Richard Nykke

The Right Reverend Richard Nykke
Bishop of Norwich
Term ended	1535 (death)
Predecessor	Thomas Jane
Successor	William Rugg
Other posts	Archdeacon of Exeter Archdeacon of Wells Canon of Windsor
Orders
Consecration	c. 1501
Personal details
Born	c. 1447
Died	1535
Buried	Norwich Cathedral
Denomination	Roman Catholic

Richard Nykke (or Nix or Nick;c. 1447–1535) was bishop of Norwich, the last Roman Catholic to hold the post before the Henrician reform. Described as "ultra-conservative", but also "much-respected", he maintained an independent line and was embroiled in conflict until blind and in his last years. He is often called the last Catholic bishop of the diocese, but that title is also claimed by John Hopton, bishop under Mary of England.Norwich at this time was the second-largest conurbation in England, after London.

A hunter of heresy who came by his bishopric under Pope Alexander VI, he was a natural target for Protestant propaganda, and stories about him are sometimes poorly founded. One of the best known is that he said that potential heretics "savoured of the frying pan". As Robert Southey pointed out, this translates a well-known French idiom, sentir le fagot.

Nykke was the son of Thomas and Johanna (neé Stillington) Nykke; Johanna was the sister of Robert Stillington, Bishop of Bath and Wells. Nykke became bishop of Norwich in 1501, having previously been made archdeacon of Exeter (1492–1493) and Wells (1494–1500) and canon of Windsor and Dean of the Chapel Royal under Henry VII of England. After a fire in 1509, he had wooden roofing in Norwich Cathedral replaced with stone vaulting.

Nykke complained bitterly against the early Tudor use of praemunire to limit ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Involved in King's Bench cases, he made his case to William Warham (Archbishop of Canterbury), and denounced James Hobart, Attorney-General for most of the reign of Henry VII.

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