Tillotson
NAME: Tillotson, John
ACHIEVEMENT(S): Archbishop of Canterbury.
NICKNAME/ALIAS: None
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH: August/September, 1630, Haugh End, Yorkshire, England
DATE/PLACE OF DEATH/AGE AT DEATH: November 22, 1694, London, England. Aged 64
DISCIPLINE: Theologian/Literary critic
FIELD: Religion/Literature
LANGUAGE: English
PARENTS: Robert Tillotson; Mary Dobson
SIBLINGS: Joshua
SPOUSE: Elizabeth French
CHILDREN: Mary; Elizabeth
EDUCATION: Colne Grammar School; Cambridge University, England
MAJOR WORK: "A Discourse Against Transubstantiation"
LIFE AND TIMES:
By the time he left Cambridge, Tillotson, essentially a Puritan, began to lean towards the Church of England, and in 1660 took holy orders in the Anglican church. His first printed sermon appeared in 1661, the year he began to attend the new Royal Society and met theologian and natural scientist <relative of> Wilkins*.
In 1663, Tillotson took a rectory in Suffolk, but continued to preach in London at the church of St. Lawrence Jewry, where Wilkins was rector. In late 1663, he was elected Preacher to the Society of Lincoln's Inn, and moved permanently to London, where he married Wilkins' step-daughter (a niece of <marriage-related to> Cromwell*'). Through Wilkins, Tillotson was given the Tuesday Lectureship at St. Lawrence Jewry in 1664, where he continued to preach for the next 25 years.
Tillotson's plain and direct sermons attracted both intellectuals and members of the wealthy and increasingly powerful commercial classes. He became known for his staunch defense of the Church of England against the Roman Catholic Church. His first major work on the subject, "The Rule of Faith", published in 1666, described the events of that year (the Plague, and the Great Fire of London) as the judgment of God visited on wicked and unrepentant Englishmen. (<a fan was> Evelyn* found the work "infinitely pleasing").
The same year, Tillotson earned his doctor's degree in Divinity, and in 1670, <supported by> Charles II* awarded him a stipend out of the revenues at Canterbury Cathedral.
In 1672, Tillotson was elected a Fellow of the <member of> Royal Society*, just two weeks after the election of <fellow RS member with> Newton*. The same year, he was made Dean of Canterbury.
In 1674, he joined a movement that sought to improve literacy in Wales by setting up 86 schools, translating the Bible and other devotional books into Welsh, and passing them out to poor families. In the 1670s, he joined <collaborated with> Barrow* and <collaborated with> Boyle* in an unsuccessful attempt to find a way to allow non-Anglican Protestants to reunite with the Church of England.
A chance event in 1677 assured Tillotson of a comfortable future. <supported> William of Orange* and Princess Mary, Britain's future sovereigns, arrived in Canterbury cold and hungry and penniless after landing at Sheerness in stormy seas. Tillotson gave them support and money and helped them on their way.
In 1682, Tillotson published the religious works of Wilkins, now a Bishop, which consisted of 15 sermons. (He had already helped Wilkins on his 1668 "Essay Towards a Real Character and a Philosophic Language.") In 1684, he published his most famous piece against the Roman Catholicism "Discourse Against Transubstantiation," which he followed in 1685 with "A Discourse Against Purgatory". These pamphlets led him into a dispute with the Quaker <a row with> William Penn*.
In January, 1689, Tillotson preached before Prince William in Whitehall before swearing his allegiance to the new sovereigns. William and Mary were crowned in April, 1689, and three days later Tillotson preached before them at Hampton Court. Days later, he was made Clerk of the King's Closet.
In May, to his great joy, the Toleration Act was passed by Parliament and signed by the King, which gave a degree of religious freedom to Free-churchmen. In November, Tillotson was made Dean of St. Paul's.
In May, 1691, against his wishes, he was elected Archbishop of Canterbury and took up residence at Lambeth Palace. After his death three years later, he was buried at St. Lawrence Jewry.
ASSESSMENT: An Anglican minister who worked hard for the unification of the English Protestant sects within the Church of England
EXTRA CONNECTIONS: He reported to the Royal Society the 1682 discovery by <reported discovery of> Halley* of what became known as Halley's Comet.
He was friends with <a pal of> Locke*.
He knew <knew> Wren*.
Influenced <influenced> Whiston*.
Naturalist <a fan was> Ray* dedicated a book to him.
Was a co-member of the Royal Society with <fellow RS member with> Petty*
ONELINER: John Tillotson, 17th-century Archbishop of Canterbury
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
DNB
Locke, Louis G., “Tillotson: A Study in Seventeenth-Century Literature", in Angelistica, Vol. IV, Rosenkilde & Bagger: Copenhagen, 1954