John Russell (died 30 December 1494) was an EnglishBishop of Rochester andbishop of Lincoln andLord Chancellor.

Russell was admitted toWinchester College in 1443, and in 1449 went to Oxford as Fellow ofNew College. He resigned his fellowship in 1462, and appears to have entered the royal service.^[1]

He was appointedArchdeacon of Berkshire and served from 1466 to 1476.^[2]

In April 1467 and January 1468 Russell was employed on diplomatic missions forEdward IV of England toCharles the Bold, atBruges. He was there again in February 1470 as one of the envoys to invest Charles with theOrder of the Garter: the Latin speech which Russell delivered on this last occasion was one ofWilliam Caxton's earliest publications, probably printed for him at Bruges byColard Mansion.^[1][3]

In May 1474 Russell was promoted to beLord Privy Seal,^[2] and retained his office even after his consecration asbishop of Rochester on 22 September 1476, and translation to the post ofbishop of Lincoln on 7 July 1480.^[1][4]

As a trusted minister ofEdward IV, Russell was one of the executors of the king's will.^[1] After Lord ChancellorThomas Rotherham, Archbishop of York, had been dismissed due to his mishandling of thegreat seal, Russell was appointed to succeed him on 13 May 1483. Reportedly, Russell accepted the appointment only with reluctance.^[1] He remained chancellor under KingRichard III until being dismissed on 29 July 1485.^[5]

Russell was above all things an official, and was sometimes employed byHenry VII in public affairs. But his last years were occupied chiefly with the business of his diocese, and of the university of Oxford, of which he had been electedchancellor in 1483. He died atNettleham, and was buried atLincoln Cathedral.^[1]

Sir Thomas More called Russell "a wise manne and a good, and of much experience, and one of the best-learned men, undoubtedly, that England had in hys time." Two English speeches composed by Russell, for the intended parliament ofEdward V, and the first parliament of Richard III, are printed in Nichols'sGrants of Edward V.^[1][6] Some other writings remain in manuscript.

• 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.

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