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Queen of England (1558–1603) during a period, often called the Elizabethan Age, when England asserted itself as a major European power in politics, commerce, and the arts.
Elizabeth was born on 7 September 1533 at Greenwich Palace, the only child of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.
She was proclaimed to be heiress presumptive to the throne, displacing her seventeen-year-old half-sister Mary (1516–1558), now deemed illegitimate.
Elizabeth received the rigorous education normally reserved for male heirs, consisting of a course of studies centring on classical languages, history, rhetoric, and moral philosophy. Elizabeth's education came through her tutor William Grindal, a favourite pupil of the greatest educationist of the age, Roger Ascham, who had himself been taught by John Cheke, now tutor to Prince Edward. These men were all products of St John's College, Cambridge, which was a leading centre of humanist erudition. As queen, Elizabeth appointed as her secretary and leading counsellor William Cecil, whose mind and rhetorical skills, the essence of his statesmanship, had been formed at the same Cambridge college.
Mary's accession on 19 July 1553 soon proved bad news for Elizabeth. Mary made a decision to marry her Spanish cousin, Philip of Spain. It was an unpopular choice, and by late January 1554 provoked a rebellion led by Sir Thomas Wyatt the younger. It was in her name that Wyatt rebelled and Elizabeth was taken to the Tower and only narrowly escaped execution. Two months later, she was released from the Tower and placed in close custody for a year at Woodstock.
From 1555, when Mary's health began to break down and on 6 November 1558 Mary acknowledged Elizabeth as her heir. After the death of Mary on November 17, 1558, Elizabeth came to the throne. Her great coronation procession was a masterpiece of political courtship. As queen, Elizabeth reduced the size of the Privy Council and restructured the royal household. She carefully balanced the need for substantial administrative and judicial continuity with the desire for change; and she assembled a core of experienced and trustworthy advisers, including William Cecil, Nicholas Bacon, Francis Walsingham, and Nicholas Throckmorton.
Through the 1559 Act of Supremacy and the Act of Uniformity she began to restore England to Protestantism. Elizabeth’s government moved cautiously but steadily to transfer these structural and liturgical reforms from the statute books to the local parishes throughout the kingdom. Her religious settlement was under threat throughout her reign from both Protestant dissidents and from English Catholics. The Catholic threat took the form of a number of plots against her life, the most serious of which were in 1569, 1571 and 1586. Both earlier threats were linked at least indirectly to Mary, Queen of Scots, who had been driven from her own kingdom in 1568 and had taken refuge in England. However, In the Babington plot of 1586 Mary’s involvement was clearly proved and she was tried and sentenced to death. She was executed in 1588.
Elizabeth never married and many scholars think it unlikely that Elizabeth ever seriously intended to marry, for the dangers always outweighed the possible benefits, but she skilfully played one off against another and kept the marriage negotiations going for months, even years.
She also cannily played a complex diplomatic game with the rival interests of France and Spain. State-sanctioned raids, led by Sir Francis Drake and others, on Spanish shipping and ports alternated with conciliatory gestures and peace talks. But by the mid-1580s it became clear that England could not avoid a direct military confrontation with Spain. Word reached London that the Spanish king, Philip II, had begun to assemble an enormous fleet that would sail to the Netherlands, join forces with a waiting Spanish army led by the duke of Parma, and then proceed to an invasion and conquest of Protestant England. When in July 1588 the Invincible Armada reached English waters, the queen’s ships, in one of the most famous naval encounters of history, defeated the enemy fleet.
In the last decade of Elizabeth’s reign, her control over her country’s political, religious, and economic forces and over her representation of herself began to show severe strains. Bad harvests, persistent inflation, and unemployment caused hardship and a loss of public morale. Charges of corruption and greed led to widespread popular hatred of many of the queen’s favourites to whom she had given lucrative and much-resented monopolies. A series of disastrous military attempts to subjugate the Irish culminated in a crisis of authority with her last great favourite, Robert Devereux, when he returned from Ireland against the queen’s orders and then made an attempt to raise an insurrection. He was tried for treason and executed on February 25, 1601.
By 1603 Elizabeth was suffering from a chronic melancholy. She was refusing food and unable to sleep, not even going to bed, and not speaking much. In this condition she died a slow death, succumbing to bronchitis and, perhaps, pneumonia on 24 March 1603 at Richmond Palace, Surrey. The throne was handed to James I whose path of succession was smoothed by Cecil, but it is not known for certain whether Elizabeth actually named James as her successor. Elizabeth's funeral took place in Westminster Abbey on 28 April.

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

John Fisher was an English bishop, theologian and humanist academic, who was instrumental in the founding of St John's College. He is venerated as a martyr and saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Born in the town of Beverley, Yorkshire, in 1469, Fisher was a student at Cambridge in the 1480s, gaining his BA in 1488. He was subsequently elected Fellow of Michaelhouse, one of the two Colleges later refounded as Trinity College by Henry VIII. He became chaplain and confessor to Lady Margaret Beaufort, and in 1504, was appointed as Bishop of Rochester. At Cambridge, Fisher was made Vice-Chancellor of the University in 1501 and served as President of Queens’ College from 1505 to 1508. He also encouraged the creation of the University’s oldest professorship, the Lady Margaret Professorship of Divinity, in 1502, and was elected as its first occupant.

