Item 3 - John Fisher to Bishop [Fox]

Identity area

Reference code

SJLM/7/8/1/3

Unique identifier

GB 1859 SJLM/7/8/1/3

Title

John Fisher to Bishop [Fox]

Date(s)

  • 1509 (Creation)

Level of description

Item

Extent and medium

1 item; paper

Context area

Name of creator

(1469-1535)

Biographical history

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.

Archival history

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

An undated letter from John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester to another bishop [possibly Richard Fox of Winchester] about the problems in securing the King's signature [Henry VIII] in connection with causes affecting the Lady Margaret's estate.

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Language of material

  • Latin

Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

torn in places but repaired

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Publication note

Printed in Eagle Vol 16, p. 357

Notes area

Note

This letter should be placed in date before August 1509 when the king granted his licence. It mentions three letters patent which the King [Henry VIII] promised.

Note

The letter appears to be in Fisher's own hand.

Alternative identifier(s)

Former ref.

D105.85

Former ref.

SJLM/7/8/4

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Physical storage

  • Box: SJLM/7/8/1-3