Edmund Bonner (abt. 1500 - 1569)

Born about 1500 in Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Died 5 Sep 1569 at about age 69 in Marshalsea Prison, Southwark, City of London, England

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Biography

Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London 1539-1549 and 1553-1559

Since the time of Bonner himself there have been varying views as to whether he was of legitimate birth or illegitimate birth, and whether he was a 'saint or a sinner'.

His year of birth is unknown and is estimated as c 1500.

In his early career he was a pragmatist, rapidly ascending to high office in the Church and in favour with Henry VIII, supporting Henry in his conflict with the Pope. However, this changed later in life and he became an opponent of the supremacy of the English monarch within the Church. This resulted in his imprisonment and he died in prison in 1569.

Parentage

The legitimacy or otherwise of Edmund Bonner's birth^[1] appears to have been a matter of dispute in his own lifetime. A vitriolic pamphlet in 1569^[2] referred to Bonner as “the bastarde Edmonde Savage”.

Faulkner^[3] referred to a pedigree in the British Museum in which Edmund Bonner was recorded as one of the seven illegitimate children of George Savage, a parson of Davenham, Cheshire, himself the illegitimate son of Sir John Savage, Knight of the Garter. Presumably this was the same manuscript used in the Visitation of Cheshire^[4] which stated that Edmund Bonner was the illegitimate son of George Savage and Elizabeth Frodsham. However, the manuscript was clearly written by someone not well disposed to Edmund Bonner and whether it is reliable or not is uncertain.

According to Ormerod:^[5] "John Wymmesley, was natural son of George Savage, rector of Davenham, in Cheshire, who was natural son of Sir George Savage, K. B. and natural brother of Edm. Bonner, bishop of London, who gave him the prebend of Sneating, in the church of St. Paul, on the 22d of March, 1541. On the cession of Dr. Henry Cole, in 1543, Bonner collated him on the 29th of October to the archdeaconry of London, which he resigned in April 1554, and had the archdeaconry of Middlesex conferred on him the 11th of the same month".

Maitland^[6] argued that his alleged illegitimacy was "not merely to annoy the Bishop of London, but to furnish a ground for denying the validity of his orders, and, therefore, of all acts performed by him in his episcopal character." He also argued that the courtesy Bishop Ridley paid to Bonner's mother and sister would suggest that they were considered respectable.

The purported legitimate father of Bonner was Edmund Bonner of the parish of Hanley Castle, Worcestershire. It appears that Edmund Bonner (senior) was a man of modest means and that the opportunity for Edmund Bonner (the younger) to study at Oxford could only have occurred due to a wealthy patron, i.e. the Lechmere family of Hanley.^[3]

One aspect of his parentage that doesn’t appear to be in dispute is the identity of his mother, Elizabeth Frodsham.^[7]

Other Family

The following evidence indicates that Bonner had a sister (or half-sister) Margaret: Held at the Worcestershire Archives are three documents dated 1573^{[8] [9] [10]} that concern the sale of a dwelling called Bonersplace in severnende within the Lordship of Hanley and land belonging to the dwelling, also situated in Hanley, Worcestershire, by Thomas Parsons alias Ffayrbrother esquire of Stortford, Hertfordshire to Margery Lechmer, widow of Hanley, Worcestershire. The documents state that Thomas Parsons was the son and heir of Margaret Montioye and that Margaret was late the wife of Phillip Montioye and the sister and sole heir of Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London, deceased.

The mother and sister of Edmund Bonner were noted by Strype:^[11][6] When referring to Nicholas Ridley who succeeded Edmund Bonner as Bishop of London …

“He frequently sent for old Mrs Boner, his predecessor’s mother, calling her his mother, and caused her to sit in the uppermost seat at his own table; as also for his sister, one Mrs Mongey [Mountjoy]."

(NB Nicholas Ridley was Bishop of London 1550-1553 and died 1555.)

