevertheless wrote to his son: "What you think, prayerfully and solemnly, you ought to do – you must do – we will accept."
, Lang was ordained as deacon
. He rejected an offer of the chaplaincy of All Souls as he wanted to be "up and doing" in a tough parish. Lang identified with the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England, in part, he admitted, as a reaction against his evangelical
upbringing in the Church of Scotland. His sympathies lay with the progressive wing of Anglo-Catholicism represented by the Lux Mundi
essays, published in 1888 by a group of forward-looking Oxford theologians. Among these was Edward Stuart Talbot
, Warden of Keble
, who in 1888 had become Vicar of Leeds Parish Church
. Talbot had contributed the essay entitled "The Preparation for History in Christ" in Lux Mundi. Lang jumped at the offer of a curacy
under Talbot, and arrived in Leeds in the autumn of 1890.
Leeds Parish Church
, rebuilt and reconsecrated in 1841 after an elaborate ceremony, was of almost cathedral size, the centre of a huge parish ministered by many curate
s. Lang's district was the Kirkgate, one of the poorest areas, many of whose 2,000 inhabitants were prostitutes. Lang and his fellow curates fashioned a clergy house from a derelict public house
. He later moved next door, into a condemned property which became his home for his remaining service in Leeds. In addition to his normal parish duties, Lang acted temporarily as Principal of the Clergy School, was chaplain to Leeds Infirmary, and took charge of a men's club of around a hundred members. On 24 May 1891 he was ordained to full priesthood.
Lang continued to visit Oxford when time allowed and on a visit to All Souls in June 1893 he was offered the post of Dean of Divinity at Magdalen College
. Other offers were open to him; the Bishop of Newcastle
wished to appoint him vicar of the cathedral church in Newcastle
and Benjamin Jowett wished him to return to Balliol as a tutor in theology. Lang chose Magdalen; the idea of being in charge of young men who might in the future achieve positions of responsibility was attractive to him and, in October 1893, with many regrets, he left Leeds.
with the college's undergraduates and responsibility for the chapel and its choir. Lang was delighted with this latter obligation; his concern for the purity of the choir's sound led him to request that visitors "join in the service silently". In 1894 Lang was asked to add to his workload by acting as Vicar of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin
, where John Henry Newman had begun his Oxford ministry in 1828. The church had almost ceased to function when Lang took it over, but he revived regular services, chose preachers with care and slowly rebuilt the congregation. In December 1895 he was offered the post of Vicar of Portsea
, a large parish within Portsmouth
on the south coast, but he was not ready to leave Oxford and refused. Some months later he had further thoughts; the strain of his dual appointment in Oxford was beginning to tell and, he claimed, "the thought of this great parish [of Portsea] and work going a-begging troubled my conscience." After discovering that the Portsea offer was still open, he decided to accept, though with some misgiving.
Volunteer Corps.
Lang's relationship with his curates was generally formal. They were aware of his ambition and felt that he sometimes spent too much time on his outside interests such as his All Souls Fellowship, but were nevertheless impressed by his efficiency and his powers of oratory. Church historian Adrian Hastings singles out Portsea under Lang as an example of "extremely disciplined pastoral professionalism". Lang may have realised that he was destined for high office; he is reported to have practised the signature "Cosmo Cantuar" during a relaxed discussion with his curates ("Cantuar
" is part of the Archbishop of Canterbury's formal signature). In January 1898 he was invited by Queen Victoria to preach at Osborne House
, her Isle of Wight
home. Afterwards he talked with the Queen who, Lang records, suggested that he should marry. Lang replied that he could not afford to as his curates cost too much. He added: "If a curate proves unsatisfactory I can get rid of him. A wife is a fixture." He was summoned on several more occasions and in the following January was appointed an Honorary Chaplain to the Queen. These visits to Osborne were the start of a close association with the Royal Family which lasted for the rest of Lang's life. As one of the Queen's chaplains, he assisted in the funeral arrangements after her death in January 1901.
In March 1901 Lang was appointed suffragan
Bishop of Stepney
and a canon
of St Paul's Cathedral. These appointments reflected his growing reputation and recognised his successful ministry in working-class parishes. He was consecrated as bishop by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple
, in St Paul's Cathedral, on 1 May; his time would subsequently be divided, between his work in the Stepney region and his duties at St Paul's.
, with two million people in more than 200 parishes. Almost all were poor and housed in overcrowded and insanitary conditions. Lang knew something of the area from his undergraduate activities at Toynbee Hall and his conscience was troubled by the squalor that he saw as he travelled around the district, usually by bus and tram.
Lang's liberal conservatism enabled him to associate easily with Socialist leaders such as Will Crooks
and George Lansbury
, successive mayors of Poplar
, incidentally bringing the latter back to regular communion. In 1905 he and Lansbury joined the Central London Unemployed Body, set up by the government to tackle the region's unemployment problems. That same year Lang took as his personal assistant a young Cambridge graduate and clergyman's son, Dick Sheppard
, who became a close friend and confidante. Sheppard was eventually ordained, becoming a radical clergyman and founder of the Peace Pledge Union
. Lang believed that socialism was a growing force in British life, and at a Church Congress
in Great Yarmouth
in 1907 he speculated on how the Church should respond to this. His remarks reached The New York Times
, which warned that modern socialism was often equated with unrest, that "the cry of the demagogue is in the air" and that the Church should not heed this cry.
Much of the work in the district was supported by the East London Church Fund, established in 1880 to fund additional clergy and lay workers in the poorest districts. Lang preached in wealthier parishes throughout Southern England, and urged his listeners to contribute to the Fund. He also found time to revive his army ministry, and in 1907 was appointed Honorary Chaplain to the City of London Imperial Yeomanry (Rough Riders). He became chairman of the Church of England Men's Society (CEMS), which had been founded in 1899 by the merger of numerous organisations doing the same work. Initially he found it "a very sickly infant", but under his leadership it expanded rapidly, and soon had over 20,000 members in 600 branches. Later he became critical of the Church's failure to use this movement effectively, calling it one of the Church's lost opportunities.
, Lang's future successor at both York and Canterbury, who was then an undergraduate at Oxford. Temple observed that, in contrast to the Bishop of London's sermons, listening to Lang brought on an intellectual rather than emotional pleasure: "I can remember all his points, just because their connexion is inevitable.... And for me, there is no doubt that this is the more edifying by far." Lang was a member of the cathedral's governing body, the Dean and Chapter, and was responsible for the organisation of special occasions, such as the service of thanksgiving for King Edward VII
's recovery in July 1902.
. Letters from the Governor General of Canada
and the Canadian High Commissioner urged him to accept, but the Archbishop of Canterbury asked him to refuse. A few weeks later a letter from Herbert Asquith, the prime minister, informed Lang that he had been nominated Archbishop of York. Lang was only 44 years old, and had no experience as a diocesan bishop. On the issue of age, the Church Times
believed that Asquith deliberately recommended the youngest bishop available, after strong political lobbying for the appointment of the aged Bishop of Hereford
, John Percival
. Such a promotion for a suffragan, and within so short a period after ordination, was without recent precedent in the Church of England. Lang's friend Hensley Henson, a future Bishop of Durham, wrote: "I am, of course, surprised that you go straight to an archbishopric ... But you are too meteoric for precedent." The appointment was generally well received, although the Protestant Truth Society
sought in vain to prevent its confirmation. Strong opponents of Anglo-Catholic practices, they maintained that as Bishop of Stepney Lang had "connived at and encouraged flagrant breaking of the law relating to church ritual".
on 25 January 1909. In 18 years since ordination he had risen to the second-highest position in the Church of England. In addition to his diocesan responsibilities for York itself, he became head of the entire Northern Province
, and a member of the House of Lords
. Believing that the Diocese of York
was too large, he proposed reducing it by forming a new Diocese of Sheffield
, which after several years' work was inaugurated at Pentecost
, 1914. In the years following his appointment, Lang spoke out on a range of social and economic issues, and in support of improved working conditions. After taking his seat in the House of Lords in February 1909, he made his maiden speech in November in the debate on the controversial People's Budget
, advising the Lords against their intention to reject this measure. He cast his first Lords vote against rejection, because he was "deeply convinced of the unwisdom of the course the Lords proposed to take". Although his speech was received with respect, Lang's stance was politely reproved by the leading Conservative peer Lord Curzon.
Despite this seemingly progressive approach, Lang's instincts remained conservative. He voted against the 1914 Irish Home Rule Bill
and opposed liberalisation of the divorce laws. After playing a prominent role in King George V
's coronation in 1911, Lang became increasingly close to the Royal Family, an association which drew the comment that he was "more courtier than cleric". His love of ceremony, and concern for how an archbishop should look and live, began to obscure other aspects of his ministry; rather than assuming the role of the people's prelate he began, in the words of biographer Alan Wilkinson, to act as a "prince of the church".
, drastically altered Lang's relatively youthful appearance to that of a bald and elderly-looking man. His friends were shocked; the king, meeting him on the Royal train, apparently burst into guffaws of laughter.
Public hostility against Lang was slow to subside, re-emerging from time to time throughout the war. However, Lang continued his contribution to the war effort, paying visits to the Grand Fleet and to the Western Front
. He applied all his organisational skills to the Archbishop of Canterbury's National Mission of Repentance and Hope, an initiative designed to renew Christian faith nationwide, but it failed to make a significant impact.
As a result of the Battle of Jerusalem
of December 1917, the British Empire
's Egyptian Expeditionary Force
captured the Holy City, bringing it under Christian control for the first time since the Crusades
. As Prelate of the Venerable Order of Saint John
, Lang led a service of celebration on 11 January 1918 at the Order's Grand Priory Church, Clerkenwell
. He explained that it was 917 years since the Order's hospital
had been founded in Jerusalem, and 730 years since they were driven out by Saladin
. "London is the city of the Empire
's commerce, but Jerusalem is the city of the soul, and it is particularly fitting that British Armies
should have delivered it out of the hands of the infidel
."
