Showing 319 results

Authority record
Person

Shirley, Ralph

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN99
  • Person
  • c.1461-1516

Sir Ralph Shirley was the husband of Lady Anne Shirley, daughter of Sir Henry Vernon of Haddon, Derbyshire. He served as Sheriff of Leicestershire and as bailiff to Lady Margaret Beaufort at Ware.

Scrope, Elizabeth

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN98
  • Person
  • c.1464-1517

Elizabeth Scrope (née Neville) was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in 1464. She was the daughter of Sir John de Neville, Earl of Northumberland, and Isabel Neville Norreys. Elizabeth married her first husband, Thomas le Scrope, 6th Lord Scrope of Masham, in 1486. She married her second husband, Sir Henry Wentworth, in 1494, following the death of her first husband in 1493. Elizabeth was widowed again after the death of Sir Henry c.1500. She died in 1517 and was buried beside Thomas le Scrope at Ludgate, London.

Stanley, Thomas, 1st Earl of Derby

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN97
  • Person
  • c.1433-1504

Lord Stanley was an English nobleman and the third husband of Lady Margaret Beaufort. He married Lady Margaret in 1472, following the death of his first wife, Eleanor Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury.

A powerful magnate and politician, Stanley inherited a number of significant estates and offices, including the suzerain title King of Mann, by which he assumed certain authoritative powers and control over the Isle of Man. He was made 1st Earl of Derby by his stepson, Henry VII of England, in 1485, and also served as Lord High Constable of England (1483-1504) and High Steward of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Over the course of his life, Stanley advanced his influence both within the English royal court and in the north-west of England, where he held vast estates in Cheshire and Lancashire. He died at Lathom in Lancashire in 1504.

Clarell, James

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN96
  • Person

Cofferer to Lady Margaret Beaufort, 1494 and 1498-9.

Sixtus IV, Pope

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN95
  • Person
  • 1414-1484

Born Francesco della Rovere, Pope Sixtus IV held papal office from 1471 until his death in 1484. Raised in the Italian region of Liguria, Francesco studied at the University of Padua and, as a young man, became a member of the Franciscan Order. He served as Minister General of the Order from 1464 to 1469 and as Cardinal-priest of San Pietro in Vincoli from 1467 to 1471. As Pope, Sixtus was a patron of both the arts and sciences – the Sistine Chapel in Rome was famously restored during his time in office – yet his papacy was also characterised by nepotism and rumours of sexual scandal.

Sante, John

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN94
  • Person
  • d.1496

John Sante was elected as abbot of Abingdon on 29 November 1468. It is not known when and where he was born, nor at what point he entered the Abingdon Abbey as a Benedictine monk. From 1468 onwards, however, Sante was active in a number of important diplomatic and administrative assignments, both on behalf of the English crown and, from the mid-1470s, the papal curia. He was made papal nuncio and commissary to England, Ireland and Wales, and in 1477, appointed to the highest rank of papal legate by Pope Sixtus IV. Sante served both Edward IV and Henry VII of England, but in 1489, was accused of conspiracy against the king in having sought to further the rebellion of John de la Pole, earl of Lincoln, two years earlier. As a result of this, Sante’s property as abbot was confiscated. He was pardoned in 1493.

Innocent VIII, Pope

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN93
  • Person
  • 1432-1492

Giovanni Battista Cybo (or ‘Cibo’) was born in Genoa to an eminent Genoese family. His father, Arano Cybo (c.1375-c.1455) was viceroy of Naples and Giovanni Battista was consequently closely aligned with the Neapolitan court for a good part of his early life. He was consecrated as Bishop of Savona in 1467 by Pope Paul II and was made a cardinal by Pope Sixtus IV in 1473. When Pope Sixtus died in 1484, Giovanni Battista succeeded him as Pope Innocent VIII until his own death in 1492.

Alexander VI, Pope

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN92
  • Person
  • 1431-1503

Born in the province of Valencia in 1431, Rodrigo Borgia (‘de Borja’) held papal office from 1492 until his death in 1503. After studying law at the university in Bologna as a young man, Rodrigo Borgia was appointed Cardinal-Deacon of San Nicola in Carcere at the age of twenty-five. He went on to hold a number of important administrative and episcopal positions, including Administrator of Valencia (1458-1492), Cardinal-Bishop of Porto e Santa Rufina (1476-1492), Administrator of Cartagena (1482-1492), Administrator of Mallorca (1489-1492), and Archbishop of Valencia (1492). The term of his papacy is generally viewed as having been blotted by nepotism, corruption and sexual scandal.

