On this day in Tudor history, 14th March 1553, during the reign of King Edward VI, Arthur Bulkeley, Bishop of Bangor, died at his home in Bangor.
His final resting place? The quire of Bangor Cathedral.
But who was Bishop Bulkeley, and why does his legacy matter?
Arthur Bulkeley was a Welshman, born around 1495 in Beaumaris, Anglesey. He was a scholar, studying both canon and civil law at Oxford. But his path wasn’t just academic; he found himself serving some of the most powerful figures in Tudor England.
In the early 1530s, he became chaplain to Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, one of King Henry VIII’s closest friends. Later, he entered the service of Thomas Cromwell, the king’s chief minister. But, as was often the case in Tudor politics, things took a turn. By early 1537, he had fallen out of favour with Cromwell—though he managed to avoid the deadly fate that awaited so many of Cromwell’s enemies.
In 1541, Bulkeley was appointed Bishop of Bangor. He was a man of firsts—the first bishop of Bangor to actually reside there and the first to hail from North Wales. Unlike his predecessors, who often governed the diocese from afar, Bulkeley made Bangor his home and shaped its religious landscape.
One of his most significant acts came in 1542, when he ordered his priests to preach in Welsh rather than English. This decision not only made religious teachings more accessible to the local population but also reinforced the importance of the Welsh language at a time when English dominance was increasing.
Bulkeley seems to have been a reform-minded bishop. His personal library contained works by humanist scholars—think Erasmus and his contemporaries. And at his death, he bequeathed two English Bibles to Bangor Cathedral, embracing the Protestant push for scripture in the vernacular.
Arthur Bulkeley may not be the most famous name from the Tudor period, but his influence on religious life in Wales was undeniable. A scholar, a reformer, and a bishop who made his mark on Bangor.
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