In 1554 there was a visit by Edmund Bonner to the house of 'one Parsons his nephew' (Thomas Parsons) at Bishops Stortford.^[12]

In the ODNB^[13], Kenneth Carleton wrote of Bonner that “much of his concern for his lands stemmed from his desire to provide financial support for his relatives, members of the Mongey family, to whom he gave leases of Diocesan estates for 60 or 70 years, and also his mother, sister and niece”. Indeed, this is evidenced in the will of Bonner's nephew William Mountjoy.^[14]

Faulkner^[3]and Gertz^[15] referred to a Thomas Darbyshire, rector of Fulham, as a nephew of Bishop Bonner. Strype^[16] referred to Dr. Darbyshire as the son of Bishop Bonner.

Career

The education of Edmund Bonner was supported by the Lechmere family of Hanley, Worcestershire. A descendant of the Lechmere family wrote "the estates of our family were very much increased, my great-grandmother Margaret Lechmere bringing a fair inheritance, but chiefly by the friendship of Edmund Bonner, Bishop of London, who being born at Hanley Quay of mean parentage was maintained at school and Oxford by the liberality of Thomas Lechmere, which the Bishop greatly requited by granting to Richard Lechmere a lease of Bushley Park".^[17]

Bonner studied at Broadgates Hall (now Pembroke College), Oxford.^[3][13]

Timeline of the career of Edmund Bonner:^[13][7]

• 1529 Chaplain to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey
• 1532 In Rome as the King’s Agent
• 1535 became Archdeacon of Leicester
• 1538 Ambassador to the French Court
• 1538-1539 Nominated to the Bishopric of Hereford (under Henry VIII)
• 1539-1549 Bishop of London (under Henry VIII)
• 1542-1543 Ambassador in Spain/Germany
• 1549?-1553 Imprisoned (under Edward VI)
• 1553-1559 Bishop of London (under Mary I)
• 1555-1558 Prosecution of the Protestant Reformers
• 1559-1569 Imprisoned by Elizabeth I

Bonner was sent to Rome by Henry VIII in 1532 to put forward Henry's case regarding his divorce of Catherine.^[13] His support of Henry VIII was rewarded when he was elected Bishop of London on 20 Oct 1539.

While initially supporting the supremacy of the Monarch under Henry VIII, Bonner rejected other changes to the authority of the church brought about during the reign of Edward VI and was imprisoned. He was restored during the reign of Mary I but was vilified for his involvement in the prosecution of the protestant recusants.

In 1559 under Elizabeth I he refused the oath of supremacy and was again imprisoned. With regard to Bonner's opposition to the supremacy during the reign of Elizabeth I, Philips^[18] referred to a letter from Bonner to Queen Elizabeth in which Bonner concluded with St Jerome’s words:

“If a master orders what is not against the Holy Scriptures, let his servant obey him. But if he gives commands contrary to them; let the servant obey the master of his soul rather than of his body”.

Philips^[18] also stated that Edmund Bonner was one of those “eleven bishops” who in the inscriptions set up in Rome in 1583 beneath the frescoes of the martyrs in the church of the English college, were held up by permission of Pope Gregory XIII to public veneration as having “died for their confession of the Roman See and of the catholic faith, worn out by the miseries of long imprisonment”. However, Bonner's place in history is more widely recognised for his role in the prosecution of the Protestant reformers under the Catholic Mary I, and it is from this he has been known as ‘Bloody Bonner’.

Death and Burial

Edmund Bonner died in the Marshalsea prison, Southwark, on 5 September 1569 and was buried three days later at St George's Southwark.^[13] He was buried at night as ordered by Edmund Grindall, Bishop of London, apparently to avoid difficulties with citizens disaffected with Bonner.^[3] This was commented upon at the time by a supporter of Bonner “As for his burial in the night, some malice there was shewde”.^[19]

On his death in 1569, an epitaph was written by Broke/Brooke, who clearly did not mourn his passing:^[20] “for bloody burning Boner now hath made exchange of lyfe”. There was an attempt to defend Bonner: “March forth in malice brauling Brooke let taunting tongue have no restraint: spew out the worst thou canst invent, against this Boner blessed saint”, with Broke/Brooke publishing a follow up claiming this to be a ‘slanderous libel’^[19]