Early in 1918, at the invitation of the Episcopal Church of the United States
, he made a goodwill visit to America, praising the extent and willingness of America's participation in the war. The Westminster Gazette called this "one of the most moving and memorable visits ever paid by an Englishman to the United States".
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After the war, Lang's primary cause was that of church unity. In 1920, as chairman of the Reunion Committee at the Sixth Lambeth Conference, he promoted an "Appeal to all Christian People", described by Hastings as "one of the rare historical documents that does not get forgotten with the years". It was unanimously adopted as the Conference's Resolution 9, and ended: "We ... ask that all should unite in a new and great endeavour to recover and to manifest to the world the unity of the Body of Christ for which He prayed." Despite initial warmth from the English Free Churches, little could be achieved in terms of practical union between episcopal
and non-episcopal churches, and the initiative was allowed to lapse. Historically, however, the Appeal is considered the starting-point for the more successful ecumenical
efforts of later generations.
Lang was supportive of the Malines Conversations
of 1921–26, though not directly involved. These were informal meetings between leading British Anglo-Catholics and reform-minded European Roman Catholics, exploring the possibility of reuniting the Anglican and Roman communions. Although the discussions had the blessing of Randall Davidson, the Archbishop of Canterbury, many Anglican evangelicals
were alarmed by them. Ultimately, the talks foundered on the entrenched opposition of the Catholic ultramontane
s. A by-product of these conversations may have been the awakening of opposition to the revision of the Anglican Prayer Book
. The focus of this revision, which Lang supported, was to make concessions to Anglo-Catholic rituals and practices in the Anglican services. The new Prayer Book was overwhelmingly approved by the Church's main legislative body, the Church Assembly
, and by the House of Lords. However, partly through the advocacy of the fervently evangelical Home Secretary
, Sir William Joynson-Hicks, the revision was twice defeated in the House of Commons, in December 1927 by 238 votes to 205 and, in June 1928, by 266–220. Lang was deeply disappointed, writing that "the gusts of Protestant convictions, suspicions, fears [and] prejudices swept through the House, and ultimately prevailed."
On 26 April 1923, King George V awarded Lang the Royal Victorian Chain
, an honour in the personal gift of the Sovereign After the marriage of the Duke of York in 1923, Lang formed a friendship with the Duchess, which lasted for the rest of Lang's life. In 1926 he baptised Princess Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth II, in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace
. In January 1927 Lang took centre-stage in the elaborate ceremonies which marked the 1,300th anniversary of the founding of York Minster.
to leave office through voluntary retirement. On 26 July, Lang was notified by the prime minister, Stanley Baldwin
, that he would be the successor; William Temple would succeed Lang at York. Lang was enthroned as the new Archbishop of Canterbury on 4 December 1928, the first bachelor to hold the appointment in 150 years. A contemporary Time
magazine article described Lang as "forthright and voluble" and as looking "like George Washington". Lang's first three years at Canterbury were marked by intermittent illnesses, which required periods of convalesecence away from his duties. After 1932, however, he "had almost unbroken health" for the rest of his life.
Lang avoided continuation of the 1928 Prayer Book controversy by allowing the parliamentary process to lapse. He then authorised a statement permitting use of the rejected Book locally if the parochial church council gave approval. The issue remained dormant for the rest of Lang's tenure at Canterbury. He led the 1930 Lambeth Conference, where further progress was made in improving relations with the Orthodox Churches and the Old Catholics
, although again no agreement could be reached with the non-episcopal Free Churches. On an issue of greater concern to ordinary people, the Conference gave limited approval, for the first time, to the use of contraceptive devices, an issue in which Lang had no interest. Through the 1930s Lang continued to work for Church unity. In 1933 the Church of England assembly formed a Council on Foreign Relations and, in the following years, numerous exchange visits with Orthodox delegations took place, a process only halted by the outbreak of war. Lang's 1939 visit to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is regarded as the high point of his ecumenical record. George Bell, Bishop of Chichester
, maintained that no one in the Anglican Communion did more than Lang to promote the unity movement.
In 1935, Lang's brother, Marshall B. Lang, a minister of the Church of Scotland
, became Moderator of the General Assembly
for the year. The two thus became the first brothers to lead the Church of England and the Church of Scotland.
The 1937 Oxford Conference on Church and Society, which later gave birth to the World Council of Churches
, produced what was according to church historian Adrian Hastings "the most serious approach to the problems of society that the Church had yet managed", but without Lang's close involvement. By this time Lang's identification with the poor had largely vanished, as had his interest in social reform. In the Church Assembly his closest ally was the aristocratic Lord Hugh Cecil; Hastings maintains that the Church of England in the 1930s was controlled "less by Lang and Temple in tandem than by Lang and Hugh Cecil". However, Lang got on well with Hewlett Johnson
, the communist priest who was appointed Dean of Canterbury
in 1931.
Lang often spoke in the House of Lords about the treatment of Russian Christians in the Soviet Union
. He also denounced the anti-semitic policies of the German government, and he took private steps to help European Jews. In 1933, having commented on the "noble task" of assisting India towards independence, he was appointed to the Joint Committee on the Indian Constitution. He condemned the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935, appealing for medical supplies to be sent to the Abyssinian troops. However, as the threat of war increased later in the decade, Lang became a strong supporter of the government's policy of appeasing the European dictators, declaring the Sunday after the Munich Agreement
of September 1938 to be a day of thanksgivings for the "sudden lifting of this cloud". Earlier that year, contrary to his former stance, he had supported the Anglo-Italian agreement to recognise the conquest of Abyssinia, because he believed that "an increase of appeasement" was necessary to avoid the threat of war. Lang also backed the government's non-intervention policy in regard to the Spanish Civil War
, saying that there were no clear issues that required the taking of sides. He did, however, condemn the German bombing of Guernica
, saying: "Who can think without horror of what another widespread war would mean, waged as it would be with all the new weapons of mass destruction?"
On the domestic front, Lang supported campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty. He upheld the right of the Church to refuse the remarriage of divorced persons within its buildings, but he did not directly oppose A.P. Herbert's Matrimonial Causes Bill of 1937, which liberalised the divorce laws – Lang believed "it was no longer possible to impose the full Christian standard by law on a largely non-Christian population." He drew criticism for his opposition to the reform of the ancient tithe
system, whereby many farmers paid a proportion of their income to the Church; in the subsequent "Tithe Wars", demonstrators at Ashford, Kent
ceremonially burned his effigy.
Near the end of his term in office Lang led a deputation from several church groups to the Ministry of Education
, to present a five-point plan for the teaching of religion in state schools. These points were eventually embodied in the 1944 Education Act
.
. The new king was wary of Lang, whom he had once admired. He now found him "rather ... accustomed to the company of princes and statesmen, more interested in the pursuit of prestige and power than the abstractions of the human soul".
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Lang believed that, as Prince of Wales, Edward had not always been wise in his choice of friends and acquaintances, whose standards Lang was later to condemn as "alien to all the best instincts and traditions of his people". The archbishop had been aware for some time of the king's relationship with the American Wallis Simpson, then married to her second husband Ernest Simpson. During the summer of 1936 it became clear that the king intended to marry Mrs. Simpson either before or shortly after his impending coronation, depending on the timing of her divorce from Simpson. Lang agonised over whether he could, with good conscience, administer the Coronation Oath to the king in such circumstances, bearing in mind the Church's teaching on marriage. He confided to his diary his hopes that circumstances might change, or that he might be able to persuade the king to reconsider his actions, but the king refused to meet him. Lang, however, kept close contact with the king's mother, Queen Mary
, the prime minister and the king's private secretary. The king believed that Lang's influence was strong, later recalling how from beginning to end he felt the archbishop's "shadowy, hovering presence" in the background.
The matter became public knowledge on 2 December 1936 when the Bishop of Bradford
made an indirect comment on the king's "need for Divine Grace". By then the king had unalterably decided that he would abdicate rather than give up Mrs Simpson. All attempts to dissuade him failed, and on 11 December he gave up his throne in favour of his brother, George VI
. Two days later Lang broadcast a speech, in which he said: From God he received a high and sacred trust. Yet by his own will he has ... surrendered the trust." The king's motive had been "a craving for private happiness" that he had sought "in a manner inconsistent with the Christian principles of marriage". The speech was widely condemned for its lack of charity towards the departed king and provoked another writer, Gerald Bullett
, to publish a satirical rhyme:
According to writer Compton Mackenzie
, the address "dealt a disastrous blow to religious feeling throughout the country". It
Lang did not disguise his relief that the crisis was over. He wrote of George VI: "I was now sure that to the solemn words of the Coronation there would now be a sincere response." On 12 May 1937, Lang crowned George VI with full pomp in Westminster Abbey
. It was the first coronation to be broadcast. Time magazine recorded: "All through the three-hour ceremony, the most important person there was not the King, his nobles or his ministers, but a hawk-nosed old gentleman with a cream-&-gold cope who stood on a dais as King George approached: The Rt. Hon. and Most Reverend Cosmo Gordon Lang, D.D.. Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England." Supposedly the archbishop fumbled with the Crown, but Lang himself was fully satisfied: "I can only be thankful to God's over-ruling Providence and trust that the Coronation may not be a mere dream of the past, but that its memories and lessons will not be forgotten."
signed jointly with Temple and Cardinal Hinsley
, Lang expressed support for the pope's Five Peace Points initiative. Lang was sympathetic to the Sword of the Spirit
campaign, founded by Cardinal Hinsley
in 1940 to combat anti-democratic tendencies among Catholics. In May 1941 Lambeth Palace
, Lang's London home, was hit by bombs and made uninhabitable.
After Germany's attack on Russia in June 1941, Lang said that the Russians must now be regarded as allies, without forgetting or condoning the excesses of the past. His relations with Winston Churchill
, prime minister since May 1940, were difficult because "he [Churchill] knows nothing about the Church, its life, its needs or its personnel". There was therefore "uncertainty as to what motives or how much knowledge may determine his decisions [on Church matters]".
