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John Donne in the archives

Date updated: 21/03/2023

In November 1621, John Donne (1572-1631), one of England’s great poets and preachers, was elected Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral. In this article Dr Mary Ann Lund (University of Leicester) explores the manuscripts that provide clues about Donne’s life, especially as Dean, and compares what we know of his life with his works.

John Donne
John Donne. LPA ref: 288923

John Donne as Dean and Vicar

The archives of St Paul’s Cathedral and the city parishes, held at London Metropolitan Archives, tell us much about not only the places, but also the lives of people involved. Among the more prominent early modern Londoners is the poet and preacher John Donne (1572-1631). He was Dean of St Paul’s for a decade from 1621 until his death. A latecomer to holy orders (he was ordained in his forties), Donne was also royal chaplain to James I, then Charles I, Reader at Lincoln’s Inn, and from 1624 vicar of St Dunstan in the West, on Fleet Street. So he had the capital very much at the heart of his working life.

There are traces of his activities in all kinds of documents held at LMA. The records of St Dunstan in the West are perhaps the most thrilling for lovers of Donne’s writing, since they contain his own signature. They record conversations held at his meetings with churchwardens, sidesmen and other parish representatives: a window onto his day-to-day life as vicar. And they preserve lively details, such as the 13 d. spent on wine when the churchwardens visited him at the cathedral before he took up the post (Churchwardens’ Account Book, P69/DUN2/B/011/MS02968/002MS2968/001, fol. 228); clearly a productive meeting.

John Donne's signature
John' Donne's signature

Among the changes Donne made at St Dunstan’s were to move the pulpit from the south to the north side of the church, and erect extra pews (Vestry Minutes, P69/DUN2/B/001/MS03016/001) fol. 113). It seems probable that this celebrity preacher brought more people into the services over which he presided. Repeatedly in his sermons he emphasised his belief that hearing the word preached was at the heart of salvation. The records show the practical measures he took to improve both the provision of sermons and the listening experience.

A Snapshot of Donne in 1626

While the cathedral chapter minutes from his time as dean do not survive, other records give an important insight into the very varied nature of his work at St Paul’s. They remind us that even towering literary figures could not escape the burdens of administration.

For example, in the year 1626 (Donne’s fifth as Dean of St Paul’s) he was voted into the demanding role of prolocutor to the Convocation of the Province of Canterbury. This ecclesiastical assembly met at the same time as parliament to decide major issues connected with administration and money, doctrine and discipline in the Church of England. Its first, ceremonial session was held at St Paul’s.

During the same period, Donne was also Receiver General to the cathedral, a role that was chiefly responsible for rent collection (see Accounts of the Collector of Rents, 1622-6, 1628–36, CLC/313/G/014/MS25499). And he continued in all the normal tasks involved in running a very large and busy cathedral, including overseeing its staff of clergy and laypeople, managing its extensive property, and looking after its decaying fabric (see Dean’s Register, 1621-31, CLC/313/C/001/MS25630/007).

John Donne,  Dean's register
John Donne’s election as Dean in the Dean’s Register. Ref: CLC/313/C/001/MS25630/007 fol.1r

Donne on Whitsunday

Sometimes, we can map Donne’s preaching and his activities as recorded in the archives quite precisely. Under cathedral statute, he was bound to preach in the afternoon of Christmas Day, Easter Day, and Whitsunday (the Bishop of London preached in the morning). On Whitsunday (28 May) 1626, he preached on John 16: 8–11. We might imagine him standing in the pulpit on the north side of the cathedral choir, the space where all the preaching and choral services in the cathedral took place, as he delivered the following, dazzling rhetorical display, on the actions of the Holy Spirit:

For, this Spirit, Spirat ubi vult, Breathes where it pleases him; and though a naturall winde cannot blow East and West, North and South together, this Spirit at once breathes upon the most contrary dispositions, upon the presuming, and upon the despairing sinner; and, in an instant can denizen and naturalize that soule that was an alien to the Covenant, Empale and inlay that soule that was bred upon the Common, amongst the Gentiles, transform that soul, which was a Goate, into a Sheep, unite that soul which was a lost sheep to the fold again, shine upon that soul that sits in darknesse, and in the shadow of death, and so melt and poure out that soul that yet understands nothing of the Divine nature, nor of the Spirit of God, that it shall become partaker of the Divine nature, and be the same Spirit with the Lord. (The Oxford Edition of the Sermons of John Donne, Vol. XII: Sermons Preached at St Paul’s Cathedral, ed. Mary Ann Lund (Oxford University Press, 2017), p. 109)

A very long sentence when read, this delicately unfolding piece of oratory gathers gradually to its powerful climax, with careful pauses along the way when spoken. Images of the ordinary made extraordinary - wind that blows in all directions, goats that turn into sheep - illuminate the theology of spiritual transformation, in a passage that is rich in scriptural allusion.

The whole sermon lasted a full hour, and performing such a sermon must have placed significant physical demands on him (interestingly, we know that he did not like to eat beforehand), as well as taking a long time for preparation. But on the same day, we also find him busy with cathedral business, signing indentures (CLC/313/C/001/MS25630/007, fols. 102v-103r). Then, as now, paperwork could not wait.

The records in LMA may not reveal Donne’s unique qualities as a writer - only the works themselves can do that. But they help us to appreciate his rich talents in a different way: as the works of a man of many parts, whose everyday commitments and duties the archives enable us to glimpse.

The Old St Pauls Cathedral Choir, Wenceslaus Hollar
The choir of old St Paul’s Cathedral. Engraving by Wenceslaus Hollar, from William Dugdale, The History of St. Pauls Cathedral in London (1658). Reproduced by kind permission of Special Collections, University of Leicester, shelfmark SCT 00907.

About the author

Dr Mary Ann Lund is Associate Professor in Renaissance English Literature at the University of Leicester. She is the editor of The Oxford Edition of the Sermons of John Donne, Vol. 12: Sermons Preached at St Paul’s Cathedral, 1626 (Oxford University Press, 2017), and is currently editing Vol. 13 of the same series.