Showing 374 results

Authority record

Beaufort, Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN148
  • Person
  • 1443-1509

Lady Margaret Beaufort was mother to King Henry VII of England and foundress of St. John’s College. Born on 31st May 1443 at Bletsoe Castle in Bedfordshire, she was the daughter of Margaret Beauchamp of Bletsoe and John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, and a descendant of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster. Margaret’s first marriage to John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, took place c.1450, although this marriage was never recognised by Margaret herself and was dissolved in 1453. Her second marriage to Edmund Tudor, half-brother of King Henry VI of England, took place on 1st November 1455, when Margaret was twelve years of age. Soon after, Margaret fell pregnant with Edmund’s child. In November 1456, she was widowed when Edmund, fighting on the Lancastrian side of the Wars of the Roses, was captured by Yorkist forces and died in captivity at Carmarthen. A few months later, Margaret gave birth to her only son, the future Henry VII of England, at Pembroke Castle in Wales, where she was protected by her brother-in-law, Jasper Tudor.

In 1458, Margaret married Sir Henry Stafford, the son of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham. While the couple bore no children, Margaret enjoyed a long and close relationship with her husband until his death in 1471. Margaret’s fourth and final marriage to Thomas Stanley, the Lord High Constable and King of Mann, took place in June 1472.

After the success of her son, Henry, in securing the crown at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Margaret benefited significantly from her newfound authority as the King’s mother and wielded considerable power within the royal court. She was highly influential and a wealthy landowner and patron, generously donating money for the foundation of schools and colleges, including God’s House, Cambridge, which was refounded in 1505 as Christ’s College, and St. John’s College, founded in 1511 after her death with money from her estate. The Lady Margaret Professorship in Divinity, held respectively at Oxford and Cambridge universities, was established in her name in 1502.

Margaret died on 29th June 1509 and was buried in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey, in a tomb created by the Florentine sculptor, Pietro Torrigiano. She remains a central figure in the history of the early Tudor dynasty and in the foundation of St. John’s College.

Henry VIII, King of England

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN149
  • Person
  • 1491-1547

Henry VIII was King of England from 1509 until his death in 1547. He was the second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, and grandson of Lady Margaret Beaufort. Born Henry Tudor in June 1491, he was raised with his sisters and received a first-class education under the supervision of his grandmother, who helped to ensure that Henry was tutored by some of the finest scholars of the day. After the death of his older brother, Arthur, in 1502, he became the new heir to the throne and was crowned King of England following the death of his father on 23rd June 1509, shortly before Henry’s eighteenth birthday. By this time, he had married his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, his brother’s widow. The couple had only daughter who survived infancy, Mary, born in 1516.

Henry is often noted for having had six successive wives during the course of his life. His second marriage to Anne Boleyn in 1533 followed the annulment of his marriage to Catherine and, in the face of papal opposition, a break with the Church of Rome that led in turn to the English Reformation and the appointment of Henry as Supreme Head of the Church of England. His marriage to Anne, and subsequent marriages to Jane Seymour (m.1536), Anne of Cleves (m.1540), Catherine Howard (m.1540), and Catherine Parr (m.1543), resulted in two further children: a daughter, Elizabeth, born to Anne Boleyn in 1533, and a son, Edward, born to Jane Seymour in 1537.

Henry’s reign saw important changes not only to the formation of the church, but to the legal union of England and Wales, with the Laws in Wales Acts of 1535 and 1542, and to England’s relationship with Ireland, following the Crown of Ireland Act of 1542. Henry also introduced significant measures to expand and develop the Royal Navy and engaged in an active, albeit expensive and often unsuccessful, foreign policy of wars against King Francis I of France and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. While as a young man he was highly-respected for his learning, athleticism and handsome appearance, the latter years of Henry’s life were characterised by periods of ill health and increased paranoia. He died in 1547 and was interred in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Stafford, Henry

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN101
  • Person
  • c.1425-1471

Henry Stafford was the second son of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, and the third husband of Lady Margaret Beaufort, his second cousin. They were wedded in January 1458 and enjoyed a long and ostensibly amicable marriage until Stafford’s death in 1471. Like Lady Margaret, Stafford backed the House of Lancaster during the early years of the Wars of the Roses and fought alongside the Lancastrians at the battle of Towton in March 1461. However, following his pardon by Edward IV of England in June 1461, Stafford retained a cautious allegiance to the Yorkist King in subsequent challenges to his sovereignty. Stafford supported Edward at the Battle of Losecoat Field in 1470 and again at Barnet in 1471, where he was wounded during the conflict and later died from his injuries.

