Cuthbert Tunstall

The Right Reverend Cuthbert Tunstall
Prince-Bishop of Durham

Church	Catholic Church
Diocese	Diocese of Durham
Elected	1530 & 1556
Term ended	1552 & 1559 (twice deprived)
Predecessor	Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
Successor	James Pilkington
Other posts	Bishop of London 1522–1530
Orders
Consecration	1522
Personal details
Born	1474 Hackforth, Yorkshire
Died	18 November 1559(1559-11-18)
Nationality	English
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Parents	Thomas Tunstall
Alma mater	University of Oxford

Cuthbert Tunstall (otherwise spelt Tunstal or Tonstall; 1474 – 18 November 1559) was an English Scholastic, church leader, diplomat, administrator and royal adviser. He served as Prince-Bishop of Durham during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.

Childhood and early career

Cuthbert Tunstall was born at Hackforth in Yorkshire in 1474, an illegitimate son of Thomas Tunstall of Thurland Castle in Lancashire, later a squire of the body of Richard III, and of his future second wife, a daughter of Sir John Conyers.^[1] His parents' subsequent marriage legitimated him under canon and civil law, if not under common law. His legitimate half-brother, Brian Tunstall, the so-called "stainless knight," was killed at the Battle of Flodden in 1513.

Nothing is known of Tunstall's early life, except that he spent two years as a kitchen boy in the household of Sir Thomas Holland, perhaps at Lynn, Norfolk.^[1] He was admitted to Balliol College, Oxford around 1491, where he studied mathematics, theology, and law. Around 1496 he became a scholar of the King's Hall, Cambridge. He did not receive a degree from either Oxford or Cambridge, but he graduated from the University of Padua in 1505 with a Doctor of Civil Law and a Doctor of Canon Law. At Padua he studied under some of the leading humanists, and became proficient in Greek and Hebrew.^[1]

William Warham, Archbishop of Canterbury, made Tunstall his chancellor on 25 August 1511, and shortly afterward appointed him rector of Harrow on the Hill. He eventually became a canon of Lincoln (1514) and archdeacon of Chester (1515). Soon thereafter he was employed on diplomatic business by King Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey. In 1515, Tunstall was sent to Flanders with Sir Thomas More.^[2] It was at Brussels that he would meet Erasmus as well, becoming the intimate friend of both scholars. In 1519 he was sent to Cologne; a visit to Worms (1520–21) gave him a sense of the significance held by the Lutheran movement and its literature.

Tunstall was made Master of the Rolls in 1516, and Dean of Salisbury in 1521. In 1522 he became Bishop of London by papal provision, and on 25 May 1523 he was made Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal. In 1525 he negotiated with the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V after the Battle of Pavia, and helped to arrange the Peace of Cambrai in 1529.^[3]

Bishop of Durham under Henry VIII and Edward VI

On 22 February 1530 — again by papal provision — Tunstall succeeded Cardinal Wolsey as Bishop of Durham. This role involved the assumption of quasi-regal power and authority within the territory of the diocese. In 1537 he was also made President of the new Council of the North. Although he was often engaged in time-consuming negotiations with the Scots, he took part in other public business, and attended parliament, where in 1539 he participated in the discussion on the Bill of Six Articles.^[3]

In the question of Henry's divorce, Tunstall acted as one of Queen Catherine's counselors. Unlike Bishop John Fisher and Sir Thomas More, during the troubled years that followed Tunstall adopted a policy of passive obedience and acquiescence in many matters regarding which he likely had little support. While Tunstall adhered firmly to Roman Catholic doctrine and practices, after some hesitation he accepted Henry as head of the Church of England, and publicly defended this position^[3] – thus accepting a schism with Rome.

Tunstall disliked the religious policy pursued by the advisers of King Edward VI, and voted against the first Act of Uniformity in 1549. However, he continued to discharge his public duties without interruption, and hoped that the Earl of Warwick might be induced to reverse the anti-Catholic policy of the Duke of Somerset. This hope failed, and after Somerset's fall, Tunstall was summoned to London in May 1551, and confined to his house there. During this captivity he composed a treatise on the Eucharist, which was published at Paris in 1554. At the end of 1551 he was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and a bill for his deprivation was introduced into the House of Commons. When this failed, he was tried by a commission on 4–5 October 1552, and deprived of his bishopric.^[3]

Bishop of Durham under Mary I and Elizabeth I

On the ascension of Mary I to the throne in 1553, Tunstall was granted liberty. His bishopric, which had been dissolved by Act of Parliament in March 1553, was re-established by a further Act in April 1554. Tunstall, now an octogenarian, again assumed his office as Bishop of Durham. He maintained his earlier conciliatory approach, indulging in no systematic persecution of Protestants.^[3] Through Mary's reign he ruled his diocese in peace.

