John Gunthorpe

John GunthorpeDied 1498
Lincolnshire is favored as the ancestral origin for GunthorpeAlthough In a papal letter he is described as being from the Archdiocese of YorkHe was a student at Cambridge, he had already entered into clergyship and had received holy orders.Gunthorpe served as a secretary to Queen Elizabeth- private appointmentBy 1452 he was the master of the arts of the university and served as a junior proctor in 1454-5Gunthorpe went to Italy and was in Ferrara in August 1460. He had been attending lectures of Guarino on rhetoric at FerraraHe completed his transcriptionHis teacher Guarino died at the end of 1460 and this may be why Gunthorpe move onIn January 1462 Gunthorpe was formally taken into papal servicePope Pius II examines Gunthorpe for fitness, and the pope appointed Gunthorpe as a papal chaplain and a minor penitentiary in St. Peter’s Basilica and in the Papal Curia1460-1465- a period of post- graduate study in Italy where he perfected him Latin rhetorical style, learned Greek and presumably Italian, and gained experience in the international arena of the papal courtGunthorpe returned to England in 1465Gunthorpe became intimately integrated into the religious, diplomatic, financial, and political life of the court and government of Edward IVGunthorpe’s involvement in Anglo-Castilian diplomacy concluded in 1470 when he was one of the ambassadors commissioned on March 14 by King Edward IV to embark upon an ultimately fruitless effort to persuade Enrique IV against the repudiation of the treaty between their kingdomsGunthorpe was ion the royal household as a king’s chaplain by the summer of 1466In 1468 he returned to Cambridge University and was granted a baccalaureate in theology.(1468-1476) on December 9th 1468 Gunthorpe became the king’s almonerThe almoner was the person who had charge of the king’s charities from gifts of money to the distribution of surplus food from the king’s table and the office can be traced back at least to the twelfth centuryGunthorpe was the first person on record to have been called ‘King High Almoner’Gunthorpe was warden1472 Gunthorpe became a monk at St. Stephen’s chapel and remained a monk of St. Stephen’s for the rest of his life. He was also a monk of many other chapelsEven though he was a monk at all of these chapels, his place of residency was with the king1476 Gunthorpe became dean if the king’s household chapelThe dean had supervisory authority over every aspect of the chapel’s functionNovember 10 1481 a group of nine men, among whom Gunthorpe was named first, obtained a royal license to found and endow a guild in the parish church of St. Mary in North Somercotes Lincolnshire.In 1483 Gunthorpe’s patron and benefactor, King Edward IV dies at Westminster Palace on April 9thMay 10 1483 Gunthorpe was appointed keeper under the authority of Richard of GloucesterRichard was formally been names protector two days before and Richard as King reappointed Gunthorpe on June 27The appointment was reiterated on July 6th, the day Richard III magnificent coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey.John was the only keeper of the Privy seal to serve Richard IIIHe was not seen as a very smart choice of keeper since he was the former secretary of Queen Elizabeth and Richard was fearful of a Woodville faction in 1483While serving keeper of the privy seal, Gunthorpe served his king in Anglo-Scottish diplomacyTruce-making in ScotlandExtension of a truce with Francis II, duke of BrittanyHe also helped work out a truce with the Tudor family in Brittany in October 1483- it was extended to 1492Why picked?Gunthorpes geographical origins might have recommended him to Richard in 1483Gunthorpe was a learned manIts because of the perennial enigma of Richard III that brings attention to GunthorpeIn 1485- Richard III gave Gunthorpe a present- the swans in the waters of SomersetshireSwans had a long association with royalty and chivalryGunthorpe sometimes transitioned to Tudor authorityRichard III died August 22 1485 and Gunthorpe went to service under Henry Tudor- Henry VIISoon after Richard III died Gunthorpe became the resident dean of WellsAs dean of Wells, Gunthorpe’s interests extended into the judicial sphere though the court Christian within his authorityHe presided over many casesJohn PopeScandalous casesIn the last year of his life Gunthorpe found himself playing host to the kingGunthorpe was a man of learning, a rhetorician and linguist, a priest and theologian, and an experienced diplomat and secretaryGunthorpe is not survived by substantial literary remainsMonday June 5, 1498 John Gunthorpe diedHe is buried in St. Katherine’s ChapelHe answered the call of three kings to a wide variety of royal service, and moved smoothly in the highest circles of ecclesiastical and secular authority.