It was through Fisher’s influence that Lady Margaret was moved to support the foundation of Christ's College (1505) and St John's College, and it was Fisher who was to secure the establishment of St. John’s in 1511, after Lady Margaret’s death in 1509. Fisher fiercely opposed the dissolution of Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, a position which brought him into grave conflict with the King. Fisher’s refusal to take an oath supporting Henry's right to act as Supreme Head of the Church in England led ultimately to his imprisonment in the Tower of London in 1534. Since such a refusal was considered a treasonable offence, Fisher was tried and sentenced to death, despite his late appointment to the office of cardinal by Pope Paul III. He was executed on Tower Hill on 22 June 1535.

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.

Born in Hampstead on 6th December 1863, the son of Major Luke Loftus Bushe-Fox, an alumnus of Christ Church College Oxford and barrister, Loftus Bushe-Fox came up to St John’s College Cambridge in 1882 and first studied the Maths Tripos in 1885 as 12th Wrangler, before completing the Law Tripos (LLB) the following year. It was not until 1912 that he proceeded to take the LLM. He was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1890, before returning to St John’s in 1902.

Bushe-Fox returned to Cambridge to take up a position of Law Lecturer at St John’s in 1902, before being admitted to the Fellowship in 1903 as well as taking on the role of Junior Dean that year, and becoming a Tutor in 1905. He was committed to his work in the College and was well thought of by students and staff. Outside his academic commitments he was a keen sportsman, excelling at rowing, lawn tennis and shooting.

His relatively early death in 1916 was mourned by current staff and students alike, and was considered a great loss to the College and future students.

Obituary in The Eagle: Vol 37, Easter 1916, p. 381
Accessible online at: https://documents.joh.cam.ac.uk/public/Eagle/Eagle%20Volumes/1910s/1916/Eagle_1916_Easter.pdf

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

Treasurer to Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Leonardo Frescobaldi was a Florentine merchant and member of the Frescobaldi family, a prominent noble family of bankers and merchants active in Florence from the thirteenth century onwards. He was the son of Girolamo di Leonardo Frescobaldi (d.1518) and was based in London during the early sixteenth century. Together with Giovanni Cavalcanti, Frescobaldi served as a guarantor for Pietro Torrigiano in 1511 for his work on the tomb of Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Robert Fuller was the College's Head Porter from 1969 to 1985. He was the first Head Porter to welcome both female fellows and undergraduates.

Percival Edmund Gatty, usually known as Edmund Percival Gatty, was born on the 22nd June 1886 to Frederick Albert Gatty, a manufacturing chemist. He was educated at Orley Farm, before going on to Chichester Theological College. He recieved his B.A. in 1889, and was ordained priest in 1892. He held curacies in Brighton, Yorkshire, Bedfordshire and Leicestershire. In 1900 he became the vicar of Offley, Hertfordshire, and remained there until his retirement in 1925.

Gatty was an avid water-colour painter, and published the book A History of Offley and its Church in 1907. During the First World War, he was an ambulance driver with the French Army.

Gatty married Alice Mabel Wellwood Ker in 1899. They had one daughter, and one son: Hugh Percival Wharton Gatty, who went on to become a Fellow and Librarian of St John’s College. He died on the 30th December 1937.

Of Scottish origin, Gilbert was a friar and doctor active in London during the late 1490s. He was warden of the Franciscan Observants at Greenwich and an associate of Richard Foxe.

Born on 3 September 1945 to Herbert Charles and Rosina Sarah Goddard, Peter Goddard was educated at Emanuel School, London, before entering Trinity College, Cambridge where he obtained his BA (1966), and both his MA and PhD (1971). He then became a Research Fellow at Trinity College (1969-73), during which time he also became a Lecturer in Applied Mathematics at Durham University (1972-74). He then returned to Cambridge, where he progressed through a multitude of university positions, including: Assistant Lecturer (1976-5); Lecturer (1976-98); Reader in Mathematical Physics (1989-92); Professor of Theoretical Physics (1992-2004); and was a member of the University Council (2000-03). Goddard was also the Department Director, Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences (1991-94), becoming a Senior Fellow (1994-2010) after resigning this position, and then an Honorary Fellow (2011).

During his time teaching at Cambridge, Goddard also held positions at St John's College. He was elected to a Fellowship of the College in 1975, and then proceeded to be: Lecturer in Mathematics (1975-91); Tutor (1980-87); and Senior Tutor (1983-87). He remains a Fellow, but did take a break from his fellowship during the period 1994-2004, when he was serving as Master of the College. Goddard was also elected as Fellow of the Institute of Physics (1990), Fellow of Imperial College (1987), and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College Dublin (1995). He was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Society in 1989 and appointed CBE in 2002. He was also awarded an ScD Cantab in 1996, and has held a significant number of roles in the US as well as Britain.

He married Helena Barbara Ross in 1968, and together they have one son and one daughter. Goddard is currently Emeritus Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, having started there as Director (2004-12) and then becoming Professor (2012-16).