There is evidence that Bonner was subsequently reburied at Copford, Essex: "..contemporary records state that he was buried in St. George’s churchyard, Southwark. However, in 1809 a workman here at Copford church is said to have found a coffin bearing his name under the north side of the altar. So it would seem that the coffin was secretly moved and reburied here".^[21]

Sources

1. ↑ Fèret, C J. Fulham old and new: being an exhaustive history of the ancient parish of Fulham. Vol. III, 1900, various pages Internet Archive.
2. ↑ Lemeke, Avale. A commemoration or dirige of bastard Edmonde Bonner alias Savage, usurped Bisshoppe of London. 1569. Oxford University, Bodleian Library Online.
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4} Faulkner, T. An Historical and Topographical Account of Fulham; Including the Hamlet of Hammersmith. London. 1813, p 201 HathiTrust.
4. ↑ Visitation of Cheshire in the year 1580 … Rylands J P (Ed.). Publications of the Harleian Society. Vol 18. London, 1882, 'Boner's' Pedigree p 205 Internet Archive.
5. ↑ Ormerod, G. The History of the County Palatine and City of Chester. Vol. II, 1819, p 128 Internet Archive.
6. ↑ ^{6.0 6.1} Maitland, S R Rev. Essays on subjects connected with the Reformation in England. 1849, pp 58-59 Internet Archive.
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1} Chambers, J. Biographical Illustrations of Worcestershire: Including Lives of Persons, Natives or Residents, eminent either for Piety of Talent. London. 1820, pp 50-51 Internet Archive.
8. ↑ Bargain and Sale from Thomas Parsons to Margery Lechmer. 21 Apr 1573. Ref: 705:134/1531/78/1/5. Worcestershire Archives.
9. ↑ Quitclaim from Thomas Parsons to Margaret Mountioye, Phillip Mountioye, Edmund Bonner and William Stone. 1573. Ref: 705:134/1531/78/1/6. Worcestershire Archives.
10. ↑ Feoffment from Thomas Parsons to Margaret Mountioy and Phillip Mountioy. 1573. Ref: 705:134/1531/59/3/8. Worcestershire Archives.
11. ↑ Strype, J. Memorials of the Most Reverend Father in God Thomas Cranmer. Oxford University Press, 1840, pp 297-298 HathiTrust.
12. ↑ The Acts and Monuments of John Foxe. Vol VI. 1838, p 564 Google Books.
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4} Bonner, Edmund. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online).
14. ↑ Will of William Mouncoye alias Moungye or Mountioy alias Moungy, Gentleman of London. 04 September 1585. PROB 11/68/518. The National Archives, Kew.
15. ↑ Gertz, Genelle. Heresy Trials and English Women Writers, 1400-1670. Cambridge University Press, 2012.
16. ↑ Strype, J. Ecclesiastical Memorials: Relating Chiefly to Religion, and its Reformation, under the Reigns of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and Queen Mary the First. London, 1816.
17. ↑ 'Parishes: Hanley Castle', in A History of the County of Worcester: Volume 4, ed. William Page and J W Willis-Bund (London, 1924), pp 89-101 BHO.
18. ↑ ^{18.0 18.1} Philips, G E, Rev. The Truth about Bishop Bonner. Catholic Truth Society. Pamphlet. London. No date.
19. ↑ ^{19.0 19.1} Broke, Thomas. A slanderous libel (cast abroad) unto an epitaph set forth upon the death of D.E. Boner, with a reply to the same lying libel by T. Broo. 1569?. University of Oxford, Bodleian Library Online.
20. ↑ Broke, Thomas the younger. An epitaphe declaring the lyfe and end of D. Edmund Boner. 1569?. University of Oxford, Bodleian Library Online.
21. ↑ Copford Church History Copford.

See also:

• Edmund Bonner Wikipedia
• Alexander, G. Bonner and the Marian Persecutions. History. Vol. 60, No. 200, 1975, pp 374-391.