Thomas Bourchier (cardinal)

(Redirected from Thomas Bourchier (bishop)) English archbishop and lord chancellor (1404–1486) For the sixteenth-century English martyologist, see Thomas Bourchier (Franciscan).

His Eminence Thomas Bourchier
Cardinal, Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of All England
1909 stained glass depiction in Sevenoaks Church, Kent, of Thomas Bourchier, wearing a cardinal's galero (a broad-brimmed hat). His residence of Knole House, which he built, was situated opposite the church
Church	Catholic Church
Appointed	23 April 1454
Installed	26 January 1455
Term ended	30 March 1486
Predecessor	John Kemp
Successor	John Morton
Orders
Ordination	1433
Consecration	15 May 1435 by Henry Beaufort
Created cardinal	18 September 1467 by Paul II
Rank	Cardinal priest
Personal details
Born	1404
Died	30 March 1486 Knole House
Buried	Canterbury Cathedral
Nationality	English
Education	University of Oxford
Signature
Coat of arms

Thomas Bourchier (1404 – 30 March 1486) was a medieval English cardinal, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor of England.

Origins

Bourchier was a younger son of William Bourchier, 1st Count of Eu (died 1420) by his wife Anne of Gloucester, a daughter of Thomas of Woodstock (1355–1397), youngest son of King Edward III. One of his brothers was Henry Bourchier, 1st Earl of Essex (died 1483), and his great-nephew was John Bourchier, 2nd Baron Berners, the translator of Froissart. Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham was his half-brother.

He was educated at the University of Oxford, after which he entered the church and obtained rapid promotion.

Career

After holding some minor appointments he was consecrated Bishop of Worcester on 15 May 1434. In the same year of 1434 he was Chancellor of the University of Oxford, and in 1443 was appointed Bishop of Ely. In April 1454 he was made Archbishop of Canterbury, and became Lord Chancellor of England in March 1455.

Tomb of Thomas Bourchier in Canterbury Cathedral

Bourchier's short term of office as chancellor coincided with the start of the Wars of the Roses, and at first he was not a strong partisan, although he lost his position as chancellor when Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, was deprived of power in October 1456. In 1458 he helped to reconcile the contending parties as part of The Love Day, but when the war was renewed in 1459 he had become a decided Yorkist. He crowned Duke Richard's son Edward Plantagenet, 4th Duke of York as King Edward IV in June 1461, and four years later he crowned Edward's queen, Elizabeth Woodville.

In 1457 Bourchier took the chief part in the trial for heresy of Reginald Pecock, Bishop of Chichester. In 1473 he was created a cardinal, not after some delay as this honour had been sought for him by King Edward IV in 1465. In 1475 he was one of the four arbitrators appointed to arrange the details of the Treaty of Picquigny between England and France. After the death of King Edward IV in 1483 Bourchier persuaded the queen to allow her younger son, Richard of Shrewsbury, 1st Duke of York, to join his elder brother King Edward V in (supposedly protective) residence in the Tower of London. Although Bourchier had sworn, before his father's death, to be faithful to King Edward V, he nevertheless crowned King Richard III in July 1483.

The third English king crowned by Bourchier was King Henry VII (1485–1509), whom he also married to Elizabeth of York in January 1486.

Death and burial

Bourchier died on 30 March 1486 at the palatial residence he had transformed, Knole House, near Sevenoaks in Kent, and was buried in Canterbury Cathedral, where his monument can be found.

Citations

Clark, Linda (2004). "Bourchier, Thomas (c. 1411–1486)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online) (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2993. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
Miranda, Salvador. "BOURCHIER, Thomas (c. 1412-1486)". The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church. Florida International University. OCLC 53276621.
^ Chisholm 1911.
Fryde et al. 1996, p. 280.
Fryde et al. 1996, p. 245.
^ Fryde et al. 1996, p. 234.
Fryde et al. 1996, p. 87.

References

Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third Edition, revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bourchier, Thomas". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 329.

External links

Biography: Thomas Bourchier

Academic offices
Preceded byGilbert Kymer	Chancellor of the University of Oxford 1433–1437	Succeeded byJohn Carpenter
Political offices
Preceded byThe Earl of Salisbury	Lord Chancellor 1455–1456	Succeeded byWilliam Waynflete
Catholic Church titles
Preceded byThomas Brunce	Bishop of Worcester 1434–1443	Succeeded byJohn Carpenter
Preceded byLewis of Luxembourg	Bishop of Ely 1443–1454	Succeeded byWilliam Grey
Preceded byJohn Kemp	Archbishop of Canterbury 1454–1486	Succeeded byJohn Morton
Preceded byDénes Szécsi	Cardinal priest of San Ciriaco alle Terme Diocleziane 1467–1486	Succeeded byBernardino Lunati

v t e English Lord Chancellors under the House of Lancaster (1399–1461; 1470–1471)
Henry IV (1399–1413)	Thomas Arundel (1399) John Scarle (1399–1401) Edmund Stafford (1401–1403) Henry Beaufort (1403–1405) Thomas Langley (1405–1407) Thomas Arundel (1407–1410) Duke of Exeter (1410–1412) Thomas Arundel (1412–1413)
Henry V (1413–1422)	Henry Beaufort (1413–1417) Thomas Langley (1417–1422)
Henry VI (1422–1461) (1470–1471)	Thomas Langley (1422–1424) Henry Beaufort (1424–1426) John Kemp (1426–1432) John Stafford (1432–1450) John Kemp (1450–1454) 5th Earl of Salisbury (1454–1455) Thomas Bourchier (1455–1456) William Waynflete (1456–1460) George Neville (1460–1461; 1470–1471)

