John Clerk (bishop)

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John Clerk
Bishop of Bath and Wells
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Province	Canterbury
Diocese	Bath and Wells
Predecessor	Thomas Wolsey
Successor	William Knight
Previous post(s)	Dean of Windsor
Personal details
Born	England
Died	3 January 1541
Buried	St Botolph's Church, Aldgate
Denomination	Catholic

John Clerk (died 3 January 1541) was an English bishop. He was educated at Cambridge University,^[1] and went on to serve under Cardinal Wolsey in a variety of capacities. He was also useful in a diplomatic capacity to both Wolsey and Henry VIII of England.

Life

He was Dean of Windsor from 1519 to 1523, then Bishop of Bath and Wells until his death. When the question of King Henry VIII's annulment of his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, was raised Clerk was appointed as one of the Queen's counsellors. Wolsey persuaded him to agree on her behalf that she should withdraw from the proceedings at Rome. Afterwards he joined in pronouncing the annulment, and is believed to have assisted Thomas Cranmer in work on the Act of Supremacy.

His last embassy was in 1540, to the Duke of Cleves, to explain Henry's annulment of his marriage to Anne of Cleves. On his return he was taken ill at Dunkirk, possibly having been poisoned, but he managed to reach England, though only to die a short time later. He lies buried at St. Botolph's, Aldgate, not at Dunkirk, as sometimes stated.^[2]

References

^ "Clerk, John (CLRK498J)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
^ Catholic Encyclopedia

External links

Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "John Clerk" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Church of England titles
Preceded by Thomas Wolsey	Bishop of Bath and Wells 1523–1541	Succeeded by William Knight

v t e Deans of Windsor
Late Medieval	William Mugge Walter Almaly Thomas Butler Richard Kingston John Arundel Thomas Manning John Faux William Morland William Dudley Peter Courtenay Richard Beauchamp Thomas Danett William Bealey John Morgan Christopher Urswick
Early modern	Christopher Bainbridge Thomas Hobbs Nicholas West John Vesey John Clerk Richard Sampson William Franklyn Owen Oglethorpe Hugh Weston John Boxall George Carew William Day Robert Bennet Giles Thomson Anthony Maxey Marco Antonio de Dominis Henry Beaumont Matthew Wren Christopher Wren Edward Hyde Bruno Ryves John Durell Francis Turner Gregory Hascard Thomas Manningham John Robinson The Lord Willoughby de Broke Peniston Booth Frederick Keppel John Harley John Douglas James Cornwallis Charles Manners-Sutton
Late modern	Edward Legge Henry Hobart George Neville-Grenville Gerald Wellesley George Connor Randall Davidson Philip Eliot Albert Baillie Eric Hamilton Robin Woods Launcelot Fleming Michael Mann Patrick Mitchell David Conner Christopher Cocksworth

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