Tudor, Edmund

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN83
  • Person
  • 1430-1456

Born in 1430 to Owen Tudor and the dowager queen Catherine of Valois at Much Hadham Palace in Hertfordshire, Edmund Tudor was the half-brother of Henry VI of England and father to Henry VII. After the death of his mother in 1437, Edmund and his brother Jasper were raised in the care of Katherine de la Pole, the eldest daughter of the 2nd Earl of Suffolk, Michael de la Pole. He became a prominent member of the royal court of Henry VI and was ennobled as Earl of Richmond in 1449.

In 1453, Edmund was given the wardship of the then nine-year old Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby. The two were married two years later at Bletsoe Castle on 1st November 1455 and the marriage was subsequently consummated. However, Edmund died before the birth of their son, Henry.

As half-brother to the King, Edmund was inevitably implicated in the bloody power struggles of the Wars of the Roses. In late 1455, he was sent to Wales to enforce the authority of the King and remained there until August 1456 in order to suppress a rebellion led by Gruffydd ap Nicholas. During this time, however, Henry VI was incarcerated by Richard, Duke of York, who resumed the office of Protector and sent troops under William Herbert in August 1456 to seize South Wales. On reaching Carmarthen Castle, Herbert’s forces captured Edmund and imprisoned him in the Castle. He died in captivity in November 1456.

Weyck, Meynnart

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN104
  • Person
  • fl.1502-1511

Meynnart Wewcyck was a Flemish painter. He was responsible for drawing the design for Lady Margaret's tomb, a copy of which was then given to the sculptor in charge of producing the gilt-bronze tomb effigy, Pietro Torrigiano.

Beauchamp, Eleanor, Duchess of Somerset

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN156
  • Person
  • 1408-1467

Lady Eleanor Beauchamp was the second daughter of Richard de Beauchamp and Elizabeth de Berkeley. She married Thomas de Ros, 8th Baron de Ros, in 1423. After the death of her first husband in 1430, Eleanor married Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset. Her final marriage was to Walter Rokesley. She died in 1467 at Baynard’s Castle in London.

Beaufort, Henry, Duke of Somerset

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN157
  • Person
  • 1436-1464

Henry Beaufort was an important military figure in the English Wars of the Roses. The son of Edmund Beaufort and Eleanor Beauchamp, Henry was born c.1436 and first fought alongside his father on the Lancastrian side at the First Battle of St Albans in 1455. In the nine years that followed, Henry continued to engage in a number of military campaigns against the Yorkists, culminating in his capture and execution at the Battle of Hexham in 1464. Henry died unmarried and without issue. He was buried at Hexham Abbey.

Talbot, Elizabeth, Duchess of Norfolk

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN160
  • Person
  • c.1442/1443 - 1506/1507

Lady Elizabeth Talbot was a daughter of John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, and Lady Margaret Beauchamp. She was married to John de Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk.

Grey, Thomas, 2nd Marquess of Dorset

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN161
  • Person
  • 1477-1530

Thomas Grey was an English landowner, courtier and peer. He was the son of Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, and Cecily Bonville, and the grandson of Queen Elizabeth Woodville. The wife of Henry VII of England, Elizabeth of York, was the half-sister of the 1st Marquess, and the younger Thomas became a ward of the king in 1492. He was made a knight of the Bath in 1494 and a knight of the Garter in 1501. As a prominent courtier, Thomas took part in a number of diplomaticmissions overseas and fulfilled various duties at court. He was also an active soldier and was present at the siege of Tournai and the Battle of the Spurs in 1513. He was married to (1) Eleanor St John and (2) Margaret Wotton. On his death in 1530, Thomas Grey was one of the wealthiest men in England, the owner of multiple large estates. He was buried at Astley in Warwickshire.

Lupton, Roger

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN162
  • Person
  • 1456-1539/40

Roger Lupton was an English lawyer, Provost of Eton College, and chaplain to both Henry VII and Henry VIII of England. He was born in Sedbergh, Yorkshire and studied at Cambridge University. He was elected Fellow and Provost of Eton College in 1503/4, a position he retained until 1535. Lupton financed the foundation of Sedbergh School from 1525 and in 1527, established six scholarships at St. John’s College, Cambridge, to be awarded to students of Sedbergh School. He was an executor of Henry VII’s will. After his death in 1539/40, Lupton was buried at Eton College, in a side chapel commissioned by him.