On his retirement Lang was raised to the peerage
as Baron Lang of Lambeth in the County of Surrey. He was thus able to remain in the House of Lords, where he attended regularly and contributed to debates. He worried about money, despite a pension of £1,500 per year (approximately £ as of ), a large rent-free house at Kew
, and some generous cash gifts from well-wishers. In 1943 he spoke in the House of Lords in support of the Beveridge Report
on social insurance, and on 9 February 1944 he reiterated his earlier opposition to obliteration bombing. In October 1944 Lang was greatly distressed by the sudden death of William Temple, his successor at Canterbury, writing: "I don't like to think of the loss to the Church and Nation ... But 'God knows and God reigns'."
On 5 December 1945 Lang was due to speak in a Lords debate on conditions in Central Europe. On his way to Kew Gardens station to catch the London train, he collapsed and was taken to hospital, but was found to be dead on arrival. A post-mortem attributed the death to heart failure. In paying tribute the following day, Lord Addison
said that Lang was "not only a great cleric but a great man ... we have lost in him a Father in God." His body was cremated and the ashes taken to the Chapel of St Stephen Martyr in Canterbury Cathedral
. The probate
value of Lang's estate was £29,541 (approximately £ as of ).
Although Lang was an archbishop in England for longer than anyone else in recent times, Hastings says that "of no other is it so hard to address his true significance". According to biographer Lockhart he was a complex character in whom "a jangle of warring personalities ... never reached agreement among themselves." Lockhart writes that while Lang's many years of high office saw progress in the cause of Christian reunion, the mark he left on the Church was relatively small; many believed it could have been larger and deeper. While Lang's oratorical and administrative gifts were beyond doubt, Hastings nevertheless claims that as Archbishop of Canterbury, Lang displayed no effective leadership or guidance, turning away from reform and content to be the "final sentinel to the ancien régime". Wilkinson says that Lang dealt conscientiously with problems as they arose, but without any overall strategy.
In Hastings's view, Lang was probably more sympathetic to Rome than any Church of England archbishop of modern times, responsible for a discreet catholicisation of the Church of England's practices. A small outward indication of this was his decision to use a cassock
as everyday dress and to wear a mitre
on formal occasions, the first archbishop since the English Reformation
to do so. However, Lang believed that in relation to the supreme truths of the church, rituals and dress were of small account, but that if people's worship was assisted by such customs they should be allowed.
Despite Lang's long involvement with the poorest of society, after becoming Archbishop of York he increasingly detached himself from everyday life. The historian Tom Buchanan wrote that Lang's sympathy with ordinary people was replaced by "an upper class affectation and a delight in the high society in which his office allowed him to move". No archbishop has been as close as Lang to the Royal Family; a Channel Four television history of the British monarchy maintained that Lang "held a view of Christianity in which the monarchy, rather than the cross, stood centre stage as the symbol of the nation's faith". Successive generations of the Royal Family considered him their friend and honoured him. King George V appointed him to the largely ceremonial post of Lord High Almoner, and after the 1937 Coronation George VI created him a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), a rare honour which, like the Royal Victorian Chain, lay in the private gift of the Sovereign. A friend, commenting on the transformation of Lang's perspective, said of him: "He might have been Cardinal Wolsey or St Francis of Assisi, and he chose to be Cardinal Wolsey."
Lang also received numerous honorary doctorates
from British universities. His portrait was painted many times; after sitting for Sir William Orpen
in 1924, Lang reportedly remarked to Bishop Hensley Henson of Durham that the portrait showed him as "proud, prelatical and pompous". Henson's recorded reply was "To which of these epithets does Your Grace take exception?"
At an early stage in his priesthood Lang decided to lead a celibate life. He had no objection to the institution of marriage, but felt that his own work would be hindered by domesticity. Years after Lang's death, his sexual orientation was questioned; journalist Michael Gove
and historian David Starkey
suggested that Lang was a repressed homosexual. He had close friendships with colleagues such as Dick Sheppard, and with Wilfrid Parker
, his one-time Domestic Chaplain to whom he wrote admitting his personal loneliness, and of his need for "someone in daily nearness to love". However, he clearly enjoyed the company of women and confessed in 1928, after a visit to the Rowntree's
chocolate factory, that the sight of the girls there had "stirred up all the instincts of my youth ... very little subdued by the passage of years".
George Bell, the Bishop of Chichester
who had earlier praised Lang's work for church unity, said that Lang's failure to take a lead after the Prayer Book rejection of 1928 meant that the Church of England had been unable to revise its forms of worship or take any effective control of its own affairs. Others, however, have argued that Lang's laissez-faire approach to the Prayer Book controversy helped to defuse a potentially explosive situation, and contributed to an eventual solution. Lang himself was gloomy about his legacy; he believed that since he had not led his country back into an Age of Faith, or marked his primacy with a great historical act, he had failed to live up to his own high standard. Others have judged him more charitably, praising his industry, his administrative ability and his devotion to duty.
in the 2010 film The King's Speech.
Royal Victorian Order
The Royal Victorian Order is a dynastic order of knighthood and a house order of chivalry recognising distinguished personal service to the order's Sovereign, the reigning monarch of the Commonwealth realms, any members of her family, or any of her viceroys...
PC (known as Cosmo; 31 October 1864 – 5 December 1945) was an Anglican
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
prelate
Prelate
A prelate is a high-ranking member of the clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin prælatus, the past participle of præferre, which means "carry before", "be set above or over" or "prefer"; hence, a prelate is one set over others.-Related...
who served as Archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...
(1908–1928) and Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
(1928–1942). His rapid elevation to Archbishop of York, within 18 years of his ordination
Ordination
In general religious use, ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart as clergy to perform various religious rites and ceremonies. The process and ceremonies of ordination itself varies by religion and denomination. One who is in preparation for, or who is...
, is unprecedented in modern Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
history. As Archbishop of Canterbury during the abdication crisis of 1936, he took a strong moral stance and comments he made in a subsequent broadcast were widely condemned as uncharitable towards the departed king.
The son of a Scots Presbyterian
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
minister, Lang abandoned the prospect of a legal and political career to train for the Anglican priesthood
Anglican ministry
The Anglican ministry is both the leadership and agency of Christian service in the Anglican Communion. "Ministry" commonly refers to the office of ordained clergy: the threefold order of bishops, priests and deacons. More accurately, Anglican ministry includes many laypeople who devote themselves...
. Beginning in 1890, his early ministry was served in slum parishes in Leeds
Leeds
Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...
and Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, except for brief service as an Oxford college chaplain. In 1901 he was appointed suffragan
Suffragan bishop
A suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop. He or she may be assigned to an area which does not have a cathedral of its own.-Anglican Communion:...
Bishop of Stepney
Bishop of Stepney
The Bishop of Stepney is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Stepney, an inner-city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets...
in London, where he continued his work among the poor. He also served as a canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
of St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
, London.
In 1908 Lang was nominated as Archbishop of York, despite his relatively junior status as a suffragan rather than a diocesan
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
bishop. His religious stance was broadly Anglo-Catholic, tempered by the liberal Anglo-Catholicism
Liberal Anglo-Catholicism
The terms liberal Anglo-Catholicism and liberal Anglo-Catholic refer to people, beliefs and practices within Anglicanism that affirm liberal Christian perspectives while maintaining the traditions culturally associated with Anglo-Catholicism...
advocated in the Lux Mundi
Lux mundi
Lux Mundi: A series of Studies in the Religion of the Incarnation is a collection of 12 essays from liberal Anglo-Catholic theologians and edited by the future Bishop of Oxford, Charles Gore, in 1889....
essays. He entered the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
as a Lord Spiritual
Lords Spiritual
The Lords Spiritual of the United Kingdom, also called Spiritual Peers, are the 26 bishops of the established Church of England who serve in the House of Lords along with the Lords Temporal. The Church of Scotland, which is Presbyterian, is not represented by spiritual peers...
and caused consternation in traditionalist circles by speaking and voting against the Lords' proposal to reject David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George
David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor OM, PC was a British Liberal politician and statesman...
's 1909 "People's Budget
People's Budget
The 1909 People's Budget was a product of then British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith's Liberal government, introducing many unprecedented taxes on the wealthy and radical social welfare programmes to Britain's political life...
". This apparent radicalism was not, however, maintained in later years. At the start of the First World War, Lang was heavily criticised for a speech in which he spoke sympathetically of the German Emperor. This troubled him greatly and may have contributed to the rapid ageing which affected his appearance during the war years. After the war he began to promote church unity and at the 1920 Lambeth Conference was responsible for the Church's Appeal to All Christian People. As Archbishop of York he supported controversial proposals for the revision of the Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
but, after acceding to Canterbury, he took no practical steps to resolve this issue.
Lang became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1928. He presided over the 1930 Lambeth Conference
Lambeth Conferences
The Lambeth Conferences are decennial assemblies of bishops of the Anglican Communion convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The first such conference took place in 1867....
, which gave limited church approval to the use of contraception
Contraception
Contraception is the prevention of the fusion of gametes during or after sexual activity. The term contraception is a contraction of contra, which means against, and the word conception, meaning fertilization...
. After denouncing the Italian invasion
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...
of Abyssinia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
in 1935 and strongly condemning European anti-semitism
Anti-Semitism
Antisemitism is suspicion of, hatred toward, or discrimination against Jews for reasons connected to their Jewish heritage. According to a 2005 U.S...
, Lang later supported the appeasement policies of the British government. On retirement in 1942 he was raised to the peerage as Baron Lang of Lambeth and continued to attend and speak in House of Lords debates until his death in 1945. Lang himself believed that he had not lived up to his own high standards. Others, however, have praised his qualities of industry, his efficiency and his commitment to his calling.
Childhood and family
Manse
A manse is a house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or United Church...
in Fyvie
Fyvie
Fyvie is a village in the Formartine area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.-Fyvie Castle:Fyvie Castle is reputed to have been built by King William the Lyon in the early thirteenth century...
, Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
, the third son of the local Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
minister, the Reverend John Marshall Lang
John Marshall Lang
John Marshall Lang CVO was a Church of Scotland minister and author.He was born into an eminent ecclesiastical family on 14 May 1834 and educated at Glasgow University. He was Minister at Aberdeen, Fyvie, Glasgow and Edinburgh. He was Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland...
, and his wife Hannah Agnes Lang. Cosmo was baptised at Fyvie church by a neighbouring minister, the name "William" being added inadvertently to his given names, perhaps because the local laird
Laird
A Laird is a member of the gentry and is a heritable title in Scotland. In the non-peerage table of precedence, a Laird ranks below a Baron and above an Esquire.-Etymology:...
was called William Cosmo Gordon. The additional name was rarely used subsequently. In January 1865 the family moved to Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
on John Lang's appointment as a minister in the Anderston
Anderston
Anderston is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow. It is on the north bank of the River Clyde and extends to the western edge of the city centre...
district. Subsequent moves followed: in 1868 to Morningside
Morningside, Edinburgh
Morningside is a district in the south-west of Edinburgh, Scotland. It is south of the areas of Bruntsfield, Burghmuirhead ; south-west of Marchmont, and south-east of Merchiston...
, Edinburgh and, in 1873, back to Glasgow when John Lang was appointed minister to the historic Barony Church.
In Glasgow, Lang attended the Park School, a day establishment where he won a prize for an essay on English literature and played the occasional game of football; otherwise, he recorded, "I was never greatly interested in [the school's] proceedings." Holidays were spent in different parts of Scotland, most notably in Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
to which, later in life, Lang would frequently return. In 1878, at the age of 14, Lang sat and passed his matriculation
Matriculation
Matriculation, in the broadest sense, means to be registered or added to a list, from the Latin matricula – little list. In Scottish heraldry, for instance, a matriculation is a registration of armorial bearings...
examinations. Despite his youth, he began his studies at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
that autumn.
University of Glasgow
At the university some of the leading academics in Scotland were among Lang's tutors: the Greek scholar Richard Claverhouse JebbRichard Claverhouse Jebb
Sir Richard Claverhouse Jebb, OM, FBA was a British classical scholar and politician.He was born in Dundee, Scotland. His father was a well-known barrister, and his grandfather a judge...
, the physicist William Thomson (who was later created Lord Kelvin) and the philosopher Edward Caird
Edward Caird
Edward Caird FRSE was a Scottish philosopher and younger brother of the theologian John Caird.He was the son of engineer John Caird, the proprietor of Caird & Company,...
. Long afterwards Lang commented on the inability of some of these eminent figures to handle "the Scottish boors who formed a large part of their classes". Lang was most strongly influenced by Caird, who gave the boy's mind "its first real awakening". Lang recalled how, in a revelation as he was passing through Kelvingrove Park
Kelvingrove Park
Kelvingrove Park is a public park located on the River Kelvin in the West End of the city of Glasgow, Scotland, containing the world-famous Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum.-History:...
, he expressed aloud his sudden conviction that: "The Universe is one and its Unity and Ultimate Reality is God!" He acknowledged that his greatest failure at the University was his inability to make any progress in his understanding of mathematics, "to me, then and always, unintelligible".
In 1881 Lang made his first trip outside Scotland, to London where he heard the theologian and orator Henry Parry Liddon
Henry Parry Liddon
Henry Parry Liddon was an English theologian.- Biography :The son of a naval captain, he was born at North Stoneham, near Eastleigh, Hampshire. He was educated at King's College School, and at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated, taking a second class, in 1850...
preach in St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...
. He also heard William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone
William Ewart Gladstone FRS FSS was a British Liberal statesman. In a career lasting over sixty years, he served as Prime Minister four separate times , more than any other person. Gladstone was also Britain's oldest Prime Minister, 84 years old when he resigned for the last time...
and Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
debating in the House of Commons. Later that year he travelled to Cambridge to stay with a friend who was studying there. A visit to King's College Chapel persuaded Lang that he should study at the College; the following January he sat and passed the entrance examination. However, when he discovered that as part of his degree studies he would be examined in mathematics, his enthusiasm disappeared. Instead, he applied to Balliol College, Oxford, and was accepted. In the summer of 1882 he ended his studies at Glasgow with a Master of Arts
Master of Arts (Scotland)
A Master of Arts in Scotland can refer to an undergraduate academic degree in humanities and social sciences awarded by the ancient universities of Scotland – the University of St Andrews, the University of Glasgow, the University of Aberdeen and the University of Edinburgh, while the University of...
degree, and was awarded prizes for essays on politics and church history.
Oxford
Oxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
, against the disestablishment
Disestablishmentarianism
Disestablishmentarianism today relates to the Church of England in the United Kingdom and related views on its establishment as an established church....
of the Church of Scotland, was warmly received; the chairman likened his oratory to that of the Ancient Greek statesman, Demosthenes
Demosthenes
Demosthenes was a prominent Greek statesman and orator of ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prowess and provide an insight into the politics and culture of ancient Greece during the 4th century BC. Demosthenes learned rhetoric by...
. He became the Union's president in the Trinity term
Trinity term
Trinity term is the name of the third and final term of Oxford University's and the University of Dublin's academic year. It runs from about mid April to about the end of June and is named after Trinity Sunday, which falls eight weeks after Easter, in May or June.At the University of Sydney, it was...
of 1883, and the following year was a co-founder of the Oxford University Dramatic Society
Oxford University Dramatic Society
The Oxford University Dramatic Society is the principal funding body and provider of theatrical services to the many independent student productions put on by students in Oxford, England...
(OUDS).
Although Lang considered himself forward-thinking, he joined and became secretary of the Canning Club, the university's principal Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
society. His contemporary Robert Cecil
Robert Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood
Edgar Algernon Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Viscount Cecil of Chelwood CH, PC, QC , known as Lord Robert Cecil from 1868 to 1923, was a lawyer, politician and diplomat in the United Kingdom...
recorded that Lang's "progressive" opinions were somewhat frowned upon by traditional Tories
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, who nevertheless respected his ability. Lang later assisted in the founding of the University settlement of Toynbee Hall
Toynbee Hall
Toynbee Hall is a building in Tower Hamlets, East London which is the home of a charity working to bridge the gap between people of all social and financial backgrounds, with a focus on eradicating poverty and promoting social inclusion....
, a mission to help the poor in the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
. He had been first drawn to this work in 1883, after listening to a sermon in St Mary's Church, Oxford, by Samuel Augustus Barnett
Samuel Augustus Barnett
Samuel Augustus Barnett was an Anglican clergyman and social reformer particularly associated with the establishment of the first university settlement, Toynbee Hall in east London in 1884....
, Vicar of Whitechapel. Barnett became the settlement's first leader, while Lang became one of its first undergraduate secretaries. He spent so much time on these duties that he was chided by the Master of Balliol, Benjamin Jowett
Benjamin Jowett
Benjamin Jowett was renowned as an influential tutor and administrative reformer in the University of Oxford, a theologian and translator of Plato. He was Master of Balliol College, Oxford.-Early career:...
, for neglecting his studies. In 1886 Lang graduated with first-class honours
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
in History; in October of that year he failed to secure a Fellowship of All Souls College, blaming his poor early scholastic training in Glasgow.
Towards ordination
William Robson, Baron Robson
William Snowdon Robson, Baron Robson PC was an English lawyer, judge and Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons in two periods between 1885 and 1910....
, a future Attorney-General, whose "vehement radicalism was an admirable stimulus and corrective to [Lang's] liberal Conservatism". During these years Lang was largely aloof from religion, but continued churchgoing out of what he termed "hereditary respect". He attended services at the nonconformist
Nonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
City Temple
City Temple (London)
City Temple Church is a church on Holborn Viaduct in London, most famous as the preaching place of 20th century liberal theologian Leslie Weatherhead.Other notable preachers include Thomas Goodwin and Joseph Parker....
church and sometimes went to St Paul's Cathedral. Of his life at that time he said: "I must confess that I played sometimes with those external temptations that our Christian London flaunts in the face of its young men."
In October 1888 Lang was elected to an All Souls Fellowship and began to divide his time between London and Oxford. Some of his Oxford friends were training for ordination and Lang was often drawn into their discussions. Eventually the question entered Lang's mind: "Why shouldn't you be ordained?" The thought persisted, and one Sunday evening in the spring of 1889, after a visit to the theological college at Cuddesdon, Lang attended evening service at the Cuddesdon parish church. By his own account, during the sermon he was gripped by "a masterful inward voice" which told him "You are wanted. You are called. You must obey." He immediately severed his connection with the Bar, renounced his political ambitions and applied for a place at Cuddesdon College. With the help of an All Souls contact, the essential step of his confirmation into the Church of England was supervised by the Bishop of Lincoln
Edward King (English bishop)
Edward King was an Anglican bishop.-Life:He was the second son of the Revd Walker King, Archdeacon of Rochester and rector of Stone, Kent, and grandson of the Revd Walker King, Bishop of Rochester; his nephew was the Revd Robert Stuart King, who played football for England in 1882.King graduated...
. Lang's decision to become an Anglican and seek ordination disappointed his Presbyterian father, who nevertheless wrote to his son: "What you think, prayerfully and solemnly, you ought to do – you must do – we will accept."
Leeds
After a year's study at CuddesdonRipon College Cuddesdon
Ripon College Cuddesdon is a Church of England theological college in Cuddesdon, a village outside Oxford, England.-History:Ripon College Cuddesdon was formed from an amalgamation in 1975 of Cuddesdon College and Ripon Hall...
, Lang was ordained as deacon
Deacon
Deacon is a ministry in the Christian Church that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions...
