John Orum (died 1436?) was an English churchman and academic. He was vice-chancellor of Oxford University, and

Archdeacon of Barnstaple The Archdeaconry of Barnstaple or Barum is one of the oldest archdeaconries in England. It is an administrative division of the Diocese of Exeter in the Church of England. History The Diocese of Exeter was divided into four archdeaconries in No ...

from 1400 to 1429.

Life

Orum was a member of

University College, Oxford University College (in full The College of the Great Hall of the University of Oxford, colloquially referred to as "Univ") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It has a claim to being the oldest college of the unive ...

, and graduated as D.D. In 1406 and 1408 was vice-chancellor or commissary for Richard Courtenay. Orum was made archdeacon of Barnstaple on 1 November 1400, and held this office until 1429; he also appears as archdeacon of Cornwall in 1411. He held the prebend of Holcomb at

Wells Cathedral Wells Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Wells, Somerset, England, dedicated to St Andrew the Apostle. It is the seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells, whose cathedra it holds as mother church of the Diocese of Bath and Wells. Built as a ...

in 1408, and in 410 received a canonry there. On 4 January he received the prebend of Fridaythorpe,

York Cathedral The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, North Yorkshire, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbi ...

, which preferment he had vacated before October 1412. On 21 December he received the church of

Road, Somerset Rode (formerly Road) is a village and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Somerset in England, northeast of Frome and southwest of Trowbridge. The small settlement of Rode Hill, northeast of Rode village, is now contiguous with it. The v ...

, but exchanged it for

Ashton Keynes Ashton Keynes is a village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England which borders with Gloucestershire. The village is about south of Cirencester and west of Cricklade. At the 2011 census the population of the parish, which includes the ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

, on 18 April 1414. In February 1429 Orum became chancellor of the

diocese of Exeter The Diocese of Exeter is a Church of England diocese covering the county of Devon. It is one of the largest dioceses in England. The Exeter Cathedral, Cathedral Church of St Peter in Exeter is the seat of the diocesan Bishop of Exeter. It is pa ...

. He seems to have resigned the chancellorship before 21 September 1436, and probably died soon afterwards. In accordance with his will, dated 27 September 1436, Orum was buried in the porch of

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The present building was complete by about 140 ...

. He left 40

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence o ...

s for the perpetual chanting of an antiphon there, and gave a

cope The cope (known in Latin as ''pluviale'' 'rain coat' or ''cappa'' 'cape') is a liturgical vestment, more precisely a long mantle or cloak, open in front and fastened at the breast with a band or clasp. It may be of any liturgical colours, litu ...

to the cathedral.

Works

Orum was author of ''Lecturæ super Apocalypsim habitæ in Ecclesia Wellensi: 1, De ecclesia; 2, De avaritia; 3-6, De cantu.'' These lectures are contained in Bodleian MS. 2722. Some of the other anonymous tracts in the same manuscript may be by him.

References

;Attribution 15th-century English Roman Catholic priests Archdeacons of Barnstaple Archdeacons of Cornwall 1430s deaths Year of death uncertain Year of birth unknown {{UK-RC-clergy-stub