List of archbishops of Canterbury
Wikimedia list article
The archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior bishop of the established Church of England as "Primate of All England". They also serve as the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Before the Reformation, the archbishop served as a prelate of the Catholic Church.
History
From the 6th century to the 16th century, the archbishops of Canterbury were in full communion with the bishops of Rome, the popes. Eighteen such pre-Reformation archbishops have been canonised by the Catholic Church. During the English Reformation, the English Church broke away from the authority of the pope, at first temporarily, later permanently, recognising only the English monarch as a source of superior temporal authority.
In the Middle Ages there was considerable variation in the nomination procedure of the archbishop and other bishops. At various times the nomination was made by the canons of Canterbury Cathedral, the English monarch, or the pope. Since the Reformation, the church is explicitly a state church and nomination is legally that of the British crown; today it is made in the name of the monarch by the prime minister of the United Kingdom, from a shortlist of two selected by the Crown Nominations Commission, an ad hoc committee.
Today the archbishop has four main roles:
To be diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury, which covers the east of the County of Kent and the extreme north-east of Surrey.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “List of archbishops of Canterbury” as wikimedia list article. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as wikimedia list article. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1839414. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “List of archbishops of Canterbury”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow List of archbishops of Canterbury primary sources, List of archbishops of Canterbury archive and List research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “List of archbishops of Canterbury”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “List of archbishops of Canterbury” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.