Edward IV of England

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN155
  • Person
  • 1442-1483

Born at Rouen in Normandy, the second son of Richard, 3rd Duke of York, and Cecily Neville, Edward IV was the first Yorkist king of England and a key protagonist in the English Wars of the Roses. He became king in March 1461, after the defeat of the Lancastrian army at the Battle of Towton, and reigned until 1470, when he was overthrown. In 1471, Edward regained control of the crown and reigned again until his death in 1483. He was wedded to Elizabeth Woodville and the couple had ten children, including Elizabeth of York, the wife and Queen of Henry VII of England.

Beaufort, Edmund, Duke of Somerset

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN158
  • Person
  • 1406-1455

Edmund Beaufort was an English nobleman and a key protagonist in the English Wars of the Roses. A descendant of John of Gaunt, Edmund was the son of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, and Margaret Holland. He married Eleanor Beauchamp between 1431 and 1433, and the couple had ten surviving children. He was also the cousin of Henry VI of England and Richard, Duke of York, with whom he bitterly contested control of the crown following the deterioration in the health of Henry VI and his ability to rule. Tensions between Edmund and Richard culminated in a confrontation known as the First Battle of St Albans in 1455, in which Edmund was killed. The battle marked the beginning of a series of bloody conflicts between the Houses of York and Lancaster.

Beaufort, John, Duke of Somerset

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN159
  • Person
  • c.1403-1444

The father of Lady Margaret Beaufort, John Beaufort was the second son of John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, and Margaret Holland, and a descendant of John of Gaunt. He was an English nobleman and a military commander during the Hundred Years’ War, accompanying his cousin, Henry V of England, on campaigns in France. In 1425, he was captured while fighting and imprisoned until his release in 1438. He married Margaret Beauchamp of Bletso in 1439. In 1443, he was created 1st Duke of Somerset and made a Knight of the Garter. Following his death in 1444, the dukedom passed to his brother, Edmund Beaufort.

Bourchier, Thomas

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN163
  • Person
  • c.1404-1486

Thomas Bourchier was an English cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury. He was the son of William Bourchier and Anne of Gloucester, and the half-brother of Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham (father of Lady Margaret Beaufort’s third husband, Sir Henry Stafford). Educated at Oxford University, Thomas was appointed Chancellor of the University in 1434. In the same year, he was made Bishop of Worcester and in 1443, consecrated as Bishop of Ely. In 1454, Thomas was appointed Archbishop of Canterbury and also served briefly as Lord Chancellor of England from 1455. He was made a cardinal in 1467 and died in 1486 at Knole House, Kent. He was buried at Canterbury Cathedral.

Whitaker, William

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN164
  • Person
  • 1548-1595

William Whitaker was a prominent Protestant Calvinistic Anglican churchman, academic, and theologian. He was Master of St. John's College, and a leading divine in the university in the latter half of the sixteenth century. His uncle was Alexander Nowell, the Dean of St. Paul's Cathedral and catechist.

He was born at Holme, near Burnley, Lancashire, in 1548. He received his early education at the local parish school and then was enrolled in St Paul's School in London by his protestant uncle Alexander Nowell. Whitaker came up to Trinity College in October 1564. He was subsequently elected a scholar on the same foundation, proceeded B.A. in March 1568, and on 6 September 1569 was elected to a minor fellowship, and on 25 March 1571 to a major fellowship, at his college. In 1571 he commenced M.A. He was supported financially at Cambridge by his uncle.

On 3 February 1578 he was installed canon of Norwich Cathedral, and in the same year was admitted to the degree of B.D., and incorporated on 14 July at Oxford. In 1580 he was appointed by the crown to the regius professorship of divinity, to which Elizabeth shortly after added the chancellorship of St. Paul's, London, and from this time his position as the champion of the teaching of the Protestant and Reformed Church of England appears to have been definitely taken up

On 28 February 1586 Whitaker, on the recommendation of Whitgift and Burghley, was appointed by the crown to the mastership of St. John's College. The appointment was, however, opposed by a majority of the fellows on the ground of his supposed leanings towards puritanism. His rule as an administrator justified in almost equal measure the appointment and its objectors. The college increased greatly in numbers and reputation, but the puritan party gained ground considerably in the society. Whitaker was a no less resolute opponent of Lutheranism than of Roman doctrine and ritual.

In 1587 he was created D.D.; and in 1593, on the mastership of Trinity College falling vacant by the preferment of Dr. John Still to the bishopric of Bath and Wells, he was an unsuccessful candidate for the post.