Hornby [Horneby], Henry

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN91
  • Person
  • c1457-1518

Henry Hornby was secretary, dean of chapel and chancellor to Lady Margaret Beaufort, and a key figure in the foundation of St. John's College, Cambridge. After graduating D.D. in 1495, Hornby was appointed Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge. He became Master of Peterhouse in 1509. Other notable appointments include Rector of Burton Bradstock, Dorset (1495-1517); Prebendary of Southwell (1496-1518); Prebendary of Lincoln (1501-1518), Dean of Wimborne, Dorset; and Rector of Orwell (1508-1518).

Hilton, Robert

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN90
  • Person

Yeoman of the wardrobe, 1498-1509.

Bedell, William

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN89
  • Person

A trusted official in the household of Lady Margaret Beaufort, treasurer to Thomas Wolsey, and bailiff of Cheshunt, Hertfordshire and possibly also of Kimbolton in Huntingdon. Bedell married Cecily Crathorne around 1506. He died in July 1518 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. In his will, Bedell attributed all of his wealth to Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Fox [Foxe], Richard, Bishop of Winchester

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN88
  • Person
  • c1448-1528

A prominent English churchman and statesman, Richard Foxe held many important ecclesiastical offices during the course of his life, including positions as the Bishop of Exeter, Durham, and from 1501, as Bishop of Winchester. He was a powerful political ally of King Henry VII of England and assumed a number of important diplomatic and ministerial responsibilities during Henry’s reign, both domestically and abroad. Foxe was appointed Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1487, a position which he held until his resignation in 1516. A generous benefactor, Foxe built and endowed grammar schools at Grantham and Taunton, and in 1517, officially founded Corpus Christi College, Oxford.

Foxe held a number of close connections to Cambridge. In 1500, he was elected Chancellor of the University and from 1507 to 1518, served as Master of Pembroke Hall. As one of Lady Margaret Beaufort’s executors, Foxe worked closely with John Fisher in establishing the foundation of St. John’s College. He died at Wolvesey in October 1528.

Morice, James

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN87
  • Person

Clerk of works at Collyweston and member of Lady Margaret Beaufort’s household.

Catherine (Katherine) of York

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN86
  • Person
  • 1479-1527

Born at Eltham Palace, Greenwich in 1479, Katherine of York was the daughter of King Edward IV of England and Elizabeth Woodville, and later sister-in-law to Henry VII. In October 1495, she married William Courtenay (1475-1511) and the couple had three children – Henry, Edward and Margaret. After her husband’s death, Katherine took a vow of celibacy and never remarried. She died at Tiverton Castle in 1527.

Ashton, Hugh

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN85
  • Person
  • d.1522

Ashton was a member of Lady Margaret Beaufort’s household and served as her receiver-general from around 1502, before rising to the position of comptroller from late 1508. He began an MA at Oxford in 1507, but was quickly granted permission to transfer to Cambridge in order to study canon law. Among his various subsequent appointments, Ashton served as canon and prebendary of St. Stephen’s, Westminster from 1509; Archdeacon of Winchester, 1511-1519; Archdeacon of Cornwall from 1515; Rector of Grasmere to 1511; and Archdeacon of York from 1516.

Ashton was an early fellow of and benefactor to St. John’s College. His tomb and effigy were transferred from their chantry in the old College chapel to the new chapel in 1868 and are still visible in the north transept today.

Blythe, Geoffrey

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN84
  • Person
  • c.1465-1530

Geoffrey Blythe was educated at Eton College and King’s College, Cambridge, the latter of which he is recorded as having entered in 1483. He was ordained as a priest on 4th April 1496. From 1503 until his death, Blythe served as the Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield. He was appointed president of the Council of Wales and the Marshes from 1512 to 1524.

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.

Bray, Reginald

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN82
  • Person
  • c.1440-1503

Architect, English courtier, and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster under Henry VII, from 1486-1503. Bray was born c. 1440 in the parish of St. John Bedwardine, near Worcester, and was educated at the Royal Grammar School Worcester. From 1467 onwards, he assumed an important role in Lady Margaret Beaufort’s household as receiver-general, primarily to Lady Margaret Beaufort and Sir Henry Stafford until 1471, and then subsequently to Lady Margaret and Thomas Stanley. He remained in the service of Lady Margaret until c.1499 and held principal responsibility for managing lands granted to her in 1487.

Other notable appointments include Knight of the Bath, and subsequently, Knight of the Garter; and Steward of the University of Oxford (1496).

In his work as an architect, Bray designed both St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle and Henry VII’s Chapel at Westminster. Together with John Alcock, he also played a key part in the construction of Jesus College, Cambridge, founded in 1496.

Bray married Katherine Hussey (d.1506) around 1475 and died without issue. He was buried at Windsor in St. George’s Chapel.

Lyster, Richard

  • GB-1859-SJCA-PN81
  • Person
  • c.1480-1554

Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, 1545-1552.

Results 1 to 20 of 319