Richard Foxe (1448-1528)

BISHOP Richard Foxe was one of the most important and influential men in England but never forgot his roots.

He added a porch to Ropsley church, the village of his birth and in the last days of his life he used his personal wealth to form the boys’ grammar school in Grantham – which survives today as the King’s School.

Foxe began his education at Magdalen College, Oxford, but was driven away by an outbreak of the plague and moved to university in Paris.

In Paris he met exiled claimant to the throne Henry Tudor, who appointed him as his secretary soon afterwards.

In 1485 after winning the Battle of Bosworth Field, King Henry VII appointed Foxe vicar of Stepney. Soon after his coronation, Henry also sent Foxe on diplomatic missions to France and the Netherlands.

He was then sent as ambassador to the court of Scotland, where he negotiated the marriage of Henry’s eldest daughter, Margaret, to James IV of Scotland.
This marriage was an important first step in the union of the two countries.

As a reward Foxe was appointed secretary of state, then Keeper of the Privy Seal, before becoming Bishop of Exeter in 1487 for five years although there is no evidence he even visited his see.

While Bishop of Exeter Foxe baptised and was godfather to the child who would become Henry VIII.

In 1492 Foxe became Bishop of Bath and Wells, where he remained for two years before becoming Bishop of Durham. While in the north he reinforced Norham Castle, which prevented a raid on England planned by the Scots.

He became Bishop of Winchester in 1501, having turned down the opportunity to become Archbishop of Canterbury.

In 1517 Foxe founded Corpus Christi College, Oxford, as a centre for a new kind of learning.

He founded a library at the college filled with classical texts in Greek and Hebrew, with the intention of using it to gain a fuller understanding of the Bible and society.

The scholar Erasmus declared Foxe’s library one of the wonders of the world.

As well as carrying out his duties to the church, Foxe continued in his office of Keeper of the Privy Seal but old age and diminishing eyesight forced him into retirement.

But in the summer of 1523 he used his still considerable influence against the crown’s exorbitant demand for half of all clerics’ income.

He died in Wolvesley, Hampshire, and was buried in Winchester Cathedral.

Days before he died he devoted his wealth to the founding grammar schools in Taunton and King’s School, Grantham.