Thomas Ruthall

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For the English politician, see Thomas Ruthall (MP).

Thomas Ruthall
Chancellor of the University of Cambridge (1503–1504)
Dean of Salisbury (1505–1508)
Dean of Wimborne (c. 1508–1509)
Lord Privy Seal (1516–1523)
Orders
Ordination1490 (deacon)
Consecration1509
Personal details
Born
Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England
Died(1523-02-04)4 February 1523 (aged c. 55)
Westminster, Middlesex, England
BuriedSt John's Chapel, Westminster Abbey
NationalityEnglish
DenominationCatholic
ResidenceDurham Place (at death)
Alma materUniversity of Oxford

Thomas Ruthall (also spelled Ruthal, Rowthel or Rowthall; died 4 February 1523) was an English churchman, administrator and diplomat. He was a leading councillor of

Henry VIII of England.[1]

Education and early career

He was born at

king's secretary.[2][3]

Church and court career

Ruthall had a long series of ecclesiastical preferments. In 1495 he had the rectory of

privy councillor, appointed him Bishop of Durham in 1509, but Henry died before Ruthall was consecrated. Henry VIII confirmed his appointment, and continued him in the office of secretary. He was part of the skeleton council that accompanied Henry VIII to the Tower of London at the beginning of his reign, following the death of Henry VII.[4] In 1510, with Richard Foxe and Thomas Howard, Earl of Surrey, he negotiated a fragile peace with France.[2][5]

He went to France with the king in 1513 with a hundred men, but was sent back to England when James IV of Scotland threatened war. He took a part in the preparations for defence, strengthened Norham Castle, and wrote to Thomas Wolsey after the Battle of Flodden (1513). He was present at the marriage of Louis XII and the Princess Mary Tudor in 1514, and in 1516 was made Lord Privy Seal.[2]

In 1518 he was present when Wolsey was made a

Durham Place, London, and was buried in St John's Chapel, Westminster Abbey.[2]

Legacy

As a benefactor he repaired the bridge at Newcastle, and built a great chamber at

John Chedworth, in 1460.[2] He was a patron of Erasmus.[6] Thomas More was a colleague in government, and a friend, and dedicated his edition of Lucian to Ruthall.[7]

Styles and titles

See also

References

  1. G. R. Elton
    , The Tudor Revolution in Government (1953), p. 122.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Ruthall, Thomas" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  3. ^ Gairdner, Letters and Papers of Richard III and Henry VII, Rolls Ser. i. 405, &c.; Cal. State Papers, Venetian, i. 795, 799.
  4. ^ David Starkey, Henry VIII: A Biography
  5. ^ Thomas Fowler, The history of Corpus Christi college (1893), p. 15.
  6. Brendan Bradshaw, Eamon Duffy
    (editors), Humanism, Reform and the Reformation: The Career of Bishop John Fisher (1989).
  7. ^ Letter to Ruthall, in The Yale Edition of The Complete Works of St. Thomas More Volume 3, Part 1, Translations of Lucian

Sources

  • M. Johnson, 2004, Ruthall, Thomas (d. 1523)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Attribution

Academic offices
Preceded by Chancellor of the University of Cambridge
1503–1504 		Succeeded by
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Dean of Salisbury
1505–1508 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Dean of Wimborne
c. 1508–1509 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Bishop of Durham
1509–1523 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by
Dr Owen King
 Secretary of State
1500-1516 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Lord Privy Seal
1516–1523 		Succeeded by
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