Thomas Langley

Thomas Langley (c. 1363 – 20 November 1437) was an English prelate who held high ecclesiastical and political offices in the early to mid-15th century.

[1] In October 1404, Langley was elected Bishop of London but the new Pope, Innocent VII, refused to allow his installation and on 2 March 1405 he was appointed Chancellor for the first time.

[4] In 1412, in his first visit to his birthplace since 1385, he completed an early rebuilding of Middleton Parish Church, adding a new wooden tower and a chantry for use as a school for local children, and reconsecrating and rededicated it to St Leonard, in 1412.

During the reign of his successor Henry V, he spent three-quarters of his time in the service of the crown – a politician first and churchman second – and at Windsor on 28 September 1422, as Chancellor, he delivered up the gold seal of England in a purse of white leather to his infant sovereign Henry VI (Thomas Rymer's Foedera, vol.

From 1430 until his death Langley attended to his diocese, something he had, by his own admission, neglected, continuing with various diplomatic work when called upon by the government.