. He rejected an offer of the chaplaincy of All Souls as he wanted to be "up and doing" in a tough parish. Lang identified with the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England, in part, he admitted, as a reaction against his evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
upbringing in the Church of Scotland. His sympathies lay with the progressive wing of Anglo-Catholicism represented by the Lux Mundi
Lux mundi
Lux Mundi: A series of Studies in the Religion of the Incarnation is a collection of 12 essays from liberal Anglo-Catholic theologians and edited by the future Bishop of Oxford, Charles Gore, in 1889....
essays, published in 1888 by a group of forward-looking Oxford theologians. Among these was Edward Stuart Talbot
Edward Stuart Talbot
Edward Stuart Talbot was an Anglican bishop in the Church of England and the first Warden of Keble College, Oxford.-Education:...
, Warden of Keble
Keble College, Oxford
Keble College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its main buildings are on Parks Road, opposite the University Museum and the University Parks. The college is bordered to the north by Keble Road, to the south by Museum Road, and to the west by Blackhall...
, who in 1888 had become Vicar of Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church, or the Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, in Leeds, West Yorkshire is a large Church of England parish church of major architectural and liturgical significance. It has been designated a grade I listed building by English Heritage...
. Talbot had contributed the essay entitled "The Preparation for History in Christ" in Lux Mundi. Lang jumped at the offer of a curacy
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
under Talbot, and arrived in Leeds in the autumn of 1890.
Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church
Leeds Parish Church, or the Parish Church of Saint Peter-at-Leeds, in Leeds, West Yorkshire is a large Church of England parish church of major architectural and liturgical significance. It has been designated a grade I listed building by English Heritage...
, rebuilt and reconsecrated in 1841 after an elaborate ceremony, was of almost cathedral size, the centre of a huge parish ministered by many curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
s. Lang's district was the Kirkgate, one of the poorest areas, many of whose 2,000 inhabitants were prostitutes. Lang and his fellow curates fashioned a clergy house from a derelict public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
. He later moved next door, into a condemned property which became his home for his remaining service in Leeds. In addition to his normal parish duties, Lang acted temporarily as Principal of the Clergy School, was chaplain to Leeds Infirmary, and took charge of a men's club of around a hundred members. On 24 May 1891 he was ordained to full priesthood.
Lang continued to visit Oxford when time allowed and on a visit to All Souls in June 1893 he was offered the post of Dean of Divinity at Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
. Other offers were open to him; the Bishop of Newcastle
Bishop of Newcastle
The Bishop of Newcastle is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Newcastle in the Province of York.The diocese at present covers the County of Northumberland and the Alston Moor area of Cumbria...
wished to appoint him vicar of the cathedral church in Newcastle
Newcastle Cathedral
St Nicholas's Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. Its full title is The Cathedral Church of St Nicholas Newcastle upon Tyne...
and Benjamin Jowett wished him to return to Balliol as a tutor in theology. Lang chose Magdalen; the idea of being in charge of young men who might in the future achieve positions of responsibility was attractive to him and, in October 1893, with many regrets, he left Leeds.
Magdalen College
As Magdalen's Dean of Divinity ("college chaplain" in ordinary parlance), Lang had pastoral dutiesPastoral care
Pastoral care is the ministry of care and counseling provided by pastors, chaplains and other religious leaders to members of their church or congregation, or to persons of all faiths and none within institutional settings. This can range anywhere from home visitation to formal counseling provided...
with the college's undergraduates and responsibility for the chapel and its choir. Lang was delighted with this latter obligation; his concern for the purity of the choir's sound led him to request that visitors "join in the service silently". In 1894 Lang was asked to add to his workload by acting as Vicar of the University Church of St Mary the Virgin
University Church of St Mary the Virgin
The University Church of St Mary the Virgin is the largest of Oxford's parish churches and the centre from which the University of Oxford grew...
, where John Henry Newman had begun his Oxford ministry in 1828. The church had almost ceased to function when Lang took it over, but he revived regular services, chose preachers with care and slowly rebuilt the congregation. In December 1895 he was offered the post of Vicar of Portsea
Portsea
Portsea is an area of the English city of Portsmouth, located on Portsea Island, within the ceremonial county of Hampshire.The area was originally known as the Common and lay between the town of Portsmouth and the nearby Dockyard. The Common started to be developed at the end of the seventeenth...
, a large parish within Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
on the south coast, but he was not ready to leave Oxford and refused. Some months later he had further thoughts; the strain of his dual appointment in Oxford was beginning to tell and, he claimed, "the thought of this great parish [of Portsea] and work going a-begging troubled my conscience." After discovering that the Portsea offer was still open, he decided to accept, though with some misgiving.
Portsea
Portsea, covering much of the town of Portsmouth, was a dockside parish of around 40,000 inhabitants, with a mixture of housing ranging from neat terraces to squalid slums. The large, recently rebuilt church held more than 2,000 people. Lang arrived in June 1896, to lead a team of more than a dozen curates serving the five districts of the parish. He quickly resumed the kind of urban parish work he had carried out in Leeds; he founded a Sunday afternoon men's conference with 300 men and supervised the construction of a large conference hall as a centre for parish activities. He also pioneered the establishment of parochial church councils long before they were given legal status in 1919. Outside his normal parish duties, Lang served as chaplain to the local prison, and became acting chaplain to the 2nd Hampshire Royal ArtilleryRoyal Artillery
The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery , is the artillery arm of the British Army. Despite its name, it comprises a number of regiments.-History:...
Volunteer Corps.
Lang's relationship with his curates was generally formal. They were aware of his ambition and felt that he sometimes spent too much time on his outside interests such as his All Souls Fellowship, but were nevertheless impressed by his efficiency and his powers of oratory. Church historian Adrian Hastings singles out Portsea under Lang as an example of "extremely disciplined pastoral professionalism". Lang may have realised that he was destined for high office; he is reported to have practised the signature "Cosmo Cantuar" during a relaxed discussion with his curates ("Cantuar
Cantuar
Cantuar is a title that the Archbishop of Canterbury is legally permitted, in England, to use to sign his name as a substitute for the surname....
" is part of the Archbishop of Canterbury's formal signature). In January 1898 he was invited by Queen Victoria to preach at Osborne House
Osborne House
Osborne House is a former royal residence in East Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK. The house was built between 1845 and 1851 for Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as a summer home and rural retreat....
, her Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
home. Afterwards he talked with the Queen who, Lang records, suggested that he should marry. Lang replied that he could not afford to as his curates cost too much. He added: "If a curate proves unsatisfactory I can get rid of him. A wife is a fixture." He was summoned on several more occasions and in the following January was appointed an Honorary Chaplain to the Queen. These visits to Osborne were the start of a close association with the Royal Family which lasted for the rest of Lang's life. As one of the Queen's chaplains, he assisted in the funeral arrangements after her death in January 1901.
Bishop and canon
Suffragan bishop
A suffragan bishop is a bishop subordinate to a metropolitan bishop or diocesan bishop. He or she may be assigned to an area which does not have a cathedral of its own.-Anglican Communion:...
Bishop of Stepney
Bishop of Stepney
The Bishop of Stepney is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of London, in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after Stepney, an inner-city district in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets...
and a canon
Canon (priest)
A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....
of St Paul's Cathedral. These appointments reflected his growing reputation and recognised his successful ministry in working-class parishes. He was consecrated as bishop by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple
Frederick Temple
Frederick Temple was an English academic, teacher, churchman and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1896 until his death.-Early life:...
, in St Paul's Cathedral, on 1 May; his time would subsequently be divided, between his work in the Stepney region and his duties at St Paul's.
Stepney
Lang's region of Stepney within the Diocese of London extended over the whole area generally known as London's "East End"East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, with two million people in more than 200 parishes. Almost all were poor and housed in overcrowded and insanitary conditions. Lang knew something of the area from his undergraduate activities at Toynbee Hall and his conscience was troubled by the squalor that he saw as he travelled around the district, usually by bus and tram.
Lang's liberal conservatism enabled him to associate easily with Socialist leaders such as Will Crooks
Will Crooks
William Crooks was a noted trade unionist and politician from Poplar, London, and a member of the Fabian Society...
and George Lansbury
George Lansbury
George Lansbury was a British politician, socialist, Christian pacifist and newspaper editor. He was a Member of Parliament from 1910 to 1912 and from 1922 to 1940, and leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935....
, successive mayors of Poplar
Poplar, London
Poplar is a historic, mainly residential area of the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is about east of Charing Cross. Historically a hamlet in the parish of Stepney, Middlesex, in 1817 Poplar became a civil parish. In 1855 the Poplar District of the Metropolis was...
, incidentally bringing the latter back to regular communion. In 1905 he and Lansbury joined the Central London Unemployed Body, set up by the government to tackle the region's unemployment problems. That same year Lang took as his personal assistant a young Cambridge graduate and clergyman's son, Dick Sheppard
Hugh Richard Lawrie Sheppard
Hugh Richard Lawrie "Dick" Sheppard was an English Anglican priest, Dean of Canterbury and pacifist....
, who became a close friend and confidante. Sheppard was eventually ordained, becoming a radical clergyman and founder of the Peace Pledge Union
Peace Pledge Union
The Peace Pledge Union is a British pacifist non-governmental organization. It is open to everyone who can sign the PPU pledge: "I renounce war, and am therefore determined not to support any kind of war...
. Lang believed that socialism was a growing force in British life, and at a Church Congress
Church Congress
Church Congress is an annual meeting of members of the Church of England, lay and clerical, to discuss matters religious, moral or social, in which the church is interested...
in Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
in 1907 he speculated on how the Church should respond to this. His remarks reached The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, which warned that modern socialism was often equated with unrest, that "the cry of the demagogue is in the air" and that the Church should not heed this cry.
Much of the work in the district was supported by the East London Church Fund, established in 1880 to fund additional clergy and lay workers in the poorest districts. Lang preached in wealthier parishes throughout Southern England, and urged his listeners to contribute to the Fund. He also found time to revive his army ministry, and in 1907 was appointed Honorary Chaplain to the City of London Imperial Yeomanry (Rough Riders). He became chairman of the Church of England Men's Society (CEMS), which had been founded in 1899 by the merger of numerous organisations doing the same work. Initially he found it "a very sickly infant", but under his leadership it expanded rapidly, and soon had over 20,000 members in 600 branches. Later he became critical of the Church's failure to use this movement effectively, calling it one of the Church's lost opportunities.
