Thomas Arundel was archbishop of Canterbury from 1396 until his death in 1414, and five times lord chancellor of England. He was the archetypal political bishop. He was the youngest son of the tenth earl of Arundel, one of the richest and most powerful men in England. He enjoyed the kind of effortless ascent through the hierarchy of the Church reserved for the scions of great noble families, starting with his appointment as bishop of Ely at the age of twenty while he was still a student at Oxford and not even in holy orders. He was a bit young for the job but his father had pressed for the appointment, said Pope Gregory XI when announcing his elevation. Money probably changed hands.

Arundel was by no means the most learned or holy of bishops or the most brilliant of ministers. He was nonetheless a conscientious churchman and a competent administrator who played a pivotal role in two of the seminal crises of English medieval history. His public career was shaped by his relationship with two men. 

One was his elder brother, the eleventh earl of Arundel. The Earl was an ambitious and violent man. He became one of the leaders of the baronial opposition to Richard II, which took government out of the King’s hands for thirty months between 1386 and 1389. Thomas served as chancellor