John Morton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the 15th century English Bishop; for other uses see John Morton (disambiguation).
| John Cardinal Morton | |
| Archbishop of Canterbury | |
| Enthroned | {{{began}}} |
|---|---|
| Ended | September 15, 1500 |
| Predecessor | Thomas Bourchier |
| Successor | Thomas Langton |
| Consecration | translated October 6, 1486 |
| Born | about 1420 |
| Died | September 15, 1500 |
| Buried | Canterbury Cathedral |
John Cardinal Morton (c. 1420 – September 15, 1500) was an English cleric.
Contents |
[edit] Life
Born in Dorset, he was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. In February of 1477, he was sent by the Yorkist King Edward IV, together with Sir John Donne, as ambassador to the French court. Edward appointed him Bishop of Ely on August 8, 1479 and he was consecrated on January 31, 1479.[1] The young Thomas More served as a page in Morton's house. After the dynastic change to the Tudors in 1485, Henry VII, made him Archbishop of Canterbury the following year 1486 on October 6.[2] Morton was by then an important foe of the preceding Yorkist regime of King Richard III, and a mentor of Sir Thomas More, who acted in revels at Morton's court at Knole, the archiepiscopal palace, and mentioned him in his work Utopia. In 1493 he was appointed titular Cardinal of the church of St. Anastasia in Rome by Pope Alexander VI. He built the "Old Palace" of Hatfield House where Queen Elizabeth I of England spent much of her girlhood.
Morton may be best known for the Catch-22 situation known as "Morton's Fork." Appointed Lord Chancellor of England in 1487,[3] Morton said, "If the subject is seen to live frugally, tell him because he is clearly a money saver of great ability he can afford to give generously to the King. If, however, the subject lives a life of great extravagance, tell him he, too, can afford to give largely, the proof of his opulence being evident in his expenditure."
He died at Knole, Kent, on September 15, 1500.[2] His monument was placed in the south-east part of Canterbury Cathedral's crypt, with an effigy and an arch decorated with angels, cardinal's caps, and tun barrels inscribed with MOR (a pun on his name, Mor-ton). However, this monument is a cenotaph since his actual body was buried in the crypt's central chapel of the Virgin Mary, according to his wishes.
[edit] Morton and the history of Richard III
Enthusiasts of King Richard III accuse Morton of concocting the account of Richard's murder of Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York and other crimes attributed to Richard III. Morton's account is reproduced in part in Sir Thomas More's History of King Richard III. Josephine Tey points out that the slander against Richard appears first in Ely when Morton was there, then in France at a time when Morton had taken refuge in that country.[4]
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology, Third Edition, revised, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
[edit] External links
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by John Alcock |
Lord Chancellor 1487–1500 |
Succeeded by Henry Deane (Keeper of the Great Seal) |
| Roman Catholic Church titles | ||
| Preceded by William Grey |
Bishop of Ely 1479–1486 |
Succeeded by John Alcock |
| Preceded by Thomas Bourchier |
Archbishop of Canterbury 1486–1500 |
Succeeded by Thomas Langton |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by John Russell |
Chancellor of the University of Oxford 1494–1500 |
Succeeded by William Smyth |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Morton, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Bishop of Ely; Archbishop of Canterbury; Lord Chancellor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | about 1420 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 15, 1500 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Knole, Kent |
