Thomas Bickley (1518–1596) was an English churchman, a Marian exile who became Warden of Merton College, Oxford and

Bishop of Chichester The Bishop of Chichester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East and West Sussex. The see is based in the City of Chichester where the bishop's sea ...

Life

He was born at Stow, Buckinghamshire, and began his education as a chorister in the free school of Magdalen College, Oxford. He afterwards became a demy, and in 1541 was elected a Fellow of the college. He acquired a reputation as a reformer and preacher of reformed doctrine, and soon after the accession of

Edward VI 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 E ...

was appointed one of the king's chaplains at

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

. During the reign of Mary I of England he went to France, where he spent most of his time in study at

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is ...

, he enjoyed rapid promotion, being made, within ten years, chaplain to Archbishop

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 ...

, rector of

Biddenden Biddenden is a large, mostly agricultural and wooded village and civil parish in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. The village lies on the Weald of Kent, some north of Tenterden. It was a centre for the Wealden iron industry and also of ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, of

Sutton Waldron Sutton Waldron is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the A350 road between Iwerne Minster and Fontmell Magna, in the Blackmore Vale under the scarp of Cranborne Chase, north of Blandford Forum and south of Shaftes ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

, archdeacon of Stafford, chancellor 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 ...

, and Warden of Merton College, Oxford. He was made bishop of Chichester in 1585. Some of the returns to articles of inquiry made at his visitations have been preserved amongst the episcopal records. He died in 1596, and was buried in

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of ...

on 26 May. A tablet to Bickley's memory is attached to the north wall of the

lady chapel A Lady chapel or lady chapel is a traditional British English, British term for a chapel dedicated to "Our Lady", Mary, mother of Jesus, particularly those inside a cathedral or other large church (building), church. The chapels are also known as ...

, surmounted by a small kneeling effigy of the bishop.

References

Attribution

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bickley, Thomas 1518 births 1596 deaths Wardens of Merton College, Oxford Bishops of Chichester Archdeacons of Stafford People from Biddenden 16th-century Church of England bishops English Protestants 16th-century Protestants Marian exiles People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford