Item 3 - Accounts: John Fisher

Born to Richard and Agnes Metcalfe of Askrigg, North Yorkshire, Nicholas Metcalfe studied at Cambridge (possibly at Michaelhouse) and graduated BA in 1495, MA in 1498, BTh in 1504, and DTh in 1507. He was released from lecturing duties in 1507 in order to conduct business on behalf of John Fisher, then Chancellor of England.

In 1512, Metcalfe became archdeacon of Rochester, one of many ecclesiastical positions he was to hold throughout his life. Other notable appointments include Rector of Henley, Oxfordshire (1510-1521); Rector of Woodham Ferrers, Essex (1517-1539); vicar of Southfleet, Kent (1531-1537); and canon and prebendary of Lincoln (1526-1539).

Metcalfe served as Master of St. John’s College, Cambridge from 1518 to 1537, following the resignation of his predecessor, Alan Percy. Working alongside John Fisher, Metcalfe greatly enhanced the College’s foundation during the course of his mastership, securing, for instance, properties such as Broomhall Priory in Berkshire and Higham Priory in Kent and acquiring a number of benefactions to support the fellows and scholars of the College. He was executor to Lady Margaret Beaufort.

Like Fisher, Metcalfe opposed the divorce of Henry VIII from his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, in 1533. However, his religious views and proximity to Fisher meant that, following Fisher’s execution in 1535, Metcalfe was subject to suspicion and was eventually summoned to London, where he testified to Thomas Cromwell. In 1537, he was compelled to resign his mastership. He died two years later in 1539 and was buried at Woodham Ferrers.