The Nag's Head Fable was a fiction which purported that Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....

, an 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...

, was not consecrated solemnly, but instead was consecrated with a Bible pressed to his neck while inside the Nag's Head tavern. The story surfaced more than 40 years after Parker's consecration and was spread by Roman Catholics as fact until the dawn of the 20th century.

Fact and fiction

On the passing of the first Act of Uniformity

Act of Uniformity 1559

The Act of Uniformity set the order of prayer to be used in the English Book of Common Prayer. Every man had to go to church once a week or be fined 12 pence , a considerable sum for the poor. By this Act Elizabeth I made it a legal obligation to go to church every Sunday...

 in Queen Elizabeth I of England's reign, fourteen bishops were dismissed from their sees

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...

, and all the other sees, except Llandaff

Diocese of Llandaff

The Diocese of Llandaff is a Church in Wales diocese. It is headed by the Bishop of Llandaff, whose seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Llandaff, a suburb of Cardiff...

 (then part of the 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...

), were at the time vacant. The question was how to obtain consecration

Consecration

Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service, usually religious. The word "consecration" literally means "to associate with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different groups...

 so as to preserve unbroken Apostolic Succession

Apostolic Succession

Apostolic succession is a doctrine, held by some Christian denominations, which asserts that the chosen successors of the Twelve Apostles, from the first century to the present day, have inherited the spiritual, ecclesiastical and sacramental authority, power, and responsibility that were...

, as the Bishop of Llandaff

Bishop of Llandaff

The Bishop of Llandaff is the Ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff.-Area of authority:The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul , in the village of Llandaff, just north-west of the City of...

 refused to officiate at the consecration of the new 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...

. Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker

Matthew Parker was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of Anglican theological thought....

 had been selected for the see. The allegation of an indecent consecration in the Nag's Head Fable seems first to have been made by a Jesuit, Christopher Holywood

Christopher Holywood

Christopher Holywood was an Irish Jesuit of the Counter Reformation. The origin of the Nag's Head Fable has been traced to him.-Roman Catholic and Irish:...

, in 1604, over 40 years after the event.

According to propaganda

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

, John Scory

John Scory

John Scory was a Cambridge Dominican order friar who later became a Bishop in the Church of EnglandHe was Bishop of Rochester from 1551 to 1552, Bishop of Chichester from 1552 to 1553...

, the deposed 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...

, was sent for and officiated at the Nag's Head tavern in Cheapside

Cheapside

Cheapside is a street in the City of London that links Newgate Street with the junction of Queen Victoria Street and Mansion House Street. To the east is Mansion House, the Bank of England, and the major road junction above Bank tube station. To the west is St. Paul's Cathedral, St...

. There Parker was supposedly consecrated by having a Bible pressed to his neck while Scory said, "Take thou authority to preach the word of God sincerely." This story was later discredited, as a full description by an eyewitness of the consecration of Parker in Lambeth Palace Chapel was located. In this account it is stated that it was not the consecration which took place at the Nag's Head, but only that those who took part in it dined there subsequently. We are furthermore told that Bishops William Barlow

William Barlow (bishop of Chichester)

William Barlow was an English Augustinian prior turned bishop of four dioceses, a complex figure of the Protestant Reformation. Aspects of his life await scholarly clarification...

, Scory, Myles Coverdale

Myles Coverdale

Myles Coverdale was a 16th-century Bible translator who produced the first complete printed translation of the Bible into English.-Life:...

, and John Hodgkins

John Hodgkins

John Hodgkins DD was an English suffragan bishop.Educated at Cambridge, Hodgkins was appointed Bishop of Bedford under the provisions of the Suffragan Bishops Act 1534 in 1537 and held the post until 1560 . From 1527 he was the Provincial of the English Dominicans and Prior of Sudbury.-References:...

, all officiated at the consecration.

As recently as the late nineteenth century, the legend was still being told as fact by unscrupulous controversialists in such countries as Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

.