Sheldon, Gilbert (1598–1677). Archbishop of Canterbury (1663–77). A graduate of Trinity College, Oxford, Sheldon was fellow, then warden (1626), of All Souls. Spiritual adviser to Charles I in the Civil War, he was ejected from All Souls (1648) and briefly imprisoned. He returned in 1659 and at the Restoration became bishop of London (1660). A keen protagonist of uniformity, he succeeded Juxon as archbishop (1663) and arranged with Clarendon to end separate taxation for the clergy (1664). As chancellor of Oxford (1667–9), he had the Sheldonian theatre built at his own expense with Wren as architect. A man of deep spirituality, he was equally critical of dissent and Charles II's suspected popery.

Revd Dr William M. Marshall

Gilbert Sheldon, 1598–1677, English divine, archbishop of Canterbury. He attended Charles I at Oxford and Newmarket and in the Isle of Wight, remaining thereafter in retirement until the Restoration, when he became (1660) bishop of London and later (1663) archbishop of Canterbury. Sheldon was an influential adviser to Charles II. While chancellor of Oxford he built (1699) the Sheldonian Theatre at his own expense.