Stephen Gardiner
|
The Right Reverend Stephen Gardiner |
|
|---|---|
| Bishop of Winchester | |
 |
|
| Church | Catholic Church / Church of England |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Diocese | Winchester |
| In office | 1531–1551, 1553–1555 |
| Other posts | |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | 3 December 1531 |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
c. 1483 Bury St Edmunds |
| Died | 12 November 1555 |
| Buried |
Winchester Cathedral 51°03′38″N 1°18′47″W / 51.06056°N 1.31306°W |
| Nationality | English |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic/Anglican |
| Previous post | |
| Alma mater | Trinity Hall, Cambridge |
Stephen Gardiner (c. 1483 – 12 November 1555) was an English bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I and King Philip.
Gardiner was born in Bury St Edmunds, but the date of his birth is suspect. His father is believed to have been John Gardiner, but could have been Wyllyam Gardiner, a substantial cloth merchant of the town where he was born, who took care to give him a good education. His mother was once thought to be Helen Tudor, an illegitimate daughter of Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford, but recent research suggests that this lady was the mother of a different cleric, Thomas Gardiner.
In 1511, Gardiner, aged 28, met Erasmus in Paris. He had probably already begun his studies at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself in the classics, especially in Greek. He then devoted himself to canon and civil law, in which subjects he attained so great a proficiency that no one could dispute his pre-eminence. He received the degree of doctor of civil law in 1520, and of canon law in the following year.
Before long his abilities attracted the notice of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, who made him his secretary, and in this capacity he is said to have been with him at The More in Hertfordshire, when the conclusion of the celebrated Treaty of the More brought King Henry VIII and the French ambassadors there. This was probably the occasion on which he first came to the king's notice, but he does not appear to have been actively engaged in Henry's service till three years later. He undoubtedly acquired a knowledge of foreign politics in the service of Wolsey.
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Wikipedia