The Right Reverend Richard Foxe
Bishop of Winchester
Church	Roman Catholic
Appointed	20 August 1501
Term ended	5 October 1528
Predecessor	Thomas Langton
Successor	Thomas Wolsey
Previous posts	Bishop of Exeter Bishop of Bath and Wells Bishop of Durham
Orders
Consecration	8 April 1487 by John Morton
Personal details
Born	c. 1448 Ropsley,Lincolnshire, England
Died	5 October 1528 (aged 79–80) England
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Coat of arms

Richard Foxe (sometimesRichard Fox) (c. 1448 – 5 October 1528)^[2] was an English churchman, the founder ofCorpus Christi College, Oxford. He was successively Bishop ofExeter,Bath and Wells,Durham, andWinchester, and became alsoLord Privy Seal.

Foxe was born atRopsley nearGrantham, Lincolnshire. His parents belonged to theyeoman class, and little is known about Foxe's early career. He is thought to have studied atMagdalen College, Oxford, from which he drew many members of his subsequent foundation,Corpus Christi College, Oxford.^[2] Foxe also appears to have studied atCambridge, but nothing definite is known of his first thirty-five years.^[3] He was Master of the school in Stratford-upon-Avon from 1477, "a man of wisdom, knowledge, learning and truth."

In 1484, Foxe was in Paris possibly in pursuit of studies or possibly because he had become unpopular withRichard III. There he came into contact withHenry Tudor, who was beginning his quest for the English throne, and took Foxe into his service. In January 1485 Richard intervened to prevent Foxe's appointment to the vicarage ofStepney on the ground that he was keeping company with the "great rebel, Henry ap Tuddor."

The important offices conferred on Foxe immediately after theBattle of Bosworth imply that he had already seen more extensive political service than can be traced in surviving records. His Tudor credentials immediately confirmed by ordination as Vicar of Stepney. Doubtless Henry had every reason to reward his companions in exile, and to rule likeFerdinand II of Aragon by means of lawyers and churchmen rather than to trust nobles like those who had made theWars of the Roses. But without an intimate knowledge of Foxe's political experience and capacity he would hardly have made him hisprincipal secretary, and soon afterwardsLord Privy Seal^[4] and electedBishop of Exeter on 29 January 1487, being consecrated on 8 April.^[5] The ecclesiastical role provided a salary that was not at Henry's expense; for Foxe never saw either Exeter or thediocese of Bath and Wells to which he was moved in February 1492.^[6] His activity was confined to political and especially diplomatic channels; duringJohn Morton's lifetime, Foxe was his subordinate, but after the archbishop's death he was first in Henry's confidence, and had an important share in all the diplomatic work of the reign. In 1487 he negotiated a treaty with KingJames III of Scotland, also pursuing the possibility of a marriage alliance involving one ofElizabeth of York's sisters.^[7] In 1491 he baptised the future KingHenry VIII of England. In 1492 he helped conclude thePeace of Etaples, and in 1493 he was chief commissioner in the negotiations for the famous commercial agreement with theNetherlands whichBacon seems to have been the first to call theMagnus Intercursus.

Meanwhile, in July 1494 Foxe had been translated to thesee of Durham,^[8] not merely because it was a richer see than Bath and Wells but because of its political importance as apalatine see and its location adjacent to the Borders and hence its importance for relations with Scotland. For these reasons rather than from any ecclesiastical scruples Foxe visited and resided in his new diocese; and he occupiedNorham Castle, which he fortified and defended against a Scottish raid launched in 1497 in support ofPerkin Warbeck. But his energies were principally devoted to pacific purposes. In that same year he negotiated Perkin's retirement from the court ofJames IV, and in 1498–1499 he completed the negotiations for that treaty of marriage between the Scottish king and Henry VII's daughterMargaret^[7] which led ultimately to the union of the two crowns in 1603 and of the two kingdoms in 1707. The marriage itself did not take place until 1503, just a century before the accession ofJames I.

In August 1501 he was translated once more, this time to thesee of Winchester,^[9] then reputed the richest diocese in England. In that year he brought to a conclusion marriage negotiations not less momentous in their ultimate results, when Prince Arthur was betrothed toCatherine of Aragon. His last diplomatic achievement in the reign of Henry VII was the betrothal of the king's younger daughter Mary to the future emperorCharles V.

