Nicholas West

Nicholas West memorial, St Mary's, Putney

Nicholas West (1461 – 28 April 1533), was an English bishop and diplomatist, born at Putney, and educated at Eton and at King's College, Cambridge, of which he became a fellow in 1486.^[1]

He was soon ordained and appointed rector of Egglescliffe, Durham, receiving a little later two other livings and becoming chaplain to King Henry VII.

In 1509 Henry VIII appointed him dean of St. George's Chapel, Windsor, and in 1515 he was elected bishop of Ely. Prior to his elevation, West was (or was also) Archdeacon of Derby.^[2] West's long and successful career as a diplomatist began in 1502 through his friendship with Richard Foxe, bishop of Durham.

In the interests of Henry VII he visited the German king Maximilian I and George, Duke of Saxony; in 1506 he negotiated an important commercial treaty with Flanders, and he attempted to arrange marriages between the king's daughter Mary and the future emperor Charles V, and between the king himself and Charles's sister Margaret.

By Henry VIII, West was sent many times to Scotland and France. Occupied mainly during the years 1513 and 1514 with journeys to and from Scotland, he visited Louis XII of France in the autumn of 1514 and his successor Francis I in 1515.

In 1515 also he arranged a defensive treaty between England and France, and he was principally responsible for treaties concluded between the two countries in 1518 and 1525, and at other times. He was trusted and employed on personal matters by Cardinal Wolsey.

The bishop built two beautiful chapels, one in Putney church and the other in Ely Cathedral, where he is buried.

References

↑ "West, Nicholas (WST483N)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
↑ Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300-1541: Archdeacons of Derby

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by James Stanley	Bishop of Ely 1515–1534	Succeeded by Thomas Goodrich

Archdeacons of Derby

High Medieval	G. Richard Froger N. Godfrey de Luci Yvo Vivian de Stagno William de Muschamp William de Luteby David de Sancta Frideswida William de Weston Simon Jordan de Wymburne Elias de Napton

Late Medieval	Geoffrey de Blaby/Glaston Anthony de Monte Peliologo John de Asheby John de Marisco Hugh de Marisco Robert de Stretton William Lombe John de Outheby Walter Bullock John Bride William Chauntre Edmund Hals

Early modern	Nicholas West John Taylor Richard Strete David Pole John Ramridge Richard Walker Laurence Nowell Luke Gilpin Walter Marsh John Walton Valentine Overton Christopher Helme Samuel Clerk William Higgins Thomas Brown/Browne Francis Ashenhurst Thomas Goodwin Henry Ryder Sneyd Davies Henry Egerton

Late modern	James Falconer Edmund Outram Samuel Butler Francis Hodgson Walter Shirley Thomas Hill Southwell diocese: Edward Balston Henry Freer Edward Were Derby diocese: Edward Noakes Henry FitzHerbert John Richardson Robert Dell Ian Gatford Christopher Cunliffe

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 The Hon Frederick Keppel The Hon John Harley John Douglas The Hon 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

Authority control	VIAF: 263891160 SUDOC: 150137206