George de Athequa was a

Bishop of Llandaff The Bishop of Llandaff is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. Area of authority The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's seat is in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (the site of a ...

in the early days of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. A Spaniard by birth, he was chaplain to Queen

Catharine of Aragon Catherine of Aragon (also spelt as Katherine, ; 16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536) was Queen of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 11 June 1509 until their annulment on 23 May 1533. She was previously P ...

, with whom he left Spain for England. Acting as one of the inner circle of Queen Catherine, and one of her most constant companions up until the point of her death, Athequa was therefore largely non-resident in his diocese, which was overseen in his absence by a suffragan bishop, John Smart. At the passing of the 1534 Act of Supremacy, Athequa refused to take the resulting oath and attempted to flee the country. Preparing to board a Flemish ship in disguise, his true identity was revealed after his servant inadvertently gave him away by continuing to refer to him as "My Lord". The ambassador to Charles V, Eustace Chapuys, eventually secured his release from his incarceration in the Tower and arranged his passage back to Spain in 1537. He alienated property from the see of Llandaff, notably the bishop's manor at Nash, which was leased in perpetuity to the Carnes family for the rental agreement of 30 shillings. He is thought to be one of the sources for the

Spanish Chronicle The Chronicle of King Henry VIII. of England, commonly known as the Spanish Chronicle is a chronicle written during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI by an unknown author. The chronicle was translated from Spanish and published with notes in ...

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{{DEFAULTSORT:George de Athequa Year of birth missing 15th-century births 16th-century Spanish people 1537 deaths Bishops of Llandaff 16th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Wales Spanish chaplains Spanish bishops Catholic chaplains