Tillotson, John

Tillotson, John, 1630–94, English prelate, archbishop of Canterbury (1691–94). He was ordained in 1661. At the Savoy Conference (1661) he was present as an auditor on the side of the Presbyterians, but upon the passing of the Act of Uniformity (1662) he yielded to its requirements. In 1663 he became rector of Kedington, Suffolk, and in 1664 preacher at Lincoln's Inn. In 1670 he was made a prebendary of Canterbury, and in 1672 dean. He was chaplain to Charles II and was admitted to the special favor of William and Mary. He became (1689) dean of St. Paul's and was persuaded in 1691 to accept the archbishopric of Canterbury, left vacant when the nonjuror William Sancroft was deposed. A biography by Thomas Birch accompanied Tillotson's collected Works (3 vol., 1752).