The Right Reverend Richard Nykke | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Norwich | |
| Predecessor | Thomas Jane |
| Successor | William Rugg |
| Other post(s) | Archdeacon of Exeter Archdeacon of Wells Canon of Windsor |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | c. 1501 |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1447 |
| Died | 1535 |
| Buried | Norwich Cathedral |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
Richard Nykke (orNix orNick;[1]c. 1447–1535) becamebishop of Norwich underPope Alexander VI in 1515.Norwich at this time was the second-largest conurbation in England, after London.
Nykke is often called the last Catholic bishop of the diocese, but that title is also claimed byJohn Hopton, bishop underMary I of England.[2] Described as "ultra-conservative", but also "much-respected",[3] Nykke maintained an independent line and was embroiled in conflict until blind and in his last years. While he was a natural target for Protestant propaganda, stories about him are sometimes poorly founded. One of the best known is that he said that potential heretics "savoured of the frying pan". AsRobert Southey pointed out, this translates a well-known French idiom,sentir le fagot.[4][5]
Nykke was the son of Thomas and Johanna (née Stillington) Nykke; Johanna was the sister ofRobert Stillington,Bishop of Bath and Wells.[1] Richard was educated atTrinity Hall, Cambridge.[6] He becameRector ofAshbury in 1473;Rector ofCadbury andPrebendary ofWells in 1489;Archdeacon of Exeter in 1492;Vicar general ofBath and Wells in 1493;Prebendary ofSouthwell in 1493;Archdeacon of Wells in 1494;Prebendary ofYork in 1494;Vicar general ofDurham andRector ofBishopswearmouth in 1495;Canon of Windsor in 1497; andDean of the Chapel Royal andRector ofHigh Ham in 1499.
Nykke became bishop of Norwich in 1501.[7] After a fire in 1509, he had wooden roofing inNorwich Cathedral replaced with stone vaulting.[8]
Nykke complained bitterly against the early Tudor use ofpraemunire to limit ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Involved inKing's Bench cases, he made his case toWilliam Warham (Archbishop of Canterbury), and denounced James Hobart,Attorney-General for most of the reign of Henry VII.[9][10][11]
Nykke clashed withJohn Skelton, who was vicar ofDiss in his diocese, from 1507. It is said that Skelton's hostility to theDominicans led them to denounce him to Nykke for living with a woman.[12] Skelton, however, became a folkloric character and it is not known how much of various tales about him is factual.[13]
Nykke consistently attempted to maintain Roman orthodoxy, againstLollards, new theological thinking coming out of Cambridge – he was particularly suspicious ofGonville Hall[14]—and the early Protestant reformers. He expressed anxiety about the distribution ofWilliam Tyndale's translation into English of theNew Testament.[15]
The reformerThomas Bilney was burned as a heretic in Norwich, in 1531. Another suspected heretic of the same time wasNicholas Shaxton, a Lutheran sympathiser, but in his case Nykke pressured him into a recantation which saved his life.[16]
WhenThomas Cranmer was newly appointedArchbishop of Canterbury, in 1533, Nykke was one of the bishops who found ways to defy his authority. He was "brought to heel"[17] in late 1534.
There is a confused story that in 1534 Nykke ran afoul ofHenry VIII, by correspondence with theHoly See. According to the account, he was made the subject of apraemunire charge, imprisoned in theMarshalsea, and then pardoned; but this story has been doubted.[18][19] In a more complex picture, Henry VIII used the legal pressure of apraemunire to force an exchange of manors of the Norwich diocese forSt Benet's Abbey, Holme, Norfolk, which some claim escaped theDissolution of the monasteries.[20] The 1911Encyclopædia Britannica article on Thomas Bilney says that the bishop's legal problem was proceeding to the execution of Bilney without state authority, and an impending Parliamentary inquiry.[21] There was a charge also of infringing the liberties of the mayor ofThetford, and the bishop apparently was imprisoned. This was a King's Bench matter, and therefore formally distinct from the Cranmer issue.[19][22] Money Henry extracted as a fine from the bishop went to pay for windows inKing's College Chapel.[23]
Nykke died blind in advanced old age and is buried in Norwich Cathedral.[citation needed]
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