John Kemp

John Kemp ( * 1380 in Wye / Ollantigh, Kent, † March 22, 1454 in Canterbury ) was Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Chancellor. He was also Bishop of Chichester, London and Rochester, Archbishop of York, and cardinal.

Life

Kemp was church attorney, entered into royal service and was later appointed governor of Normandy. From 1418 to 1421 he was Lord Privy Seal. In 1419 he became Bishop of Rochester in 1421 and soon after only Bishop of Chichester and then a few months later Bishop of London. Kemp was promoted by Cardinal Henry Beaufort; 1426 he took over his position as Lord Chancellor of England, and was founded in the same year, Archbishop of York. In 1432 he had to resign the chancellorship, but he was still politically active and worked for peace with France. On December 18, 1439, he was appointed by Pope Eugene IV to cardinal priest of S. Balbina. 1450 Kemp was again Lord Chancellor and two years later Archbishop of Canterbury.