Atlay, James

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN1
  • Person
  • 1817-1894

Son of Reverend Henry Atlay, James Atlay was educated at Grantham and Oakham schools and matriculated as an undergraduate at St John’s College, Cambridge, on 30th June 1836. He gained a BA in 1840 (9th Classic), and was elected to the Fellowship in 1842. He was ordained deacon the same year, priest the following year, and Bachelor of Divinity and Doctor of Divinity in 1850 and 1859 respectively. From 1843 to 1846 he held the curacy of Warsop in Nottinghamshire, and from 1847-1852 the vicarage of Madingley in Cambridgeshire. He was Whitehall Preacher 1856-58, Lady Margaret Preacher 1859 and 1887, and Select Preacher before the University of Cambridge in 1858, 1862, 1870, 1873, and 1890.

From 1846 to 1859 he was a tutor at St John’s College after which he was elected as successor to Walter Farquhar Hook as vicar in Leeds. He was well respected in the city, and was appointed canon residentiary at Ripon in 1861. Having refused the bishopric of Calcutta in 1867, the following year he succeeded Renn Dickson Hampden as Bishop of Hereford where he remained until his death on 24th December 1894. He is buried in ‘the layde arbour’ in Hereford Cathedral, where his tomb is adorned with a marble effigy.

Atlay married Frances Turner in 1859, resulting in several children.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 18, Lent Term 1895, p. 495
Accessible online at: https://documents.joh.cam.ac.uk/public/Eagle/Eagle%20Volumes/1890s/1895/Eagle_1895_Lent.pdf

Brumell, Edward

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN28
  • Person
  • 1815-1901

Brumell was born at Morpeth, and admitted a sizar to Christ’s College, Cambridge in 1832. He did not reside, but matriculated at St John’s College the following year. He was the Smith’s Prizeman, BA 1837 (3rd Wrangler) and Bachelor of Divinity 1848.

He was a fellow and tutor at St John’s College, and during 1846 served as Senior Proctor of the University. Ordained a deacon in 1844 and a priest in Ely a year later, Brumell became rector of Holt in Norfolk in 1853, and remained there until his death in 1901. He served as Rural Dean 1858-1900.

Brumell died without issue in 1901.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 23, Michaelmas Term 1901, p. 78
Accessible online at: https://documents.joh.cam.ac.uk/public/Eagle/Eagle%20Volumes/1900s/1902/Eagle_1901_Michaelmas.pdf

Crick, Thomas

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN154
  • Person
  • 1801-1876

Thomas Crick was born in April 1801, the son of Thomas Crick (Caius, 1774), Rector of Little Thurlow Suffolk. Educated at Norwich and Felsted, Crick was admitted Sizar to St John’s in 1818. He matriculated in 1819 and graduated BA in 1923, Bachelor of Divinity in 1833.

He was a Fellow at St John’s between 1825 and 1848, serving as a Tutor 1831-46, President 1839-46, and Public Orator 1836-48. During this time as a Fellow, he was also Rector of Little Thurlow, Suffolk, before moving to Staplehurst in Kent. He was Rector there until he died in 1876.

Field, Thomas

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN14
  • Person
  • 1811-1896

Reverend Canon Thomas Field B.D. was born on 3rd March 1822, the son of Reverend John Field (St John’s, 1807) and Louisa Bousquet. He was educated briefly at a small school in Northampton, followed by Oakham School until he entered St John’s College in 1840. He graduated BA in 1844, before being admitted to the Fellowship in 1947. During his time as a fellow, he also acted as Assistant Tutor. In 1950 he was ordained, and subsequently became Vicar of Madingley in 1958, a post which he held for four years. After that he became Vicar of Pampisford until 1968, before being invited to take up the Rectory of Bigby, near Brigg in Lincolnshire, which he held until his death.

A well liked character, Field was known for his generosity and kindness. He was married twice and had ten sons, three of whom were also members of St John’s, and one a member of Emmanuel College.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 19, Michaelmas 1896, p. 369
Accessible online at: https://documents.joh.cam.ac.uk/public/Eagle/Eagle%20Volumes/1890s/1897/Eagle_1896_Michaelmas.pdf

France, Francis

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN32
  • Person
  • 1816-1864

Born in Shropshire in 1816, Francis France was educated at Shrewsbury School before coming up to St John's College in 1837. He graduated BA (Senior Classic) in 1840 and was admitted to the Fellowship of the College in the same year. He was to remain a Fellow until his death, serving ten years from 1850 as a Tutor, and being elected President in 1854. He was appointed to the Archdeaconry of Ely in 1859 following the death of Rev. C. Hardwick.

France was well liked and respected, and his sudden death at the age of 48 was mourned by Fellows and members of the College alike.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 4, Easter 1864, p. 176
Accessible online at: https://documents.joh.cam.ac.uk/public/Eagle/Eagle%20Volumes/1860s/1864/Eagle_1864_Easter.pdf

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