John Bale

John Bale (21 November 1495–November, 1563) was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, Bishop of Ossory. Image File history File links Bale1. ... Image File history File links Bale1. ... November 21 is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1495 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 1 - Sarsa Dengel succeeds his father Menas as Emperor of Ethiopia February 18 - The Duke of Guise is assassinated while besieging Orléans March - Peace of Amboise. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq...

He was born at Cove, near Dunwich in Suffolk. At the age of twelve he entered the Carmelite monastery at Norwich, removing later to the house of "Holme", probably the abbey of the Whitefriars at Hulne near Alnwick. Later he entered Jesus College, Cambridge, and took his degree of BD in 1529. At Cambridge he came under the influence of Thomas Cranmer and of Thomas Wentworth, 1st Baron Wentworth, and became an ardent Reformer. He abandoned his monastic vocation, and got married, saying, "that I might never more serve so execrable a beast, I took to wife the faithful Dorothy." He obtained the living of Thorndon, Suffolk, but in 1534 was summoned before the Archbishop of York for a sermon against the invocation of saints preached at Doncaster, and afterwards before Stokesley, Bishop of London, but he escaped through the powerful protection of Thomas Cromwell, whose notice he is said to have attracted by his miracle plays. Dunwich (IPA: ) is a town in the county of Suffolk in England, the remnant of what was once a prosperous seaport and centre of the wool trade during the early middle ages, with a natural harbour formed by the mouths of the River Blyth and the River Dunwich. ... Suffolk (pronounced SUF-fk) is a large traditional and administrative county in the East Anglia region of eastern England. ... Origin and early history Carmelites (in Latin Ordo fratrum Beatæ Virginis Mariæ de monte Carmelo) is the name of a Roman Catholic order founded in the 12th century by a certain Berthold (d. ... Shown within Norfolk Geography Status: City (1195) Government Region: East of England Administrative County: Norfolk Area: - Total Ranked 322nd 39. ... The Order of Our Lady of Mt. ... For the parish in New Brunswick, see Alnwick, New Brunswick Alnwick (pronounced ) is a small market town in north Northumberland, in the north-east of England. ... Full name The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge Motto Facias Prosperum Iter Named after Jesus Lane & Jesus Parish Previous names - Established 1496 Sister College(s) Jesus College Master Prof. ... Events April 22 - Treaty of Saragossa divides the eastern hemisphere between Spain and Portugal, stipulating that the dividing line should lie 297. ... Shown within Cambridgeshire Geography Status City (1951) Region East of England Admin. ... An oil painting of Thomas Cranmer by Gerlach Flicke (1545) - National Portrait Gallery, London Thomas Cranmer (July 2, 1489 – March 21, 1556) was the Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of the English kings Henry VIII and Edward VI. He is credited with writing and compiling the first two Books... Thorndon is an inner suburb of Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. ... Suffolk (pronounced SUF-fk) is a large traditional and administrative county in the East Anglia region of eastern England. ... Events February 27 - Group of Anabaptists of Jan Matthys seize Münster and declare it The New Jerusalem - they begin to exile dissenters and forcible baptize all others May 10 - Jacques Cartier explores Newfoundland while searching for the Northwest Passage. ... Arms of the Archbishop of York The Archbishop of York, Primate of England, is the metropolitan bishop of the Province of York, and is the junior of the two archbishops of the Church of England, after the Archbishop of Canterbury. ... Statistics Population: 67,977 (2001 Census for Doncaster urban sub-area [1]) Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: SE5702 Administration District: Doncaster Metropolitan county: South Yorkshire Region: Yorkshire and the Humber Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: South Yorkshire Historic county: Yorkshire (West Riding) Services Police force... Thomas Cromwell: detail from a portrait by Hans Holbein, 1532-3 Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex ( 1485 - July 28, 1540) was an English statesman, one of the most important political figures of the reign of Henry VIII of England. ... Mystery plays or miracle plays are one of the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. ...