In 1500 Foxe was elected chancellor ofCambridge University and in 1507 master ofPembroke Hall, Cambridge.Lady Margaret Beaufort made him one of her executors, and in this capacity as well as in that of chancellor, he had the chief share with Fisher in regulating the foundation ofSt John's College, Cambridge, and the Lady Margaret professorships and readerships. His financial work brought him a less enviable notoriety, though history has deprived him of the credit which is his due for "Morton's Fork." The invention of that ingenious dilemma for extorting contributions from poor and rich alike is ascribed as a tradition to Morton byFrancis Bacon; but the story is told in greater detail of Foxe byErasmus, who says he had it from SirThomas More. It is in keeping with the somewhat malicious saying about Foxe, reported byWilliam Tyndale, that he would sacrifice his father to save his king.

The accession of Henry VIII only increased Foxe's power, the personnel of his ministry remaining unaltered. The Venetian ambassador called Foxe "alter rex" and the Spanish ambassador Carroz said that Henry trusted him more than any other adviser, although he also reports Henry's warning that the Bishop of Winchester was, as his name implied, "a Foxe indeed." He was the chief of the ecclesiastical statesmen of Morton's school, believed in frequent parliaments, and opposed the spirited foreign policy which laymen like Surrey are supposed to have advocated. His colleagues wereWilliam Warham and Ruthal, but Warham and Foxe differed on the question of Henry's marriage, Foxe advising the completion of the match withCatherine of Aragon while Warham expressed doubts as to its canonical validity. They also differed over the prerogatives ofCanterbury with regard to probate and other questions of ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

Thomas Wolsey's rapid rise in 1511 put an end to Foxe's influence. The pacific policy of the first two years of Henry VIII's reign was succeeded by a more aggressive foreign policy directed mainly against France; and Foxe complained that no one dared do anything in opposition to Wolsey's wishes. Foxe resigned the privy seal because of Wolsey's ill-advised attempt to drive KingFrancis I of France out ofMilan by financing an expedition led byMaximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1516.Cuthbert Tunstall protested, Wolsey took Warham's place as chancellor, and Foxe was succeeded by Ruthal, who, said the Venetian ambassador, "sang treble to Wolsey's bass." Yet he warmly congratulated Wolsey two years later when warlike adventures were abandoned at the peace of London. But in 1522, when war was again declared, he emphatically refused to bear any part of the responsibility, and in 1523 he opposed in convocation the financial demands which met with a more strenuous resistance in theHouse of Commons.

Foxe now devoted himself to his long-neglected episcopal duties. He expressed himself as being as anxious for the reformation of the clergy asSimeon the Righteous for the coming of theMessiah; but was too old to accomplish much himself in the way of remedying the clerical and especially the monastic depravity, licence and corruption he deplored. His sight failed during the last ten years of his life, andMatthew Parker claimed that Wolsey suggested his retirement from his diocese on a pension. Foxe refused, and Wolsey had to wait until Foxe's death before he could add occupation of Winchester to his holding the archdiocese of York and the abbey ofSt Albans, and thus leave Durham vacant as he hoped for his own illegitimate son. Foxe died on 5 October 1528.^[9]

The crown of Foxe's career was his foundation ofCorpus Christi College, Oxford, which he established in 1515–1516, and which was roundly praised by humanist Erasmus.^[10] Originally he intended it as an Oxford house for the monks of St Swithin's, Winchester; but he is said to have been dissuaded byBishop Oldham, who foretold the fall of the monks. The scheme breathed the spirit of the Renaissance; provision was made for the teaching ofGreek, Latin and patristic texts. While Erasmus praised the institution, Pole was one of its earliest fellows. The humanistJuan Luís Vives was brought from Italy to teachLatin, and the reader in theology was instructed to follow the Greek and Latin Fathers rather than the scholastic commentaries. Foxe also built and endowed grammar schools atTaunton andGrantham and was a benefactor to numerous other institutions. He died at Wolvesey; Corpus possesses several portraits and other relics of its founder.

• List of Erasmus's correspondents
• List of chancellors of the University of Cambridge

• Allen, P. S. & H. M. (eds.)Letters of Richard Fox 1486-1527, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1929.
• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996).Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Pollard, Albert Frederick (1911). "Fox, Richard".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). pp. 766–767.
• Letters and Papers of henry VII. and Henri. VIII., vols. i.-iv.;
• Spanish and Venetian Calendars of State Papers;
• James Gairdner,Lollardy and the Reformation and Church History 1485–1558;
• Pollard, A. F.Henry VIII; Longman'sPolitical History, vol. v.;
• authorities cited in the article byThomas Fowler in theDictionary of National Biography.

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