Richard Morison
Richard Morison was an English cleric and diplomat born around 1510, notable for his involvement in the political and religious upheaval of the Tudor period. Originating from a well-connected family in Hertfordshire, he was educated at Cardinal College, Oxford, before moving to Italy in the service of Thomas Wolsey's illegitimate son. While in Italy, he fell into poverty but was later supported by Reginald Pole and served Thomas Cromwell, where he became known as a chief propagandist for Henry VIII's divorce and the establishment of the Church of England. Morison authored several polemical works against the papacy and defended Protestant principles, contributing to significant political and religious debates of his time.
In 1539, he achieved independence from Cromwell by being appointed a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, and he later acquired various estates through the dissolution of monasteries. Following a diplomatic career, he served as a special ambassador to Denmark and Charles V but faced hostility due to his Protestant views after the rise of Queen Mary. Eventually, he went into exile in Strasbourg, where he died in 1556. His legacy continued through his wife, Bridget Hussey, who returned to England under Queen Elizabeth I, and their descendants who maintained noble ties.
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Richard Morison
Nonfiction Writer
- Born: c. 1510
- Died: March 20, 1556
- Place of death: Strasbourg, France
Biography
Richard Morison was born in 1510 or thereabouts, the second son of Thomas Morison of Sandon, Hertfordshire. The family may have originated in Yorkshire, and was clearly acquainted with Thomas Wolsey, the Archbishop of York, who founded Cardinal College, Oxford. Richard was admitted there as a petty canon in 1526, before progressing to the B.A. in 1528. By 1532, he was living in Italy, based at the University of Padua, having gone there in the service of Wolsey’s illegitimate son Thomas Winter. He stayed on when Winter returned to England in 1534, but fell into poverty. He was assisted by Reginald Pole until he was taken into the service of Wolsey’s protégé and Henry VIII’s enforcer Thomas Crowell.
Morison wrote reports from Italy until he was summoned back to England in 1536 to become Cromwell’s chief propagandist in the diplomatic battle to defend Henry VIII’s divorce, establish the Church of England, and dissolve the monasteries—which required him to turn against Pole, whose living at Yetminster secunda he took over in 1537. His first publication, Apomaxis calumnarium, attacked the papacy and stoutly defended Henry’s schism. His other works were all in English, most of them similarly polemical. Morison also did some translations for Cromwell, including the Stratagemata of Frontinus (a Roman governor of Britain), which was issued as The Stratagemes, Sleyghtes, and Polities of Warre in 1539. He also wrote a theological treatise defending the principles of Protestantism, which was never published but eventually came into the hands of John Foxe.
The king made Morison independent of Cromwell in 1939 by appointing him a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber, thus enabling him to escape the consequences of Cromwell’s fall in 1540. He collected further assets as the dissolution of the monasteries began, including the Hospital of St. Wulfstan’s, which he exchanged for equivalent estates in 1544 so that it might become part of the endowment of Christ Church, Oxford. In 1545, he was granted the Manor of Cassiobury, where he started to build a house that was never finished. He already had three illegitimate children when he married Bridget Hussey in 1546.
Morison was a special ambassador to Denmark in 1546 and 1547, but returned to England when Edward VI came to the throne, being appointed special ambassador to Charles V, based in Germany. He was knighted before his departure in 1550; Roger Ascham accompanied him as his secretary. He was not made welcome, being regarded as a heretic, but he kept his post until 1553, when Mary came to the throne. He had no choice then but to remain on the Continent as an exile, eventually setting in Strasbourg, France, where he died on March 20, 1556. His wife—who lived until 1601—was eventually able to return to England when Elizabeth came to the throne, and went on to marry three other husbands, two of them earls; their daughter Elizabeth also married twice, the second time to Henry Clinton, Earl of Lincoln.