In these plays, Bale allows no considerations of decency to stand in the way of his denunciations of the monastic system and its supporters. The prayer of Infidelitas which opens the second act of his Three Laws is an example of the lengths to which he went in profane parody. These coarse and violent productions were calculated to impress popular feeling, and Cromwell found in him an invaluable instrument. When Cromwell fell from favour in 1540, Bale fled with his wife and children to Flanders. He returned on the accession of King Edward VI, and received the living of Bishopstoke, Hampshire, being promoted in 1552 to the Irish see of Ossory. He refused to be consecrated by the Roman Catholic rites of the Irish church, and won his point, though the dean of Dublin made a protest against the revised office during the ceremony. When the accession of Queen Mary inaugurated a reaction in matters of religion, he was forced to get out of the country again. He tried to escape to Scotland, but on the voyage was captured by a Dutch man-of-war, which was driven by bad weather into St Ives, Cornwall. Bale was arrested on suspicion of treason, but soon released. At Dover he had another narrow escape, but he eventually made his way to the Netherlands and thence to Frankfurt and Basel. During his exile he devoted himself to writing. After his return, on the accession of Queen Elizabeth I, he received (1560) a prebendal stall at Canterbury, where he died and was buried in the cathedral. Events January 6 - King Henry VIII of England marries Anne of Cleves, his fourth Queen consort. ... Flanders (Dutch: Vlaanderen) has several main meanings: the social, cultural and linguistical, scientific and educational, economical and political community of the Flemings; some prefer to call this the Flemish community (others refer to this as the Flemish nation) which is, with over 6 million inhabitants, the majority of all Belgians... Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) became King of England and Ireland on 28 January 1547, at just nine years of age. ... Bishopstoke is a village and civil parish in the borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. ... Hampshire (abbr. ... Events April - War between Henry II of France and Emperor Charles V. Henry invades Lorraine and captures Toul, Metz, and Verdun. ... Ossory, also spelt Osraighe, is an ancient kingdom of Ireland. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... Mary Tudor is the name of both Mary I of England and her fathers sister, Mary Tudor (queen consort of France). ... Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen of the UK Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by... St Ives harbour and the local rescue lifeboat. ... For other uses, see Treason (disambiguation). ... Arms of Dover Borough Council This article is about the English port. ... Main Station Frankfurt Frankfurt International Airport For other uses, see Frankfurt (disambiguation). ... Basel (British English traditionally: Basle and more recently Basel , German: Basel , French: Bâle , Italian, Spanish: Basilea and Czech: Basilej ) is Switzerlands third most populous city (166,563 inhabitants (2004); 690,000 inhabitants in the conurbation stretching across the immediate cantonal and national boundaries made Basel Switzerlands second... Elizabeth I (7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603) was Queen of England, Queen of France (in name only), and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. ... Events February 27 - The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland The first tulip bulb was brought from Turkey to the Netherlands. ... A prebendal stall is a seat, usually in the back row of the choir stalls, where a prebendary sits. ... St Peters St, Canterbury, from the West Gate, 1993 Canterbury (Latin: Duroverum) is a cathedral city in the county of Kent in southeast England. ...

