William Knight (bishop)
William Knight | |
---|---|
Archdeacon of Richmond Archdeacon of Chester | |
King's Clerk | |
In office 1526–1528 | |
Monarch | Henry VII |
Preceded by | Richard Pace |
Succeeded by | Stephen Gardiner |
William Knight (1475/76 – 1547
Knight was sent to Rome in 1527 to try to get Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. He rebuilt Horton Court in Gloucestershire using ideas from Italian architecture.
Life
Born in London, he entered
On 3 April 1514 he was at
In May 1515 Knight is styled chaplain to the king; in the same year he became dean of the collegiate church of Newark, Leicestershire. On 7 May he was appointed ambassador with Sir Edward Poynings to
He probably came to England in 1516, as he was in that year collated to the prebend of Farrendon-cum-Balderton in
On 10 June 1520 he was commissioned, with
In 1527, though he complained that he was old and losing his sight, Henry decided to send him to Rome to promote his divorce;
He went (13 December 1528) on another mission with William Benet to
In February 1532 Hacket and Knight were appointed to treat with the emperor's commissioners about commerce; the embassy did not bear much fruit. Knight held at this time the rectory of
On 29 May 1541 he was consecrated bishop of Bath and Wells, in succession to John Clerk, and he resigned all his other preferments. At Wells Thomas Fuller relates that he built a market cross with the assistance of Dean Woolman. He died in 1547 at Wiveliscombe, Somerset, and was buried in Wells Cathedral next to Sugar's Chapel, where a pulpit which he had erected and which bears his arms served as a monument. He was a patron of Henry Cole. When in London Knight lived in a house in Cannon Row, Westminster, afterwards (1536) assigned, in accordance with an act of 27 Henry VIII, to the bishops of Norwich. By his will he left money to Winchester and New Colleges.[3]
References
- ^ Richard Clark, ‘Knight, William (1475/6–1547)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2005
- ^ Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714, Kandruth-Kyte
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. .
- ^ Party per fess or and gules, an eagle with two heads displayed sable; on its breast a demi-rose and a demi-sun conjoined into one, counterchanged of the field.
- ^ Jones, B. Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1300–1541: volume 6: Northern province (York, Carlisle and Durham): Archdeacons: Richmond. Institute for Historical Research.
Attribution
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: "Knight, William (1476-1547)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.