John Clement (born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

about 1500; died 1 July 1572, in the Blocstrate, St. John's parish,

Mechlin Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...

Duchy of Brabant The Duchy of Brabant was a State of the Holy Roman Empire established in 1183. It developed from the Landgraviate of Brabant and formed the heart of the historic Low Countries, part of the Burgundian Netherlands from 1430 and of the Habsburg Neth ...

) was an English

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

physician and humanist. He was tutor to

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VIII as Lord ...

's children, and became President of the

College of Physicians A college of physicians is a national or provincial organisation concerned with the practice of medicine. {{Expand list, date=February 2011 Such institutions include: * American College of Physicians * Ceylon College of Physicians * College of Phy ...

Life

He was educated at St. Paul's School and Oxford. Thomas More admitted Clement as one of his household to help in the education of his children and to assist him in linguistic studies. In 1519 we find Clement at

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

, when

Cardinal Wolsey Thomas Wolsey ( – 29 November 1530) was an English statesman and Catholic bishop. When Henry VIII became King of England in 1509, Wolsey became the king's almoner. Wolsey's affairs prospered and by 1514 he had become the controlling figur ...

constituted him the Rhetoric Reader in the university; later he became professor of Greek there. About 1526 he married the daughter of a Norfolk gentleman,

Margaret Giggs Margaret Clement or Clements (1508–1570), née Giggs, was one of the most educated women of the Tudor era and the foster daughter of Sir Thomas More. Biography Clement's maiden name was Giggs. She was born in 1508 and was the daughter of a ...

, who lived and studied with More's family; she had been adopted by More. Applying himself to the study of medicine, he was admitted a Fellow of the College of Physicians (1 February 1528), and was chosen by

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

to attend Wolsey when the latter was dangerously ill at

Esher Esher ( ) is a town in Surrey, England, to the east of the River Mole. Esher is an outlying suburb of London near the London-Surrey Border, and with Esher Commons at its southern end, the town marks one limit of the Greater London Built-Up Ar ...

(1529). He was consiliarius of the college from 1529 to 1531, in 1547, and again from 1556 to 1558. He held the office of president in 1544, and that of censor in 1555. After the accession of

Edward VI of England Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first En ...

he retired to Louvain to escape persecution for his Catholicism; he was exempted from the general pardon granted by Edward. He returned to England in Mary Tudor's reign and practised his profession in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, but fled abroad again when

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 ...

came to the throne. Mechlin was his last place of exile. He lies buried in the cathedral church of St. Rumbold in that city.

Works

He wrote: "Epigrammatum et aliorum carminum liber"; and also translated from Greek into Latin: * (1) "The Epistles of St.

Gregory Nazianzen Gregory of Nazianzus ( el, Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, ''Grēgorios ho Nazianzēnos''; ''Liturgy of the Hours'' Volume I, Proper of Saints, 2 January. – 25 January 390,), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory N ...

"; * (2) "The Homilies of

Nicephorus Callistus Nikephoros Kallistos Xanthopoulos, Latinized as Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopulus ( el, Νικηφόρος Κάλλιστος Ξανθόπουλος), of Constantinople (c. 1256 – c. 1335), was the last of the Greek ecclesiastical historians. H ...

concerning the Greek Saints"; * (3) "The Epistles of

Pope Celestine I Pope Celestine I ( la, Caelestinus I) (c. 376 – 1 August 432) was the bishop of Rome from 10 September 422 to his death on 1 August 432. Celestine's tenure was largely spent combatting various ideologies deemed heretical. He supported the missi ...

to Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria".

Notes

References

;Attribution * The entry cites: **

Charles Dodd Hugh Tootell (1671/72 – 27 February 1743) was an English Catholic historian. He is commonly known under his pseudonym Charles Dodd. Life Tootell was born in Lancashire. He was tutored by his uncle, Christopher Tootle, before studying with ...

, ''Church History'' (Brussels, 1737–1742), I, 202; **

John Pits John Pitts (also Pits, Pitseus) (1560 – 17 October 1616) was an English Roman Catholic scholar and writer. Life Pitts was born in Alton, Hampshire in 1560 and attended Winchester College. From 1578 to 1580 he studied at New College, Oxfor ...

, ''De Angliae Scriptoribus'' (Paris, 1619), 767; **

Anthony à Wood Anthony Wood (17 December 1632 – 28 November 1695), who styled himself Anthony à Wood in his later writings, was an English antiquary. He was responsible for a celebrated ''Hist. and Antiq. of the Universitie of Oxon''. Early life Anthony W ...

, ''Athenae Oxonienses'', ed. Bliss (London, 1813–1820), I, 401; **Robinson, ''Registers of St. Paul's School'' (London, s. d.), 19; **Munk, ''College of Physicians'' (London, 1878), I, 26.

External links

Biography at the Royal College of Physicians''John Clement and Marshfoot House'' (PDF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clement, John 1500s births 1572 deaths English Renaissance humanists 16th-century English medical doctors English Roman Catholics Medical doctors from Yorkshire 16th-century Roman Catholics People educated at St Paul's School, London Presidents of the Royal College of Physicians Greek–Latin translators