The scurrility and vehemence with which "foul-mouthed Bale", as Anthony Wood calls him, attacked his enemies does not destroy the value of his contributions to literature, though his strong bias against Roman Catholic writers detracts from the critical value of his works. Of his mysteries and miracle plays only five have been preserved, but the titles of the others, quoted by himself in his Catalogus, show that they were animated by the same political and religious aims. The Three Laws of Nature, Moses and Christ, corrupted by the Sodomytes, Pharisees and Papystes most wicked (pr. 1538 and again in 1562) was a morality play. The direction for the dressing of the parts is instructive: "Let Idolatry be decked like an old witch, Sodomy like a monk of all sects, Ambition like a bishop, Covetousness like a Pharisee or spiritual lawyer, False Doctrine like a popish doctor, and Hypocrisy like a gray friar." A Tragedye; or enterlude many Jesting the chief promyses of God unto Man . . . (1538, printed in Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. 1), The Temptacyon of our Lorde (ed. AB Grosart in Miscellanies of the Fuller Worthies Library, vol. j., 1870), and A brefe Comedy or Enterlude of Johan Baptystes preachynge in the Wyldernesse, etc.. (Harl. Misc. vol i.) were all written in 1538. His plays are doggerel, but he is a figure of some dramatic importance as the author of Kynge Johan (c.1538), which marks the transition between the old morality play and the English historical drama. It does not appear to have directly influenced the creators of the chronicle histories. To the authors of the Troublesome Raigne of King John (1591) it was apparently unknown, but it is noteworthy that an attempt, however feeble, at historical drama was made fourteen years before the production of Gorboduc. Kynge Johan (ed. JP Collier, Camden Soc. 1838) is itself a polemic against the Roman Catholic Church. King John is represented as the champion of English rites against the Roman see:— Anthony Wood or Anthony à Wood (December 17, 1632 - November 28, 1695) was an English antiquary. ... Events Treaty of Nagyvarad. ... Events Earliest English slave-trading expedition under John Hawkins. ... Morality plays are a type of theatrical allegory in which the protagonist is met by personifications of various moral attributes who try to prompt him to choose a Godly life over one of evil. ... Events Treaty of Nagyvarad. ... Alexander Balloch Grosart (June 18, 1827 _ March 16, 1899) was a Scottish clergyman and literary editor. ... Events Treaty of Nagyvarad. ... Events Treaty of Nagyvarad. ... Events June - Capture of Zutphen by the Dutch under Maurice of Nassau. ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... John of England depicted in Cassells History of England (1902) John (French: Jean) (December 24, 1166/67–October 18/19, 1216) reigned as King of England from 1199 to 1216. ...

"This noble Kynge Johan, as a faythfull Moses

Withstode proude Pharao for his poore Israel."

But the English people remained in the bondage of Rome,—

"Tyll that duke Josue, whych was our late Kynge Henrye,

Clerely brought us out in to the lande of mylke and honye."

Elsewhere John is called a Lollard and accused of "heretycall langage," and he is finally poisoned by a monk of Swinestead. Allegorical characters are mixed with the real persons. Ynglonde vidua, represents the nation, and the jocular element is provided by Sedwyson (sedition), who would have been the Vice in a pure morality play. One actor was obviously intended to play many parts, for stage directions such as "Go out Ynglond, and dress for Clargy" are by no means uncommon. The MS. of Kynge Johan was discovered between 1831 and 1838 among the corporation papers at Ipswich, where it was probably performed, for there are references to charitable foundations by King John in the town and neighbourhood. It is described at the end of the MS. as two plays, but there is no obvious division, the end of the first act alone being noted. The first part is corrected by Bale and the latter half is in his handwriting, but his name nowhere occurs. In the list of his works, however, he gives a play De Joanne Anglorum Rege, written in idiomate materno. Lollardy or Lollardry was the political and religious movement of the Lollards in late 14th century and early 15th century England. ... Leopold I 1831 (MDCCCXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... | Jöns Jakob Berzelius, discoverer of protein 1838 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... For other places and usages with this name, see Ipswich (disambiguation). ... John of England depicted in Cassells History of England (1902) John (French: Jean) (December 24, 1166/67–October 18/19, 1216) reigned as King of England from 1199 to 1216. ...

