archbishop of Canterbury, in the Church of England, the primate of all England and archbishop of the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury, which approximately includes the area of England south of the former counties of Cheshire and Yorkshire. Although no individual is recognized as being the head of all the churches that constitute the Anglican Communion, the archbishop of Canterbury is considered the senior bishop, the first among equals. The archbishop of Canterbury presides, as host and chairperson, over the Lambeth Conference, a decennial meeting of the bishops of the Anglican Communion. In addition to a palace in Canterbury, the archbishop has an office and official residence at Lambeth Palace in London.
The first archbishop of Canterbury was St. Augustine of Canterbury (d. 604/605), a Benedictine monk who was sent from Rome by Pope Gregory I to convert the Anglo-Saxons in England. Augustine arrived in 597 and was well received by Aethelberht I, king of Kent, who gave him a place to live in Canterbury and permitted him to preach. The Reformation caused no break in the continuity of the office. Thomas Cranmer (archbishop 1533–56) accepted the Act of Supremacy (1534) that made the English sovereign, rather than the pope, the head of the Church of England.
Randall Davidson became the first archbishop of Canterbury to voluntarily to resign, retiring in 1928. Since that time only William Temple has died in office (in 1944). In 2009 the church’s General Synod and parliament passed legislation that specified that the archbishop of Canterbury must retire at 70. Rowan Williams resigned before retirement age in 2012 amid growing schism in the church, announcing that he planned to returned to the University of Cambridge. Justin Welby, his successor, resigned in 2024 over his involvement in the mishandling of an abuse scandal.
The archbishops of Canterbury and their tenures are provided in the following table.
| Archbishops of Canterbury | |
|---|---|
| Augustine (Austin) | 597–604 |
| Laurentius (Lawrence) | 604–619 |
| Mellitus | 619–624 |
| Justus | 624–627 |
| Honorius | 627–653 |
| Deusdedit | 655–664 |
| Theodore (Theodorus) | 668–690 |
| Berhtwald (Beorhtweald) | 693–731 |
| Tatwine | 731–734 |
| Nothelm | 735–739 |
| Cuthbert (Cuthbeorht) | 740–760 |
| Bregowine (Breguwine) | 761–764 |
| Jaenberht (Jaenbeorht) | 765–792 |
| Aethelheard | 793–805 |
| Wulfred | 805–832 |
| Feologild | 832 |
| Ceolnoth | 833–870 |
| Aethelred | 870–889 |
| Plegmund | 890–914 |
| Aethelhelm | 914–923 |
| Wulfhelm | 923–942 |
| Oda | 942–958 |
| Aelfsige | 959 |
| Beorhthelm | 959 |
| Dunstan | 960–988 |
| Aethelgar | 988–990 |
| Sigeric Serio | 990–994 |
| Aelfric | 995–1005 |
| Aelfheah | 1005–12 |
| Lyfing | 1013–20 |
| Aethelnoth | 1020–38 |
| Eadsige | 1038–50 |
| Robert of Jumièges | 1051–52 |
| Stigand | 1052–70 |
| Lanfranc | 1070–89 |
| Anselm | 1093–1109 |
| Ralph d'Escures | 1114–22 |
| William of Corbeil | 1123–36 |
| Theobald | 1138–61 |
| Thomas Becket | 1162–70 |
| Richard of Dover | 1174–84 |
| Baldwin | 1184–90 |
| Hubert Walter | 1193–1205 |
| Stephen Langton | 1206–28 |
| Richard le Grant | 1229–31 |
| Edmund Rich | 1233–40 |
| Boniface of Savoy | 1241–70 |
| Robert Kilwardby | 1272–78 |
| John Pecham | 1279–92 |
| Robert Winchelsey | 1293–1313 |
| Walter Reynolds | 1313–27 |
| Simon Mepham | 1327–33 |
| John Stratford | 1333–48 |
| Thomas Bradwardine | 1348–49 |
| Simon Islip | 1349–66 |
| Simon Langham | 1366–68 |
| William Whittlesey | 1368–74 |
| Simon Sudbury | 1375–81 |
| William Courtenay | 1381–96 |
| Thomas Arundel | 1396–97 |
| Roger Walden | 1397–99 |
| Thomas Arundel (restored) | 1399–1414 |
| Henry Chichele | 1414–43 |
| John Stafford | 1443–52 |
| John Kempe | 1452–54 |
| Thomas Bourgchier | 1454–86 |
| John Morton | 1486–1500 |
| Henry Deane | 1501–03 |
| William Warham | 1504–32 |
| Thomas Cranmer | 1533–56 |
| Reginald Pole | 1556–58 |
| Matthew Parker | 1559–75 |
| Edmund Grindal | 1575–83 |
| John Whitgift | 1583–1604 |
| Richard Bancroft | 1604–10 |
| George Abbot | 1611–33 |
| William Laud | 1633–45 |
| William Juxon | 1660–63 |
| Gilbert Sheldon | 1663–77 |
| William Sancroft | 1677–90 |
| John Tillotson | 1691–94 |
| Thomas Tenison | 1694–1715 |
| William Wake | 1715–37 |
| John Potter | 1737–47 |
| Thomas Herring | 1747–57 |
| Matthew Hutton | 1757–58 |
| Thomas Secker | 1758–68 |
| Frederick Cornwallis | 1768–83 |
| John Moore | 1783–1805 |
| Charles Manners Sutton | 1805–28 |
| William Howley | 1828–48 |
| John Bird Sumner | 1848–62 |
| Charles Thomas Longley | 1862–68 |
| Archibald Campbell Tait | 1868–82 |
| Edward White Benson | 1883–96 |
| Frederick Temple | 1896–1902 |
| Randall Thomas Davidson | 1903–28 |
| Cosmo Gordon Lang (from 1942, Baron Lang of Lambeth) | 1928–42 |
| William Temple | 1942–44 |
| Geoffrey Francis Fisher (from 1961, Baron Fisher of Lambeth) | 1945–61 |
| Arthur Michael Ramsey | 1961–74 |
| Frederick Donald Coggan | 1974–80 |
| Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie | 1980–91 |
| George Carey | 1991–2002 |
| Rowan Williams | 2002–12 |
| Justin Welby | 2013–24 |