v t e Bishops of Worcester
Early medieval	Bosel Oftfor Egwin of Evesham Wilfrith (I) Milred Waermund Tilhere Heathured Denebeorht Heahbeorht Ealhhun Werferth Æthelhun Wilfrith (II) Koenwald Dunstan Oswald Ealdwulf
High medieval	Wulfstan (I) Leofsige Beorhtheah Lyfing Ælfric Puttoc Lyfing Ealdred Wulfstan (II) Samson Theulf Simon John de Pageham Alured Roger Baldwin of Forde William of Northall Robert FitzRalph Henry de Sully John of Coutances Mauger Randulf of Evesham Walter de Gray Sylvester William de Blois Walter de Cantilupe Nicholas of Ely Godfrey Giffard
Late medieval	John St German William Gainsborough Walter Reynolds Walter Maidstone Thomas Cobham Wulstan Bransford Adam Orleton Simon Montacute Thomas Hemenhale Wulstan Bransford John of Thoresby Reginald Brian John Barnet William Whittlesey William Lenn Walter Lyghe Henry Wakefield Robert Tideman of Winchcombe Richard Clifford Thomas Peverel Philip Morgan Thomas Polton Thomas Brunce Thomas Bourchier John Carpenter ("Bishop of Worcester and Westbury") John Alcock Robert Morton Giovanni de' Gigli
Early modern	Silvestro de' Gigli Girolamo Ghinucci Hugh Latimer John Bell Nicholas Heath John Hooper, Bishop of Worcester and Gloucester Nicholas Heath Richard Pate Edwin Sandys Nicholas Bullingham John Whitgift Edmund Freke Richard Fletcher Thomas Bilson Gervase Babington Henry Parry John Thornborough John Prideaux Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth) George Morley John Gauden John Earle Robert Skinner Walter Blandford James Fleetwood William Thomas Edward Stillingfleet William Lloyd John Hough Isaac Maddox James Johnson Brownlow North Richard Hurd
Late modern	Folliott Cornewall Robert Carr Henry Pepys Henry Philpott John Perowne Charles Gore Huyshe Yeatman-Biggs Ernest Pearce Arthur Perowne William Wilson Cash Mervyn Charles-Edwards Robin Woods Philip Goodrich Peter Selby John Inge

v t e Archbishops of Canterbury
List of archbishops of Canterbury
Pre-Conquest	Augustine Laurence Mellitus Justus Honorius Deusdedit Wighard Theodore of Tarsus Berhtwald Tatwine Nothhelm Cuthbert Bregowine Jænberht Æthelhard Wulfred Feologild Ceolnoth Æthelred Plegmund Athelm Wulfhelm Oda Ælfsige Byrhthelm Dunstan Æthelgar Sigeric Ælfric of Abingdon Ælfheah Lyfing Æthelnoth Eadsige Robert of Jumièges Stigand
Conquest to Reformation	Lanfranc Anselm Ralph d'Escures William de Corbeil Theobald of Bec Thomas Becket Roger de Bailleul Richard of Dover Baldwin of Forde Reginald Fitz Jocelin Hubert Walter Reginald John de Gray Stephen Langton Walter d'Eynsham Richard le Grant Ralph Neville John of Sittingbourne John Blund Edmund of Abingdon Boniface William Chillenden Robert Kilwardby Robert Burnell John Peckham Robert Winchelsey Thomas Cobham Walter Reynolds Simon Mepeham John de Stratford John de Ufford Thomas Bradwardine Simon Islip William Edington Simon Langham William Whittlesey Simon Sudbury William Courtenay Thomas Arundel Roger Walden Thomas Arundel Henry Chichele John Stafford John Kemp Thomas Bourchier John Morton Thomas Langton Henry Deane William Warham Thomas Cranmer Reginald Pole
Post-Reformation	Matthew Parker Edmund Grindal John Whitgift Richard Bancroft George Abbot William Laud Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth) William Juxon Gilbert Sheldon William Sancroft John Tillotson Thomas Tenison William Wake John Potter Thomas Herring Matthew Hutton Thomas Secker Frederick Cornwallis John Moore Charles Manners-Sutton William Howley John Bird Sumner Charles Longley Archibald Campbell Tait Edward White Benson Frederick Temple Randall Davidson Cosmo Lang William Temple Geoffrey Fisher Michael Ramsey Donald Coggan Robert Runcie George Carey Rowan Williams Justin Welby
Italics indicate a person who was elected but not confirmed.

v t e Bishops of Ely
High Medieval	Hervey le Breton Nigel Geoffrey Ridel William de Longchamp Eustace Robert of York John of Fountains Geoffrey de Burgh Hugh of Northwold William of Kilkenny Hugh de Balsham John Kirkby William of Louth John Salmon/John Langton Ralph Walpole
Late Medieval	Robert Orford John Ketton John Hotham Simon Montacute Thomas de Lisle Simon Langham John Barnet Thomas Arundel John Fordham Philip Morgan Lewis of Luxembourg Thomas Bourchier William Grey John Morton John Alcock
Early modern	Richard Redman James Stanley Nicholas West Thomas Goodrich Thomas Thirlby Richard Cox Martin Heton Lancelot Andrewes Nicholas Felton John Buckeridge Francis White Matthew Wren Episcopacy abolished (Commonwealth) Matthew Wren Benjamin Lany Peter Gunning Francis Turner Simon Patrick John Moore William Fleetwood Thomas Green Robert Butts Thomas Gooch Matthias Mawson Edmund Keene James Yorke
Late modern	Thomas Dampier Bowyer Sparke Joseph Allen Thomas Turton Harold Browne James Woodford Lord Alwyne Compton Frederic Chase Leonard White-Thomson Bernard Heywood Edward Wynn Noel Hudson Edward Roberts Peter Walker Stephen Sykes Anthony Russell Stephen Conway

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