Bale's most important work is Illustrium majoris Britanniae scriptorum, hoc est, Angliae, Cambriae, ac Scotiae Summarium...(Ipswich and Wesel, for John Overton, 1548, 1549). This contained five centuries, but another edition, almost entirely rewritten and containing fourteen centuries, was printed at Basel with the title Scriptorum illustnium majoris Britanniae...Catalogus (1557–1559). The chronological catalogue of British authors and their works was partly founded on the Collectanea and Commentarii of John Leland, but Bale was an indefatigable collector and worker, and himself examined many of the valuable libraries of the Augustinian and Carmelite houses before their dissolution. In his notebook he records as an instance of the wholesale destruction in progress: "I have bene also at Norwyche, our second citye of name, and there all the library monuments are turned to the use of their grossers, candelmakers, sopesellers, and other worldly occupyers . . . As much have I saved there and in certen other places in Northfolke and Southfolke concerning the authors names and titles of their workes, as I could, and as much wold I have done through out the whole realm, yf I had been able to have borne the charges, as I am not." His work is therefore invaluable, in spite of the inaccuracies and the abuse lavished on Catholic writers, for it contains much information that would otherwise have been hopelessly lost. For other places and usages with this name, see Ipswich (disambiguation). ... Wesel is a city (population about 61,689 in 2004) in Germany, located at the point where the Lippe River empties into the Rhine. ... Events Mary I of Scotland sent to France Births September 2 - Vincenzo Scamozzi, Italian architect (died 1616) September 29 - William V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1626) Francesco Andreini, Italian actor (died 1624) Giordano Bruno, Italian philosopher, astronomer, and occultist (burned at the stake) 1600 (died 1600) Honda Tadakatsu, Japanese general... Events July - Ketts Rebellion Francis Xavier arrives in Japan. ... Events Spain is effectively bankrupt. ... Events January 15 - Elizabeth I of England is crowned in Westminster Abbey. ... John Leland (September 13, 1502–April 18, 1552) was an English antiquary. ...

A list of Bale's works is to be found in Athenae Cantabrigienses (vol. i. pp. 227 et seq.). Beside the reprints already mentioned, The Examinations of Lord Cobham, William Thorpe and Anne Askewe, &c. were edited by the Rev. H. Christmas for the Parker Society in 1849. Bale's autograph note-book is preserved in the Selden Collection of the Bodleian Library, Oxford. It contains the materials he collected for his two published catalogues arranged alphabetically, with no attempt at ornament of any kind, and without the personalities which deface his completed work. He also gives in most cases the sources from which his information was derived. This book was prepared for publication with notes by Reginald Lane Poole, with the help of Mary Bateson, as Index Britanniae Scriptorum quos . . . . collegit loannes Baleus (Clarendon Press, 1902), forming part ix. of Anecdota Oxonwnsia. 1849 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... Entrance to the Library, with the coats-of-arms of several Oxford colleges The Bodleian Library, the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in England is second in size only to the British Library. ... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... Oxford University Press (OUP) is a highly-respected publishing house and a department of the University of Oxford in England. ... 1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

John Pits or Pitseus (1560–1616), an English Catholic exile, founded on Bale's work his Relationum historicarum de rebus anglicis tomus primus (Paris, 1619), better known by its running title of De Illustribus Angliae scriptoribus. This is really the fourth book of a more extensive work. He omits the Wycliffite and Protestant divines mentioned by Bale, and the most valuable section is the lives of the Catholic exiles resident in Douai and other French towns. He does not scruple to assert (Nota de Joanne Bale) that Bale's Catalogus was a misrepresentation of John Leland's matter, though there is every reason to believe that he was only acquainted with Leland's work at second-hand, through Bale. Events February 27 - The Treaty of Berwick, which would expel the French from Scotland, is signed by England and the Congregation of Scotland The first tulip bulb was brought from Turkey to the Netherlands. ... Events October 25 — Dirk Hartog makes the second recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil, at an island off the Western Australian coast Pocahontas arrives in England War between Venice and Austria Collegium Musicum founded in Prague Nicolaus Copernicus De revolutionibus is placed on the Index of Forbidden Books... Part of the Paris and La Défense skylines with from left to right: Montparnasse Tower, Eiffel Tower, and La Défense towers. ... Events May 13 - Dutch statesman Johan van Oldenbarnevelt is executed in The Hague after having been accused of treason. ... Douai is a city and commune in the north of France in the département of Nord, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ... John Leland (September 13, 1502–April 18, 1552) was an English antiquary. ...

See also

• Dissolution of the Monasteries