When Elizabeth I ascended to the throne, Tunstall refused to take the Oath of Supremacy, and would not participate in the consecration of the Protestant Matthew Parker as Archbishop of Canterbury. He was arrested, deprived of his diocese in September 1559, and held prisoner at Lambeth Palace,^[3] where he died within a few weeks, aged 85. He was one of eleven Catholic bishops to die in custody during Elizabeth's reign.

The Anglican historian Albert F. Pollard wrote:

"Tunstall's long career of eighty-five years, for thirty-seven of which he was a bishop, is one of the most consistent and honourable in the sixteenth century. The extent of the religious revolution under Edward VI caused him to reverse his views on the royal supremacy and he refused to change them again under Elizabeth."

Works

De arte supputandi libri quattuor (1522)

Based on the Summa of Luca Pacioli, this was the first printed work published in England that was devoted exclusively to mathematics.

Confutatio cavillationum quibus SS. Eucharistiae Sacramentum ab impiis Caphernaitis impeti solet (Paris, 1552)
De veritate corporis et sanguinis domini nostri Jesu Christi in eucharistia (Paris, 1554)
Compendium in decem libros ethicorum Aristotelis (Paris, 1554)
Certaine godly and devout prayers made in Latin by C. Tunstall and translated into Englishe by Thomas Paynelle, Clerke (London, 1558).
Tunstall's correspondence as president of the Council of the North is in the British Library.

Notes

1 2 3 Newcombe, D. G. "Tunstal , Cuthbert (1474–1559)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Missing or empty |url= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
↑ More, Thomas (1991). Robert Adams, ed. Utopia: A Revised Translation, Backgrounds, Criticism (2 ed.). New York City: W. W. Norton & Company. p. 3. ISBN 0-393-96145-1.
1 2 3 4 5 6 Chisholm 1911.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tunstall, Cuthbert". Encyclopædia Britannica. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Burton, Edwin (1912). "Cuthbert Tunstall". In Herbermann, Charles. Catholic Encyclopedia. 15. New York: Robert Appleton.
Pollard, Albert Frederick (1899). "Tunstall, Cuthbert". In Lee, Sidney. Dictionary of National Biography. 57. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Newcombe, D. G. "Tunstal , Cuthbert (1474–1559)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/27817. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

External links

O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Cuthbert Tunstall", MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, University of St Andrews .

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Richard Fitz-James	Bishop of London 1522–1530	Succeeded by John Stokesley
Church of England titles
Preceded by Cardinal Thomas Wolsey	Prince-Bishop of Durham 1530–1552 1553–1558	Succeeded by James Pilkington
Political offices
Preceded by The Lord Marney	Lord Privy Seal 1523–1530	Succeeded by The Earl of Wiltshire

Deans of Salisbury
High Medieval	Walter Osbert Robert Serlo Roger Azo Robert of Chichester Henry de Beaumont John of Oxford Jordan Eustace Richard Poore Adam William de Wanda Robert de Hertford Robert Wickhampton Walter Scammel Henry Brandeston Simon de Micham
Late Medieval	Peter of Savoy William Rufati Reymund de Fargis Bertrand de Fargis Reynold Orsini James Orsini Robert Braybrooke Thomas Montagu John Chandler Simon Sydenham Thomas Brunce Nicholas Bildeston Adam Moleyns Richard Leyot Gilbert Kymer James Goldwell John Davison Edward Cheyne
Early modern	Thomas Ruthall William Atwater John Longland Cuthbert Tunstall Richard Pace Peter Vannes William Bradbridge Thomas Cole Edmund Freke John Piers John Bridges John Gordon John Williams John Bowle Edmund Mason Richard Baylie Ralph Brideoake Thomas Pierce Robert Woodward Edward Young John Younger John Clarke Thomas Greene Rowney Noel John Ekins
Late modern	Charles Talbot Hugh Pearson Francis Lear Henry Hamilton J. C. Ryle George Boyle Allan Webb William Page Roberts Andrew Burn John Randolph Edward Henderson Henry Robins Robert Moberly Kenneth Haworth Fenton Morley Sydney Evans Hugh Dickinson Derek Watson June Osborne

