John Incent

John Incent
Sign on the Berkhamsted house depicting John Incent
Born	c.1480 Berkhamsted, England
Died	1545 Berkhamsted
Other names	John Innocent
Education	University of Cambridge (1500); B.C.L. All Souls College, Oxford (1506); D.C.L. 1513
Parent(s)	Robert and Katherine Incent
Church	Church of England
Ordained	1513
Congregations served	Several in the Diocese of Winchester
Offices held	Prebendary of St Paul's London], 1519-4; Canon residentiary, 1534; Master of Holy Cross Hospital, Winchester, 1537; Dean of St Paul's London, 1540-5; Adm. at Gray's Inn, 1542

John Incent (c. 1480–1545) was an English clergyman in the early 16th Century, during the early years of the English Reformation. Originating from the town of Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, he studied at the University of Cambridge and later at All Souls College, Oxford, and served as Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London between 1540 and 1545.

Incent is noted for being one of the agents of the Lord Chancellor Thomas Cromwell responsible for the sequestration of religious properties during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and as the founder of Berkhamsted Collegiate School. His home in Berkhamsted, built in 1500, remains in use to the present day, situated on the High Street facing St Peter's Church.

John Incent was born in Berkhamsted around 1480 and was the son of Katherine and Robert Incent. Robert was the Secretary to Cicely, Duchess of York, the last royal resident at Berkhamsted Castle, wife of the Duke of York and mother of two Kings of England: Edward IV and Richard III. The standing of the Incent family in the town is marked by two brass memorials to Robert and Katherine in St John's Chapel in St Peter's Church. According to the inscriptions, Robert died in 1485 of the Great Sweating Sickness: