David Pole (or Poole) (died May 1568) was an English Roman Catholic churchman and jurist; he was Bishop of Peterborough from 1557 until deprived by

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". El ...

Life

He was a fellow of

All Souls' College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...

, in 1520. He devoted himself to civil law, and graduated B.Can.L. on 2 July 1526 and D.Can.L. on 17 February 1527 – 1528. In 1529 he became an advocate in

Doctors' Commons Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil (as opposed to common) law in London, namely ecclesiastical and admiralty law. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyers, the society had buildi ...

. He was connected with the

diocese of Lichfield The Diocese of Lichfield is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury, England. The bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Chad in the city of Lichfield. The diocese covers of seve ...

, where he held preferments, first under Bishop Geoffrey Blyth, and then under Bishop Rowland Lee. He was made

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Roman Catholic or Anglican clergy, a form of canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in particular seats, usually at the back of the ...

of Tachbrook in

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...

on 11 April 1531,

archdeacon of Salop The Archdeacon of Salop is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield. The incumbent is Paul Thomas. History Shropshire was historically split between the diocese of Hereford (under the Archdeacon of Shropshir ...

in April 1536, and

archdeacon of Derby The Archdeacon of Derby is a senior ecclesiastical officer in the Church of England Diocese of Derby. The archdeacon has responsibility for church buildings and clergy discipline in her/his archdeaconry – the Archdeaconry of Derby – which rough ...

on 8 January 1543. He received the appointment of

dean of the arches The Dean of the Arches is the judge who presides in the provincial ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This court is called the Arches Court of Canterbury. It hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary tribuna ...

and

vicar-general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of the

archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

on 14 November 1540. A conscientious adherent of the Roman Catholic faith, he occupied several positions of importance during Queen Mary's reign. In her first year he acted as vicar-general of the bishop of Lichfield,

Richard Sampson Richard Sampson (died 25 September 1554) was an English clergyman and composer of sacred music, who was Anglican bishop of Chichester and subsequently of Coventry and Lichfield. Biography He was educated at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, the Paris So ...

, and commissioner for the deprivation of married priests, and in his capacity of archdeacon he sat on the commission for the deprivation of

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...

, Nicholas Ridley, and

Hugh Latimer Hugh Latimer ( – 16 October 1555) was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and Bishop of Worcester during the Reformation, and later Church of England chaplain to King Edward VI. In 1555 under the Catholic Queen Mary I he was burned at the s ...

, and the restoration of

Edmund Bonner Edmund Bonner (also Boner; c. 15005 September 1569) was Bishop of London from 1539 to 1549 and again from 1553 to 1559. Initially an instrumental figure in the schism of Henry VIII from Rome, he was antagonised by the Protestant reforms intro ...

and other deprived bishops. He stood high in the favour of

Cardinal Pole Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation. Early life Pole was born a ...

, said to have been a relative, who appointed him his vicar-general. During the vacancy of the see of Lichfield on Bishop Sampson's death in 1554, he was appointed commissary for the diocese. In the early part of the same year he took part in the condemnation of John Hooper and

Rowland Taylor Rowland Taylor (sometimes spelled "Tayler") (6 October 1510 – 9 February 1555) was an English Protestant martyr during the Marian Persecutions. At the time of his death, he was Rector of Hadleigh in Suffolk. He was burnt at the stake at ne ...

. On 25 April 1556 he was appointed on the commission to inquire after

heretics Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, in particular the accepted beliefs of a church or religious organization. The term is usually used in reference to violations of important religi ...

, and to proceed against them. On the death of John Chambers, the first bishop of the newly formed diocese of Peterborough, the queen sent letters commendatory to

Pope Paul IV Pope Paul IV, born Gian Pietro Carafa, C.R. ( la, Paulus IV; it, Paolo IV; 28 June 1476 – 18 August 1559) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 May 1555 to his death in August 1559. While serving as pap ...

in Pole's favour. He was consecrated at

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and Full ...

on 15 August 1557 by

Nicholas Heath Nicholas Heath (c. 1501–1578) was the last Roman Catholic Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor. He previously served as Bishop of Worcester. Life Heath was born in London and graduated BA at Oxford in 1519. He then migrated to Christ's ...

archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...

. He shortly sanctioned the execution of John Kurde, a Protestant shoemaker, who was burnt at

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

on 20 September 1557.Foxe, in the 1570 edition of ''Acts and Monuments'' (p. 2257) says "His name was Iohn kurde a Shomaker, late of the Parish of Syrsam, in Northampton shiere" (apparently modern

Syresham Syresham is a village and civil parish in the English district of West Northamptonshire. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 855. It is near Brackley town and close to Silverstone Circuit. It is surrounded by villages and hamlets ...

near Brackley. On the accession of Elizabeth, he was on the first abortive commission for the consecration of

Matthew Parker Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a p ...

as archbishop, 9 September 1559. In the same year he, with Bonner and two other prelates, signed Archbishop Heath's letter of remonstrance to Elizabeth, begging her to return to the Catholic faith. His refusal to take the oath under the

act of supremacy The Acts of Supremacy are two acts passed by the Parliament of England in the 16th century that established the English monarchs as the head of the Church of England; two similar laws were passed by the Parliament of Ireland establishing the Eng ...

was followed by his deprivation; but he was treated leniently by the queen. Allowed to live on parole in London or its suburbs, he died on one of his farms in May or June 1568. His property he left to his friends, and his books on law and theology to his college, All Souls'.

Footnotes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pole, David Year of birth missing 1568 deaths 16th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Bishops of Peterborough Archdeacons of Derby Archdeacons of Salop Canon law jurists 16th-century births Members of Doctors' Commons