Today is the anniversary of the death of John Skip, Bishop of Hereford, on 28th March 1552.
In today's "on this day in Tudor history" video, I talk about Skip's time serving Queen Anne Boleyn as chaplain and almoner, and a controversial sermon he preached just a month before Anne's fall.
Also on this day in history:
- 1483 - One of the birthdates given for Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, or Raphael as he is known, the Italian Renaissance artist and architect.
- 1489 – Death of Thomas Kemp (Kempe), Bishop of London and nephew of John Kemp, Archbishop of Canterbury, in Fulham. He was buried in the chantry chapel of St Paul's.
- 1555 – Burnings of Protestant martyrs Stephen Knight and William Pygot at Maldon and Braintree, respectively, in Essex, and William Dighel at Banbury, for heresy.
- 1558 – Protestant martyrs Cuthbert Symson, Hugh Foxe and John Devinish were burned at the stake at Smithfield.
- 1579 – Death of Sir Thomas Gargrave, administrator and Speaker of the House of Commons. He was elected as Speaker at Elizabeth I's first Parliament in 1559.
- 1591 – Birth of William Cecil, 2nd Earl of Salisbury and politician, son of Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, and grandson of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley.
I believe Anne gave John Skip the nod about this sermon and when she used Hamon and Queen Esther she was defending the rights of the clergy. Thomas Cromwell was going too far and she obviously wanted Henry to see her point of view before putting her campaign on the table to ask her husband to use the money from the small monasteries to educate people and Cromwell was in some jeopardy or imagined he was. It must have been a fascinating sermon. The bit about Esther is famous but Skip also talked about attacks on the clergy and greed using more traditional verses and questioned the entire ethos of the criticism against the clergy. He must have been a comfort to Anne in her last hours. He seemed like an honest man.
I am given to understand that I am related to John Skip