St Paul's Cathedral
Lang's appointment as a canon of St Paul's Cathedral required him to spend three months annually as the canon in residence, with administrative and preaching duties. His preaching on Sunday afternoons caught the attention of William TempleWilliam Temple (archbishop)
William Temple was a priest in the Church of England. He served as Bishop of Manchester , Archbishop of York , and Archbishop of Canterbury ....
, Lang's future successor at both York and Canterbury, who was then an undergraduate at Oxford. Temple observed that, in contrast to the Bishop of London's sermons, listening to Lang brought on an intellectual rather than emotional pleasure: "I can remember all his points, just because their connexion is inevitable.... And for me, there is no doubt that this is the more edifying by far." Lang was a member of the cathedral's governing body, the Dean and Chapter, and was responsible for the organisation of special occasions, such as the service of thanksgiving for King Edward VII
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
Edward VII was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910...
's recovery in July 1902.
Appointment
In the autumn of 1908 Lang was informed of his election as Bishop of MontrealAnglican Diocese of Montreal
The Diocese of Montreal is a diocese of the Ecclesiastical Province of Canada of the Anglican Church of Canada, in turn a province of the Anglican Communion. The diocese comprises the 21,400 square kilometres encompassing the City and Island of Montreal, the Laurentians, the South Shore opposite...
. Letters from the Governor General of Canada
Governor General of Canada
The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...
and the Canadian High Commissioner urged him to accept, but the Archbishop of Canterbury asked him to refuse. A few weeks later a letter from Herbert Asquith, the prime minister, informed Lang that he had been nominated Archbishop of York. Lang was only 44 years old, and had no experience as a diocesan bishop. On the issue of age, the Church Times
Church Times
The Church Times is an independent Anglican weekly newspaper. It is published in the United Kingdom on Fridays.The Church Times was founded in 1863 to campaign for Anglo-Catholic principles and has always been independent of the Church of England hierarchy. It was a family concern The Church Times...
believed that Asquith deliberately recommended the youngest bishop available, after strong political lobbying for the appointment of the aged Bishop of Hereford
Bishop of Hereford
The Bishop of Hereford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury.The see is in the City of Hereford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Ethelbert which was founded as a cathedral in 676.The Bishop's residence is...
, John Percival
John Percival (bishop)
John Percival was the first Headmaster of Clifton College, where he made his reptutation as a great educator. In his 17 years at Clifton numbers rose from 62 to 680. He accepted the Presidency of Trinity College, Oxford to recover from his exhaustive years at Clifton...
. Such a promotion for a suffragan, and within so short a period after ordination, was without recent precedent in the Church of England. Lang's friend Hensley Henson, a future Bishop of Durham, wrote: "I am, of course, surprised that you go straight to an archbishopric ... But you are too meteoric for precedent." The appointment was generally well received, although the Protestant Truth Society
Protestant Truth Society
The Protestant Truth Society is a charity and campaigning organisation that seeks to promote the Protestant faith in the UK, both in spiritual and doctrinal matters, and in the way that the country is governed...
sought in vain to prevent its confirmation. Strong opponents of Anglo-Catholic practices, they maintained that as Bishop of Stepney Lang had "connived at and encouraged flagrant breaking of the law relating to church ritual".
First years
Lang was enthroned at York MinsterYork Minster
York Minster is a Gothic cathedral in York, England and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe alongside Cologne Cathedral. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the cathedral for the Diocese of York; it is run by...
on 25 January 1909. In 18 years since ordination he had risen to the second-highest position in the Church of England. In addition to his diocesan responsibilities for York itself, he became head of the entire Northern Province
Province of York
The Province of York is one of two ecclesiastical provinces making up the Church of England, and consists of 14 dioceses which cover the northern third of England and the Isle of Man. York was elevated to an Archbishopric in 735 AD: Ecgbert of York was the first archbishop...
, and a member of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. Believing that the Diocese of York
Diocese of York
The Diocese of York is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. It covers the city of York, the eastern part of North Yorkshire, and most of the East Riding of Yorkshire....
was too large, he proposed reducing it by forming a new Diocese of Sheffield
Diocese of Sheffield
The Diocese of Sheffield is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York.The Diocese of Sheffield was formed on January 23, 1914, by the division from the Diocese of York...
, which after several years' work was inaugurated at Pentecost
Pentecost
Pentecost is a prominent feast in the calendar of Ancient Israel celebrating the giving of the Law on Sinai, and also later in the Christian liturgical year commemorating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples of Christ after the Resurrection of Jesus...
, 1914. In the years following his appointment, Lang spoke out on a range of social and economic issues, and in support of improved working conditions. After taking his seat in the House of Lords in February 1909, he made his maiden speech in November in the debate on the controversial People's Budget
People's Budget
The 1909 People's Budget was a product of then British Prime Minister H. H. Asquith's Liberal government, introducing many unprecedented taxes on the wealthy and radical social welfare programmes to Britain's political life...
, advising the Lords against their intention to reject this measure. He cast his first Lords vote against rejection, because he was "deeply convinced of the unwisdom of the course the Lords proposed to take". Although his speech was received with respect, Lang's stance was politely reproved by the leading Conservative peer Lord Curzon.
Despite this seemingly progressive approach, Lang's instincts remained conservative. He voted against the 1914 Irish Home Rule Bill
Home Rule Act 1914
The Government of Ireland Act 1914 , also known as the Third Home Rule Bill, was an Act passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom intended to provide self-government for Ireland within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.The Act was the first law ever passed by the Parliament of...
and opposed liberalisation of the divorce laws. After playing a prominent role in King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
's coronation in 1911, Lang became increasingly close to the Royal Family, an association which drew the comment that he was "more courtier than cleric". His love of ceremony, and concern for how an archbishop should look and live, began to obscure other aspects of his ministry; rather than assuming the role of the people's prelate he began, in the words of biographer Alan Wilkinson, to act as a "prince of the church".
First World War
When war broke out in August 1914, Lang concluded that the conflict was righteous. Younger clergy should be encouraged to serve as military chaplains, but it was not their duty to fight. He thereafter was active in recruiting campaigns throughout his province. At a meeting in York in November 1914 he caused offence when he spoke out against excessive anti-German propaganda, and recalled a "sacred memory" of the Kaiser kneeling with King Edward VII at the bier of Queen Victoria. These remarks, perceived as pro-German, produced what Lang termed "a perfect hail of denunciation". The strain of this period, coupled with the onset of alopeciaAlopecia
Alopecia means loss of hair from the head or body. Alopecia can mean baldness, a term generally reserved for pattern alopecia or androgenic alopecia. Compulsive pulling of hair can also produce hair loss. Hairstyling routines such as tight ponytails or braids may induce Traction alopecia. Both...
, drastically altered Lang's relatively youthful appearance to that of a bald and elderly-looking man. His friends were shocked; the king, meeting him on the Royal train, apparently burst into guffaws of laughter.
Public hostility against Lang was slow to subside, re-emerging from time to time throughout the war. However, Lang continued his contribution to the war effort, paying visits to the Grand Fleet and to the Western Front
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
. He applied all his organisational skills to the Archbishop of Canterbury's National Mission of Repentance and Hope, an initiative designed to renew Christian faith nationwide, but it failed to make a significant impact.
As a result of the Battle of Jerusalem
Battle of Jerusalem (1917)
The Battle of Jerusalem developed from 17 November with fighting continuing until 30 December 1917 during the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of World War I...
of December 1917, the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
's Egyptian Expeditionary Force
Egyptian Expeditionary Force
The Egyptian Expeditionary Force was formed in March 1916 to command the British and British Empire military forces in Egypt during World War I. Originally known as the 'Force in Egypt' it had been commanded by General Maxwell who was recalled to England...
captured the Holy City, bringing it under Christian control for the first time since the Crusades
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
. As Prelate of the Venerable Order of Saint John
Venerable Order of Saint John
The Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem , is a royal order of chivalry established in 1831 and found today throughout the Commonwealth of Nations, Hong Kong, Ireland and the United States of America, with the world-wide mission "to prevent and relieve sickness and...
, Lang led a service of celebration on 11 January 1918 at the Order's Grand Priory Church, Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington. From 1900 to 1965 it was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance...
. He explained that it was 917 years since the Order's hospital
Knights Hospitaller
The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta , also known as the Sovereign Military Order of Malta , Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Roman Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalrous, noble nature. It is the world's...
had been founded in Jerusalem, and 730 years since they were driven out by Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
. "London is the city of the Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
's commerce, but Jerusalem is the city of the soul, and it is particularly fitting that British Armies
British Armed Forces
The British Armed Forces are the armed forces of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Also known as Her Majesty's Armed Forces and sometimes legally the Armed Forces of the Crown, the British Armed Forces encompasses three professional uniformed services, the Royal Navy, the...
should have delivered it out of the hands of the infidel
Infidel
An infidel is one who has no religious beliefs, or who doubts or rejects the central tenets of a particular religion – especially in reference to Christianity or Islam....
."
Early in 1918, at the invitation of the Episcopal Church of the United States
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
, he made a goodwill visit to America, praising the extent and willingness of America's participation in the war. The Westminster Gazette called this "one of the most moving and memorable visits ever paid by an Englishman to the United States".
Postwar years
Episcopal polity
Episcopal polity is a form of church governance that is hierarchical in structure with the chief authority over a local Christian church resting in a bishop...
and non-episcopal churches, and the initiative was allowed to lapse. Historically, however, the Appeal is considered the starting-point for the more successful ecumenical
Ecumenism
Ecumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
efforts of later generations.
