Controversial, quarrelsome, unyielding – Archbishop Edwin Sandys

EDWIN Sandys was a man of God, whose career culminated in his appointment as Archbishop of York during the reign of Elizabeth I.  He was also a fractious, pugnacious individual who made enemies easily and was embroiled in a notorious sex scandal when caught in bed with an innkeeper’s wife.

Now, the life and legacy of this controversial character – who came close to being executed for treason in his younger days and who helped to send others to hideous deaths – is the subject of a new book by Dr Sarah Bastow, who is Head of History at the University of Huddersfield.

Edwin Sandys and the Reform of English Religion is a fresh appraisal of a key figure of the late 1500s whose posthumous reputation is unfairly tarnished by events outside his control, Dr Bastow believes.  Not that she finds him a particularly attractive character.

“He was extremely forceful in his views, which made him uncompromising.  He couldn’t really see anybody else’s point of view and was probably very difficult to get on with.  Other bishops urged him to take a more moderate approach, but he just wouldn’t compromise.”

Born circa 1519, in what is now Cumbria, Sandys embraced Protestantism and had a successful academic career, rising to become Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University.  But when the Catholic Mary I – known as “Bloody Mary” – came to the throne, he was on the wrong side and was jailed alongside men who went to the stake.  He avoided this fate himself by an escape that was hailed as divine intervention.

“But I discovered that while the story tells of doors miraculously opening for him, his release was actually part of a political move at the centre of government.  He was granted permission to leave the country and went to Strasbourg and then Zurich,” said Dr Bastow.

 

The pressing to death of Margaret Clitherow during Sandys tenure as Archbishop of York

Edwin Sandys and the Catholic plot

When Elizabeth came to the throne in 1558 and Protestantism was restored, Sandys returned to England and became a prominent if controversial churchman who had the ear of the Queen.  He became Bishop of Worcester, then London and finally Archbishop of York in 1577.

It was in 1586 that York woman Margaret Clitherow was hideously pressed to death beneath large stones after refusing to plead guilty to harbouring Catholic priests.  She was later canonised.

“Sandys was Archbishop at that point but wasn’t directly involved in the prosecution and I don’t think he would have approved,” said Dr Bastow.

“One of the notable things about the way he approached Catholics was his desire to convert rather than execute them.  He did take quite a hard line when they refused to be converted, but he was also quite aware of the significance of martyrdom.”

"His legacy is probably to show that excessive conflict is not the way forward,”

Dr Sarah Bastow

In the early 1580s, Sandys fell foul of a landowning family, the Stapletons, and while staying at an inn near Doncaster he awoke to find the innkeeper’s wife in bed with him – and the husband promptly burst into the room, knife in hand.  It was probably a scam.

“All of the guests at the inn who become witnesses just happened to be Catholics or related to Catholics,” said Dr Bastow.  “Sandys complained to the Privy Council that it had all been done to damage his reputation.  There was a trial and he was found blameless.

“Sir Robert Stapleton was told to apologise publically to the Archbishop at York Assizes, but he arrived with a gang and turned the apology into another drama.

“The episode damaged Sandys reputation and everybody’s assumption was that there was no smoke without fire,” said Dr Bastow.

After this humiliation, Sandys retreated from public life and died in 1588.  He had some achievements to his name, said Dr Bastow.  For example, he was involved in the production of the “Bishops’ Bible”, an important English translation issued in the 1560s.

“But his legacy is probably to show that excessive conflict is not the way forward.”

• Edwin Sandys and the Reform of English Religion is published by Routledge.