John Bale

John Bale
Church	Church of Ireland
See	Ossory
Appointed	22 October 1552
Installed	2 February 1553
Term ended	September 1553
Predecessor	Milo Baron, OSA
Successor	John Tonory, OSA
Personal details
Born	21 November 1495 Cove, Suffolk, Kingdom of England
Died	November 1563 (aged 67-68) Canterbury, Kent, Kingdom of England
Nationality	English
Denomination	Catholic Church, Protestant Christianity
Occupation	Churchman, historian and controversialist. Wrote Illustrium majoris Britanniae scriptorum, hoc est, Angliae, Cambriae, ac Scotiae Summarium (1548–49)
Alma mater	Jesus College, Cambridge

John Bale (21 November 1495 – November 1563) was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English (on the subject of King John), and developed and published a very extensive list of the works of British authors down to his own time, just as the monastic libraries were being dispersed. His unhappy disposition and habit of quarreling earned him the nickname "bilious Bale".

He was born at Cove, near Dunwich in Suffolk. At the age of twelve he joined the Carmelite friars at Norwich, removing later to the house of "Holme", (possibly the Carmelite priory at Hulne near Alnwick). Later he entered Jesus College, Cambridge, and took his degree of B.D. in 1529.

He became the last Prior of the Ipswich Carmelite house, elected in 1533. He abandoned his monastic vocation, and got married, saying, "that I might never more serve so execrable a beast, I took to wife the faithful Dorothy." He obtained the living of Thorndon, Suffolk, but in 1534 was summoned before the Archbishop of York for a sermon against the invocation of saints preached at Doncaster, and afterwards before John Stokesley, Bishop of London, but he escaped through the powerful protection of Thomas Cromwell, whose notice he is said to have attracted by his miracle plays.

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