View source for Richard Bancroft 1544-1610

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===[[name::Richard]] [[name::BANCROFT]]  [[date of birth::1544]]-[[date of death::1610]]===
[[File:BancroftRichard1.jpg | thumb |200 px| Initials RB as used on small format books of Richard Bancroft (Lambeth Palace Library)]]
[[File:BancroftRichard2.jpg | thumb |200 px| Initials RB as used on larger format books of Richard Bancroft (Lambeth Palace Library)]]
====Biographical Note====
Born at [[place of birth::Prescot, Lancashire]], son of [[family::John Bancroft]], gentleman; his mother was the niece of [[family::Hugh Curwen]], [[occupation::bishop|Bishop]] of [[location::Oxford]].  BA [[education::Christ’s College, Cambridge]] 1567; moved to [[organisations::Jesus College, Cambridge|Jesus College]] as a [[occupation::tutor]], MA there 1572; BD 1580, DD 1585.  [[occupation::chaplain|Chaplain]] to [[associates::Richard Cox]], [[occupation::bishop|Bishop]] of [[diocese::Ely]]; [[occupation::prebendary]] of [[organisations::Ely Cathedral|Ely]] 1575, [[occupation::rector|Rector]] of [[location::Teversham, Cambridgeshire]] 1576, [[occupation::chaplain]] to the Lord Chancellor, [[associates::Sir Christopher Hatton]], 1581.  [[occupation::Treasurer]] of [[organisations::St Paul's Cathedral|St Paul’s]], [[location::London]] 1586, and [[occupation::rector|Rector]] of [[location::Cottingham, Northamptonshire]]; [[occupation::canon]] of [[organisations::Westminster Abbey|Westminster]] 1587.  Household [[occupation::chaplain]] to [[occupation::Archbishop]] [[associates::John Whitgift|Whitgift]], 1591.  

Bancroft owed his advancement not only to his connections but also to a developing reputation as a trustworthy defender of the state’s position on ecclesiastical conformity, through preaching and publications.  He was made [[occupation::bishop|Bishop]] of [[diocese::London]] in 1597 ([[occupation::Archbishop]] [[associates::John Whitgift|Whitgift]] having earlier sought to obtain this post for him), where he set about establishing a well disciplined diocese.  He was a member of the [[location::Hampton Court Palace|Hampton Court]] conference, summoned by [[associates::James I]] in 1604 to debate church policy, and succeeded [[associates::John Whitgift|Whitgift]] as [[occupation::Archbishop]] of [[diocese::Canterbury]] later that year.  He continued to strive for conformity and high standards in the ministry, during a period when his authority was challenged through recusancy, the courts and the interventions of [[associates::James I]].

====Books==== 
Bancroft assembled one of the largest libraries of his generation, which he [[bequest::bequeathed]] “to my [[beneficiary::successor]], and unto the archbishops of Canterbury successively forever”.  It included ca.2000 volumes from the equally large library of [[associates::John Whitgift]], and became the foundation collection of [[organisations::Lambeth Palace Library]].  With just over 6000 volumes, it was most obviously strong in all aspects of [[subject::theology]], but also had significant holdings in [[subject::history]], [[subject::law]] and [[subject::classics]].  It included ca.350 [[format::manuscript|manuscripts]], including ones from the collection of [[crossreference::William Camden 1551-1623|William Camden]] and [[associates::John Rainolds]].  A small number of Bancroft’s books can be found outside [[organisations::Lambeth Palace Library|Lambeth]], e.g. in [[present repository::Canterbury Cathedral Library]] and the [[present repository::Harsnett Library]].  Examples (outside Lambeth Palace): Harsnett Library H.a.55, H.d.5; Canterbury Cathedral Library W/B-1-39, W/K-3-60.

====Characteristic Markings==== 
Bancroft’s books at [[organisations::Lambeth Palace Library|Lambeth]] can be identified primarily by their bindings; many have his gilt-tooled armorial on the boards (some of these may have been bound thus after his death, when the collection was being arranged).  The library also includes many books in late 16th/early 17th century calf bindings gilt-stamped with the initials RB, or with these letters on either side of a centrepiece (there are several lozenge-shaped centrepieces which appear repeatedly).  He did not normally inscribe or annotate his books. A few Bancroft books at Lambeth have elaborately decorated fore-edges, painted with his arms as Archbishop or with pictorial patterns.

====Sources==== 
<div id="sourcelist">
*[https://armorial.library.utoronto.ca/stamp-owners/BAN001 British Armorial Bindings]. 
*[http://ccl-history.referata.com/wiki/Richard_Bancroft Canterbury Cathedral Library provenance research].
*Carley, J. The libraries of Archbishops Whitgift and Bancroft, ''The Book Collector'' 62 (2013), 209-228. 
*Cox-Johnson, A. Lambeth Palace Library, ''Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society'' 2 (1955), 105-126. 
*Cranfield, Nicholas W. S. [https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/1272 "Bancroft, Richard (bap. 1544, d. 1610), archbishop of Canterbury."] ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''.
*Hoare, P. (gen.ed.), ''The Cambridge history of libraries in Britain and Ireland''. 3 vols.  Cambridge, 2006, I 390-1. 
*James, M. R. The history of Lambeth Palace Library, ''Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society'' 3 (1959), 1-31. 
*Pearson, D. ''Provenance research in book history''.  New edn.  Oxford and New Castle, 2019, fig. 4.30.  
*Pearson, D. The libraries of English bishops 1600-40, ''The Library'' 6th ser 14 (1992), 221-257.
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