by Mayv 'SpearBourne' Amaia

Created on: April 02, 2010

Matthew Parker was the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England.

He was born 6 August 1504 in Norwich, Norfolk, to William Parker and his wife, Alice Monins. Other than that his family was well off, not much is known of his early life. William Parker died circa 1516. Alice later remarried to a man named John Baker.

In 1521 or 1522, Matthew was sent to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He obtained his BA degree in 1524 or 1525. In April 1527, he was ordained as a deacon; in June, he was ordained as a priest.

That same year, he was offered a spot at Thomas Wolsey's newly founded Cardinal College at Oxford. He declined, and was elected a fellow of Corpus Christi College in September.

Over the next few years, he studied early church history. He also became friends with the likes of Hugh Latimer while frequenting the White Horse Inn.

Though Parker participated in their debates there, he was not a conroversialist. These debates and disputes made him all the more eager to research facts rather than argue over opinions.

In Cambridge, he was an influential and popular preacher. After Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII's second wife, was crowned queen in 1533, he was appointed her chaplain and soon became one of her favourites. In 1535, she helped him obtain an appointment as Dean of St. John the Baptist College at Stoke-by-Clare, Suffolk. These were some of the happiest years of his life, following scholarly pursuits while improving the college. Latimer soon wrote him, cautioning Parker not to fall short of the expectations others had formed of his abilities. The next year, prior to her arrest, Anne Boleyn entrusted the spiritual well being of her daughter, the future Elizabeth I of England, to Parker. Boleyn was executed not long after this.

In 1537, he became chaplain to Henry VIII.

A charge of heresy was brought against Parker a year or so later, but Lord Chancellor Audley dismissed it, urging Parker not to fear such enemies.

He was appointed to the church of Ely in 1541. On the recommendation of Henry VIII, he was elected master of Corpus Christi College in 1544. The next year, he was made vice-chancellor.

Parker and Chancellor Stephen Gardiner clashed over the issue of the students performing a scandalous play, Pammachius, which was derisive of the old ecclesiastical system.

Parliament passed an act that year enabling the king to dissolve chantries (chapels endowed on private lands or within greater churches where priests could celebrate Mass) as well

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