Editing William Whittingham (section)

==Return to England==

Whittingham took formal leave of the council at Geneva on 30 May 1560. In January 1561, he was appointed to attend [[Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford]] during his embassy to the French court. In the following year he became a chaplain to [[Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick]], a minister at [[Le Havre]], then occupied by the English under Warwick. He won general praise; but [[William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley|William Cecil]] complained of his neglect of conformity to the English ''Book of Common Prayer.'' Owing to the support of Warwick and [[Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester]], another Puritan sympathizer, Whittingham was collated on 19 July 1563 to the deanery of Durham.

In keeping with his past, Whittingham took his duties seriously, holding two services a day, devoting time to his grammar school and song school, and church music. Before the outbreak of the [[Rising of the North]] in 1569 he unsuccessfully urged [[James Pilkington (bishop)|James Pilkington]], the bishop of Durham, to put the city in a state of defence, but he was more successful at Newcastle, which resisted the rebels. In 1572, when Lord Burghley became lord treasurer, Whittingham was suggested, probably by Leicester, as his successor in the office of secretary. In 1577, Leicester also promised Whittingham aid in securing the see of York or Durham, both being vacant; but Whittingham did not press for preferment.