Bishop John Alcock, RIP

Bishop John Alcock died on October 1, 1500. He served as the bishop of Rochester, Worcester, and Ely in succession and as Chancellor of England twice, in 1475 and from 1485-1487.

He was known for his piety and learning during his lifetime as the old Dictionary of National Biography notes:

Alcock takes rank with those eminent ecclesiastics before the Reformation, such as Rotheram, Fisher, and Colet, who aimed at the renovation and reform of the church, and set a high example to others by their own virtues and self-denial. Bale speaks of him as one who, ‘having devoted himself from childhood to learning and piety, made such a proficiency in virtue that no one in England had a greater reputation for sanctity.’ His life, according to this writer, was spent in vigils, studies, abstinence, and in subduing the temptations of the flesh (De Scriptt. Brit., cent. viii. c. 57). He was eminently distinguished by his munificence and hospitality; and his chapel at Ely Cathedral, the episcopal palace in the same city, and Great St. Mary's, at Cambridge, alike bear witness to his skill and taste as an architectural restorer. At Little Malvern he rebuilt the church and restored the convent. He founded a free grammar school at Hull, and erected the collegiate church at Westbury. He was also a generous benefactor to the university of Cambridge, where he not only endowed Peterhouse (of which by virtue of his office he was visitor), but founded Jesus College on the decayed nunnery of St. Rhadegund. Though Alcock was distinguished as a canonist, it is notable that no provision for the study of the canon law was made in connection with the new society; and as the statutes of the college were drawn up in professed harmony with his views, it may be inferred that he recognised, in common with other discerning minds, the evils resulting from the undue prominence at that time given to the study.

Being rated with one of his successors in Rochester, St. John Fisher, is high praise!

Born circa 1430, he died around the age of 70:

He died at Wisbeach Castle on 1 Oct. 1500, and was interred in the splendid chapel which he had erected for himself at the north-east end of Ely Cathedral. He is the supposed author of an English metrical comment on the Seven Penitential Psalms (MS. Harl. 1704). His published writings are: 1. ‘Spousage of a Virgin to Christ,’ 1486. 2. ‘Hill of Perfection,’ 1497, 1499, 1501. 3. ‘Sermons upon the Eighth Chapter of Luke,’ &c. 4. ‘Gallicantus Johannis Alcock episcopi Eliensis ad fratres suos curatos in sinodo apud Barnwell,’ 1498. 5. ‘Abbey of the Holy Ghost,’ 149 –1531. 6. ‘Castle of Labour,’ translated from the French, 1536.

May he rest in the peace of Christ.

Image Credit: Bishop John Alcock, founder of Jesus College; Stained glass in Jesus College, Cambridge, England