Bishops of London
Post-Augustine	Mellitus Cedd Wine Earconwald Waldhere Ingwald Ecgwulf Wigheah Eadberht Eadgar Coenwalh Eadbald Heathoberht Osmund Æthelnoth Ceolberht Deorwulf Swithwulf Heahstan Wulfsige Æthelweard Leofstan Theodred Brihthelm Dunstan Ælfstan Wulfstan Ælfhun Ælfwig Ælfweard Robert of Jumièges Spearhafoc
Post-Conquest	William the Norman Hugh d'Orevalle Maurice Richard de Belmeis I Gilbert Universalis Anselm (quashed) Robert de Sigello Richard de Belmeis II Gilbert Foliot Richard FitzNeal William of Sainte-Mère-Église Eustace of Fauconberg Roger Niger Fulk Basset Henry Wingham Richard Talbot Henry of Sandwich John Chishull Fulke Lovell Richard Gravesend Ralph Baldock Gilbert Segrave Richard Newport Stephen Gravesend Richard de Wentworth Ralph Stratford Michael Northburgh Simon Sudbury William Courtenay Robert Braybrooke Roger Walden Nicholas Bubwith Richard Clifford John Kemp William Grey Robert FitzHugh Robert Gilbert Thomas Kempe Richard Hill Thomas Savage William Warham William Barons Richard FitzJames Cuthbert Tunstall
During the Reformation	John Stokesley Edmund Bonner (1st) Nicholas Ridley Edmund Bonner (2nd)
Post-Reformation	Edmund Grindal Edwin Sandys John Aylmer Richard Fletcher Richard Bancroft Richard Vaughan Thomas Ravis George Abbot John King George Montaigne William Laud William Juxon Gilbert Sheldon Humphrey Henchman Henry Compton John Robinson Edmund Gibson Thomas Sherlock Thomas Hayter Richard Osbaldeston Richard Terrick Robert Lowth Beilby Porteus John Randolph William Howley Charles James Blomfield Archibald Campbell Tait John Jackson Frederick Temple Mandell Creighton Arthur Winnington-Ingram Geoffrey Fisher William Wand Henry Montgomery Campbell Robert Stopford Gerald Ellison Graham Leonard David Hope Richard Chartres Pete Broadbent (Acting)

Bishops and Prince-Bishops of Durham
Bishops of Lindisfarne	Aidan Finan Colmán Tuda United to York Eata Cuthbert Eadberht Eadfrith Æthelwold Cynewulf Higbald Egbert Heathwred Ecgred Eanbert Eardulf
Bishops of Chester-le-Street	Eardulf Cutheard Tilred Wigred Uchtred Sexhelm Aldred Ælfsige Aldhun
High Medieval Bishops of Durham	Aldhun Edmund Eadred Æthelric Æthelwine
High Medieval Prince-Bishops	William Walcher William de St-Calais Ranulf Flambard Geoffrey Rufus William Cumin William of St. Barbara Hugh de Puiset Philip of Poitou Richard Poore John de Gray Morgan Richard Marsh William Scot Richard Poore Thomas de Melsonby Nicholas Farnham Walter of Kirkham Robert Stitchill Robert of Holy Island Antony Bek
Late Medieval Prince-Bishops	Richard Kellaw Lewis de Beaumont Richard de Bury Thomas Hatfield John Fordham Walter Skirlaw Thomas Langley Robert Neville Lawrence Booth William Dudley John Sherwood Richard Foxe
Early modern Prince-Bishops	William Senhouse Christopher Bainbridge Thomas Ruthall Thomas Wolsey Cuthbert Tunstall James Pilkington Richard Barnes Matthew Hutton Tobias Matthew William James Richard Neile George Montaigne John Howson Thomas Morton John Cosin Nathaniel Crew William Talbot Edward Chandler Joseph Butler Richard Trevor John Egerton Thomas Thurlow Shute Barrington William Van Mildert
Late modern Bishops	Edward Maltby Charles Longley Henry Montagu Villiers Charles Baring Joseph Lightfoot Brooke Foss Westcott Handley Moule Hensley Henson Alwyn Williams Michael Ramsey Maurice Harland Ian Ramsey John Habgood David Jenkins Michael Turnbull Tom Wright Justin Welby Paul Butler

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 115145857798523020318 LCCN: n87861496 ISNI: 0000 0001 0877 8421 GND: 124653138 SUDOC: 028668685 BNF: cb120456631 (data) BNE: XX1307712 IATH: w6g16btp

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