Lang was supportive of the Malines Conversations
Malines Conversations
The Malines Conversations were a series of informal discussions exploring possibilities of corporate reunion between the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England.-History:...
of 1921–26, though not directly involved. These were informal meetings between leading British Anglo-Catholics and reform-minded European Roman Catholics, exploring the possibility of reuniting the Anglican and Roman communions. Although the discussions had the blessing of Randall Davidson, the Archbishop of Canterbury, many Anglican evangelicals
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
were alarmed by them. Ultimately, the talks foundered on the entrenched opposition of the Catholic ultramontane
Ultramontanism
Ultramontanism is a religious philosophy within the Roman Catholic community that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope...
s. A by-product of these conversations may have been the awakening of opposition to the revision of the Anglican Prayer Book
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
. The focus of this revision, which Lang supported, was to make concessions to Anglo-Catholic rituals and practices in the Anglican services. The new Prayer Book was overwhelmingly approved by the Church's main legislative body, the Church Assembly
General Synod of the Church of England
The General Synod is the deliberative and legislative body of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church of England that had started in the 1850s.- Church Assembly: 1919...
, and by the House of Lords. However, partly through the advocacy of the fervently evangelical Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
, Sir William Joynson-Hicks, the revision was twice defeated in the House of Commons, in December 1927 by 238 votes to 205 and, in June 1928, by 266–220. Lang was deeply disappointed, writing that "the gusts of Protestant convictions, suspicions, fears [and] prejudices swept through the House, and ultimately prevailed."
On 26 April 1923, King George V awarded Lang the Royal Victorian Chain
Royal Victorian Chain
The Royal Victorian Chain is an award, instituted in 1902 by King Edward VII as a personal award of the Monarch...
, an honour in the personal gift of the Sovereign After the marriage of the Duke of York in 1923, Lang formed a friendship with the Duchess, which lasted for the rest of Lang's life. In 1926 he baptised Princess Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth II, in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
. In January 1927 Lang took centre-stage in the elaborate ceremonies which marked the 1,300th anniversary of the founding of York Minster.
In office
Archbishop Davidson resigned in July 1928 and is believed to be the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the line from AugustineAugustine of Canterbury
Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597...
to leave office through voluntary retirement. On 26 July, Lang was notified by the prime minister, Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin
Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, KG, PC was a British Conservative politician, who dominated the government in his country between the two world wars...
, that he would be the successor; William Temple would succeed Lang at York. Lang was enthroned as the new Archbishop of Canterbury on 4 December 1928, the first bachelor to hold the appointment in 150 years. A contemporary Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine article described Lang as "forthright and voluble" and as looking "like George Washington". Lang's first three years at Canterbury were marked by intermittent illnesses, which required periods of convalesecence away from his duties. After 1932, however, he "had almost unbroken health" for the rest of his life.
Old Catholic Church
The term Old Catholic Church is commonly used to describe a number of Ultrajectine Christian churches that originated with groups that split from the Roman Catholic Church over certain doctrines, most importantly that of Papal Infallibility...
, although again no agreement could be reached with the non-episcopal Free Churches. On an issue of greater concern to ordinary people, the Conference gave limited approval, for the first time, to the use of contraceptive devices, an issue in which Lang had no interest. Through the 1930s Lang continued to work for Church unity. In 1933 the Church of England assembly formed a Council on Foreign Relations and, in the following years, numerous exchange visits with Orthodox delegations took place, a process only halted by the outbreak of war. Lang's 1939 visit to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is regarded as the high point of his ecumenical record. George Bell, Bishop of Chichester
George Bell (bishop)
George Kennedy Allen Bell was an Anglican theologian, Dean of Canterbury, Bishop of Chichester, member of the House of Lords and a pioneer of the Ecumenical Movement.-Early career:...
, maintained that no one in the Anglican Communion did more than Lang to promote the unity movement.
In 1935, Lang's brother, Marshall B. Lang, a minister of the Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
, became Moderator of the General Assembly
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
The Moderator of the General Assembly of Church of Scotland is a Minister, Elder or Deacon of the Church of Scotland chosen to "moderate" the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every May....
for the year. The two thus became the first brothers to lead the Church of England and the Church of Scotland.
The 1937 Oxford Conference on Church and Society, which later gave birth to the World Council of Churches
World Council of Churches
The World Council of Churches is a worldwide fellowship of 349 global, regional and sub-regional, national and local churches seeking unity, a common witness and Christian service. It is a Christian ecumenical organization that is based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland...
, produced what was according to church historian Adrian Hastings "the most serious approach to the problems of society that the Church had yet managed", but without Lang's close involvement. By this time Lang's identification with the poor had largely vanished, as had his interest in social reform. In the Church Assembly his closest ally was the aristocratic Lord Hugh Cecil; Hastings maintains that the Church of England in the 1930s was controlled "less by Lang and Temple in tandem than by Lang and Hugh Cecil". However, Lang got on well with Hewlett Johnson
Hewlett Johnson
The Very Reverend Hewlett Johnson , was an English clergyman, Dean of Manchester and later Dean of Canterbury, where he acquired his nickname The Red Dean of Canterbury for his unyielding support for the Soviet Union and its allies.-Life:Born in Manchester, the third son of Charles Johnson, a wire...
, the communist priest who was appointed Dean of Canterbury
Dean of Canterbury
The Dean of Canterbury is the head of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Christ Church, Canterbury, England. The office of dean originated after the English Reformation, and its precursor office was the prior of the cathedral-monastery...
in 1931.
International and domestic politics
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. He also denounced the anti-semitic policies of the German government, and he took private steps to help European Jews. In 1933, having commented on the "noble task" of assisting India towards independence, he was appointed to the Joint Committee on the Indian Constitution. He condemned the Italian invasion of Abyssinia in 1935, appealing for medical supplies to be sent to the Abyssinian troops. However, as the threat of war increased later in the decade, Lang became a strong supporter of the government's policy of appeasing the European dictators, declaring the Sunday after the Munich Agreement
Munich Agreement
The Munich Pact was an agreement permitting the Nazi German annexation of Czechoslovakia's Sudetenland. The Sudetenland were areas along Czech borders, mainly inhabited by ethnic Germans. The agreement was negotiated at a conference held in Munich, Germany, among the major powers of Europe without...
of September 1938 to be a day of thanksgivings for the "sudden lifting of this cloud". Earlier that year, contrary to his former stance, he had supported the Anglo-Italian agreement to recognise the conquest of Abyssinia, because he believed that "an increase of appeasement" was necessary to avoid the threat of war. Lang also backed the government's non-intervention policy in regard to the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, saying that there were no clear issues that required the taking of sides. He did, however, condemn the German bombing of Guernica
Bombing of Guernica
The bombing of Guernica was an aerial attack on the Basque town of Guernica, Spain, causing widespread destruction and civilian deaths, during the Spanish Civil War...
, saying: "Who can think without horror of what another widespread war would mean, waged as it would be with all the new weapons of mass destruction?"
On the domestic front, Lang supported campaigns for the abolition of the death penalty. He upheld the right of the Church to refuse the remarriage of divorced persons within its buildings, but he did not directly oppose A.P. Herbert's Matrimonial Causes Bill of 1937, which liberalised the divorce laws – Lang believed "it was no longer possible to impose the full Christian standard by law on a largely non-Christian population." He drew criticism for his opposition to the reform of the ancient tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
system, whereby many farmers paid a proportion of their income to the Church; in the subsequent "Tithe Wars", demonstrators at Ashford, Kent
Ashford, Kent
Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...
ceremonially burned his effigy.
Near the end of his term in office Lang led a deputation from several church groups to the Ministry of Education
Ministry of Education (United Kingdom)
The administration of education policy in the United Kingdom began in the 19th century. Official mandation of education began with the Elementary Education Act 1870 for England and Wales, and the Education Act 1872 for Scotland...
, to present a five-point plan for the teaching of religion in state schools. These points were eventually embodied in the 1944 Education Act
Education Act 1944
The Education Act 1944 changed the education system for secondary schools in England and Wales. This Act, commonly named after the Conservative politician R.A...
.
Abdication crisis
Lang was responsible for drafting King George V's silver jubilee broadcast message in 1935, and the king's last two Christmas messages. However, this closeness to the throne was not maintained when the king died in January 1936 and was succeeded by his son, Edward VIIIEdward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
. The new king was wary of Lang, whom he had once admired. He now found him "rather ... accustomed to the company of princes and statesmen, more interested in the pursuit of prestige and power than the abstractions of the human soul".
Mary of Teck
Mary of Teck was the queen consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, as the wife of King-Emperor George V....
, the prime minister and the king's private secretary. The king believed that Lang's influence was strong, later recalling how from beginning to end he felt the archbishop's "shadowy, hovering presence" in the background.
The matter became public knowledge on 2 December 1936 when the Bishop of Bradford
Bishop of Bradford
The Bishop of Bradford is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Bradford, in the Province of YorkThe diocese covers the extreme west of Yorkshire, and has its see in the city of Bradford where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter.The Bishop's residence is...
made an indirect comment on the king's "need for Divine Grace". By then the king had unalterably decided that he would abdicate rather than give up Mrs Simpson. All attempts to dissuade him failed, and on 11 December he gave up his throne in favour of his brother, George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
. Two days later Lang broadcast a speech, in which he said: From God he received a high and sacred trust. Yet by his own will he has ... surrendered the trust." The king's motive had been "a craving for private happiness" that he had sought "in a manner inconsistent with the Christian principles of marriage". The speech was widely condemned for its lack of charity towards the departed king and provoked another writer, Gerald Bullett
Gerald Bullett
Gerald William Bullett was a British man of letters. He was known as a novelist, essayist, short story writer, critic and poet. He wrote both supernatural fiction and some children's literature....
, to publish a satirical rhyme:
My Lord Archbishop, what a scold you are!
And when your man is down, how bold you are!
Of charity how oddly scant you are!
How Lang O Lord, how full of Cantuar!
