John Alcock (bishop)

English churchman, bishop and Lord Chancellor (1430-1500)

John Alcock (c. 1430 – 1 October 1500) was an English churchman.

The statue of John Alcock in Worcester Cathedral

He was born at Beverley in Yorkshire, son of Sir William Alcock, Burgess of Kingston upon Hull and educated at Cambridge. In 1461 he was made dean of Westminster, and his subsequent promotion was rapid in both church and state. In 1461 he was made Master of the Rolls,[1] and in 1470 was sent as ambassador to the court of Castile. He became Bishop of Rochester on 15 March,[2] Bishop of Worcester on 15 July 1476[3] and of Ely on 6 October 1486.[4] He was Lord Chancellor, once from June 1475 to September 1475 and then again from October 1485 to March 1487.[1]

Alcock was one of the leading pre-Reformation churchmen; he was a man of deep learning and also a great architect. He founded a charity at Beverley and a grammar school at Kingston upon Hull. He restored many churches and colleges, but his greatest achievement was the building of Jesus College, Cambridge.

Alcock died on 1 October 1500[4] and lies buried in the Alcock Chantry in Ely Cathedral.

  1. 1.0 1.1 Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 88, that meant he became the third highest judge of England
  2. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 268
  3. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 280
  4. 4.0 4.1 Fryde Handbook of British Chronology p. 245

References

change
  • Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third Edition, revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
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Political offices
Preceded by
Laurence Booth
Lord Chancellor
1475
Succeeded by
Thomas Rotherham
Preceded by
Thomas Rotherham
Lord Chancellor
1485–1487
Succeeded by
John Morton
Preceded by
Thomas Rotherham
Bishop of Rochester
1472–1476
Succeeded by
John Russell
Preceded by
John Carpenter
Bishop of Worcester
1476–1486
Succeeded by
Robert Morton
Preceded by
John Morton
Bishop of Ely
1486–1500
Succeeded by
Richard Redman