Wednesday, October 21, 2015

There Were Giants in Those Days



And by giants, I mean Lancelot Blackburne, who was Archbishop of York after a spell in the West Indies as a buccaneer, or pirate.

Blackburne wasn't noted for good behavior. According to Brewer's Rogues, Villains and Eccentrics "[his] behaviour was seldom of a standard to be expected of an archbishop. In many respects his behaviour was seldom of a standard to be expected of a pirate."

He kept apartments on Downing Street.

LSP

5 comments:

LL said...

The more things change, the more they remain the same?

LL said...

The fashion statement that the vicar is making is back in style, but only in Austin.

LSP said...

He was a wicked old thing. Apparently his wife wasn't too happy when he moved his mistress into the house...

LL said...

I'm sure that he introduced the mistress to the neighbors as his "niece" who had come to visit.

LSP said...

Hardly the CofE's high spiritual watermark... but he was an interesting man, nonetheless. It seems as though he was a spy/pirate in the reign of Charles II.

Of course there's no shortage of "pirates" in the CofE today, it's just that their mistresses aren't women.