According to writer Compton Mackenzie
Compton Mackenzie
Sir Compton Mackenzie, OBE was a writer and a Scottish nationalist.-Background:Compton Mackenzie was born in West Hartlepool, England, into a theatrical family of Mackenzies, but many of whose members used Compton as their stage surname, starting with his grandfather Henry Compton, a well-known...
, the address "dealt a disastrous blow to religious feeling throughout the country". It
Lang did not disguise his relief that the crisis was over. He wrote of George VI: "I was now sure that to the solemn words of the Coronation there would now be a sincere response." On 12 May 1937, Lang crowned George VI with full pomp in Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
. It was the first coronation to be broadcast. Time magazine recorded: "All through the three-hour ceremony, the most important person there was not the King, his nobles or his ministers, but a hawk-nosed old gentleman with a cream-&-gold cope who stood on a dais as King George approached: The Rt. Hon. and Most Reverend Cosmo Gordon Lang, D.D.. Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England." Supposedly the archbishop fumbled with the Crown, but Lang himself was fully satisfied: "I can only be thankful to God's over-ruling Providence and trust that the Coronation may not be a mere dream of the past, but that its memories and lessons will not be forgotten."
War
When the Second World War began in September 1939, Lang saw his main duty as the preservation of spiritual values during what he deemed to be an honourable conflict. He opposed strategies such as indiscriminate bombing, and on 21 December 1940, in a letter to The TimesThe Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
signed jointly with Temple and Cardinal Hinsley
Arthur Hinsley
Arthur Hinsley was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1935 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1937.-Biography:...
, Lang expressed support for the pope's Five Peace Points initiative. Lang was sympathetic to the Sword of the Spirit
Sword of the Spirit
Sword of the Spirit was a forerunner of the Catholic Institute of International Relations, now Progressio, founded by Cardinal Hinsley in August 1940...
campaign, founded by Cardinal Hinsley
Arthur Hinsley
Arthur Hinsley was an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Westminster from 1935 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1937.-Biography:...
in 1940 to combat anti-democratic tendencies among Catholics. In May 1941 Lambeth Palace
Lambeth Palace
Lambeth Palace is the official London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury in England. It is located in Lambeth, on the south bank of the River Thames a short distance upstream of the Palace of Westminster on the opposite shore. It was acquired by the archbishopric around 1200...
, Lang's London home, was hit by bombs and made uninhabitable.
After Germany's attack on Russia in June 1941, Lang said that the Russians must now be regarded as allies, without forgetting or condoning the excesses of the past. His relations with Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, prime minister since May 1940, were difficult because "he [Churchill] knows nothing about the Church, its life, its needs or its personnel". There was therefore "uncertainty as to what motives or how much knowledge may determine his decisions [on Church matters]".
Retirement and death
Throughout the summer of 1941 Lang considered retirement. His main concern was that a Lambeth Conference – "perhaps the most fateful Lambeth Conference ever held" – would need to be called soon after the war. Lang felt that he would be too old to lead it and that he should make way for a younger man, preferably William Temple. On 27 November he informed the prime minister, Winston Churchill, of his decision to retire on 31 March 1942. His last official act in office, on 28 March, was the confirmation of Princess Elizabeth.On his retirement Lang was raised to the peerage
Peerage of the United Kingdom
The Peerage of the United Kingdom comprises most peerages created in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland after the Act of Union in 1801, when it replaced the Peerage of Great Britain...
as Baron Lang of Lambeth in the County of Surrey. He was thus able to remain in the House of Lords, where he attended regularly and contributed to debates. He worried about money, despite a pension of £1,500 per year (approximately £ as of ), a large rent-free house at Kew
Kew
Kew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in South West London. Kew is best known for being the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens, now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace...
, and some generous cash gifts from well-wishers. In 1943 he spoke in the House of Lords in support of the Beveridge Report
Beveridge Report
The Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Social Insurance and Allied Services, known commonly as the Beveridge Report was an influential document in the founding of the Welfare State in the United Kingdom...
on social insurance, and on 9 February 1944 he reiterated his earlier opposition to obliteration bombing. In October 1944 Lang was greatly distressed by the sudden death of William Temple, his successor at Canterbury, writing: "I don't like to think of the loss to the Church and Nation ... But 'God knows and God reigns'."
On 5 December 1945 Lang was due to speak in a Lords debate on conditions in Central Europe. On his way to Kew Gardens station to catch the London train, he collapsed and was taken to hospital, but was found to be dead on arrival. A post-mortem attributed the death to heart failure. In paying tribute the following day, Lord Addison
Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison
Sir Christopher Addison, 1st Viscount Addison KG, PC was a British medical doctor and politician. By turns a liberal and a socialist, he served as Minister of Munitions during the first World War, and was later Minister of Health under David Lloyd George and Leader of the House of Lords under...
said that Lang was "not only a great cleric but a great man ... we have lost in him a Father in God." His body was cremated and the ashes taken to the Chapel of St Stephen Martyr in Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site....
. The probate
Probate
Probate is the legal process of administering the estate of a deceased person by resolving all claims and distributing the deceased person's property under the valid will. A probate court decides the validity of a testator's will...
value of Lang's estate was £29,541 (approximately £ as of ).
Legacy
In Hastings's view, Lang was probably more sympathetic to Rome than any Church of England archbishop of modern times, responsible for a discreet catholicisation of the Church of England's practices. A small outward indication of this was his decision to use a cassock
Cassock
The cassock, an item of clerical clothing, is an ankle-length robe worn by clerics of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Anglican Church, Lutheran Church and some ministers and ordained officers of Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Ankle-length garment is the meaning of the...
as everyday dress and to wear a mitre
Mitre
The mitre , also spelled miter, is a type of headwear now known as the traditional, ceremonial head-dress of bishops and certain abbots in the Roman Catholic Church, as well as in the Anglican Communion, some Lutheran churches, and also bishops and certain other clergy in the Eastern Orthodox...
on formal occasions, the first archbishop since the English Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
to do so. However, Lang believed that in relation to the supreme truths of the church, rituals and dress were of small account, but that if people's worship was assisted by such customs they should be allowed.
Despite Lang's long involvement with the poorest of society, after becoming Archbishop of York he increasingly detached himself from everyday life. The historian Tom Buchanan wrote that Lang's sympathy with ordinary people was replaced by "an upper class affectation and a delight in the high society in which his office allowed him to move". No archbishop has been as close as Lang to the Royal Family; a Channel Four television history of the British monarchy maintained that Lang "held a view of Christianity in which the monarchy, rather than the cross, stood centre stage as the symbol of the nation's faith". Successive generations of the Royal Family considered him their friend and honoured him. King George V appointed him to the largely ceremonial post of Lord High Almoner, and after the 1937 Coronation George VI created him a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order (GCVO), a rare honour which, like the Royal Victorian Chain, lay in the private gift of the Sovereign. A friend, commenting on the transformation of Lang's perspective, said of him: "He might have been Cardinal Wolsey or St Francis of Assisi, and he chose to be Cardinal Wolsey."
Lang also received numerous honorary doctorates
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
from British universities. His portrait was painted many times; after sitting for Sir William Orpen
William Orpen
Major Sir William Newenham Montague Orpen, KBE, RA, RHA was an Irish portrait painter, who worked mainly in London...
in 1924, Lang reportedly remarked to Bishop Hensley Henson of Durham that the portrait showed him as "proud, prelatical and pompous". Henson's recorded reply was "To which of these epithets does Your Grace take exception?"
At an early stage in his priesthood Lang decided to lead a celibate life. He had no objection to the institution of marriage, but felt that his own work would be hindered by domesticity. Years after Lang's death, his sexual orientation was questioned; journalist Michael Gove
Michael Gove
Michael Andrew Gove, MP is a British politician, who currently serves as the Secretary of State for Education and as the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Surrey Heath constituency. He is also a published author and former journalist.Born in Edinburgh, Gove was raised in Aberdeen...
and historian David Starkey
David Starkey
David Starkey, CBE, FSA is a British constitutional historian, and a radio and television presenter.He was born the only child of Quaker parents, and attended Kendal Grammar School before entering Cambridge through a scholarship. There he specialised in Tudor history, writing a thesis on King...
suggested that Lang was a repressed homosexual. He had close friendships with colleagues such as Dick Sheppard, and with Wilfrid Parker
Wilfrid Parker
The Rt Rev Wilfrid Parker was a Colonial Anglican Bishop in the first half of the 20th century. He was born on 23 January 1883 and educated at Radley and Christ Church, Oxford. Ordained in 1907, his first post was as an Assistant Priest at the Christ Church Mission, Poplar. From 1909 to 1913 he...
, his one-time Domestic Chaplain to whom he wrote admitting his personal loneliness, and of his need for "someone in daily nearness to love". However, he clearly enjoyed the company of women and confessed in 1928, after a visit to the Rowntree's
Rowntree's
Rowntree's was a confectionery business based in York, England. It is now a historic brand owned by Nestlé, used to market a range of fruit gums and pastilles formerly owned by Rowntree's. Following a merger with John Mackintosh & Co., the Company became known as Rowntree Mackintosh, was listed on...
chocolate factory, that the sight of the girls there had "stirred up all the instincts of my youth ... very little subdued by the passage of years".
George Bell, the Bishop of Chichester
Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Counties of East and West Sussex. The see is in the City of Chichester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity...
who had earlier praised Lang's work for church unity, said that Lang's failure to take a lead after the Prayer Book rejection of 1928 meant that the Church of England had been unable to revise its forms of worship or take any effective control of its own affairs. Others, however, have argued that Lang's laissez-faire approach to the Prayer Book controversy helped to defuse a potentially explosive situation, and contributed to an eventual solution. Lang himself was gloomy about his legacy; he believed that since he had not led his country back into an Age of Faith, or marked his primacy with a great historical act, he had failed to live up to his own high standard. Others have judged him more charitably, praising his industry, his administrative ability and his devotion to duty.
Cultural references
Lang was portrayed by Derek JacobiDerek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
in the 2010 film The King's Speech.