Scholarly assessment of the fifteenth century has changed since William Stubbs' depiction of it as 'a worn-out, helpless age' during which 'all that was good and great in (medieval life) was languishing even to death.' Valuable scholarship has succeeded K. B. McFarlane's reassessment of the nobility of the period. But little work has been done to verify or alter the popular image of a worn-out, bureaucratic and politically cynical episcopate. Two works include investigations of Edward IV's (1461-83) bishops in studies of wider scope, but no study focuses exclusively on Edward IV's episcopal bench. Such a study is necessary if we are to judge the similarities and differences of Edward's episcopate with those of his predecessors and successors The popular image of the later medieval English episcopate is one of gray-faced, politically acquiescent bureaucrats elevated to the episcopal bench in reward for government service. The assumption no doubt arises in part from the indisputable fact that by the second half of the fifteenth century episcopal nomination, although not deprivation as is sometimes supposed, rested firmly in the king's hands. The first need in any study of Edward IV's episcopate is to show the bishops' individualities. It must be remembered that Edward IV won England's throne by conquest. There was much accommodation, but it was never as one-sided as is generally supposed. The imprisonments of the Bishops of Lincoln, Chichester, Winchester, Llandaff, Saint David's and Bath and Wells during Edward's reign suggests that accommodation by either side had its limits It is almost a cliche to say that by the latter half of the fifteenth century a bishop's mitre was a reward by a grateful boss for government service. Yet while this holds true for the majority of Edward IV's bishops, it is too much of a generalization. Edward's patronage was behind the nomination of eleven of the twenty-one individuals elevated to the episcopate during his reign. Another seven were elevated to episcopal status through the patronage of Edward's brother, Richard of Gloucester, his queen, Elizabeth Wydeville and the powerful Earl of Warwick. The patrons of three of Edward's bishops are unknown Early in his reign, Edward IV issued a charter granting sweeping and long-fought for concessions to his clergy. The charter's issuance and its subsequent failure to be enforced suggests the ambivalence of dependence and conflict that characterized Edward's relationship with his episcopate / acase@tulane.edu
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TULANE/oai:http://digitallibrary.tulane.edu/:tulane_27172 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Contributors | Mollere, Nanette Yvonne (Author), Davis, Charles T (Thesis advisor) |
| Publisher | Tulane University |
| Source Sets | Tulane University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | Access requires a license to the Dissertations and Theses (ProQuest) database., Copyright is in accordance with U.S. Copyright law |
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