Stephen Langton

Stephen Langton (?-1228), English prelate and cardinal. He was educated in Paris, where he became the friend of Cardinal de' Conti, later Pope Innocent III. Innocent made him a cardinal in 1206, and the following year Langton was elected archbishop of Canterbury. His election was resisted by King John of England, but after six years he was admitted to the office, when John made terms with Innocent in 1213. In the conflict of King John with his barons, Langton was a warm partisan of the barons, and his name is the first subscribed as witness of the Magna Carta. When the pope excommunicated the barons, Langton refused to publish the ban and was suspended by the pope in 1215. After the accession of King Henry III, Langton was reinstated in 1218. A prolific writer and erudite scholar, Langton wrote extensive commentaries on most of the books of the Old and New Testaments and was responsible for the chapter division of the Scriptures still in use today.