12
October 1500 A.D. John
Morton Dies—66th of 105 Archbishops of Canterbury
Editors.
“John Morton.” Encyclopedia Britannica. N.d. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/393230/John-Morton. Accessed 27 May 2014.
John Morton, (born
c. 1420, Bere Regis or
Milborne St. Andrew, Dorset, Eng.—died Oct. 12, 1500, Knole, Kent), archbishop of Canterbury and cardinal, one of the most powerful men in England in the reign of King Henry VII.
During the Wars of
the Roses between the houses of York and Lancaster, Morton favoured the
Lancastrian cause. He received minor ecclesiastical posts under the Lancastrian
monarch Henry VI, but upon the accession of the Yorkist Edward IV, in 1461, he
was declared a traitor and forced to sue for a pardon. In 1470 Morton helped
assemble the coalition of Lancastrians and disaffected Yorkists that drove
Edward IV from the country. Nevertheless, after Edward regained his throne in
1471, Morton was given ambassadorial posts and appointed bishop of Ely (1479).
When Edward’s brother seized the throne as King Richard III
in 1483, Morton became one of Richard’s bitterest enemies. While imprisoned by
Richard in Brecon (Brecknock) Castle, the bishop helped plot the unsuccessful
uprising led by Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham (October 1483). Morton
then escaped to Flanders.
Upon his return to
England after Henry VII
assumed the throne in 1485, he became one of the most trusted and influential
royal advisers. He was made archbishop of Canterbury in 1486, lord chancellor
in 1487, and cardinal in 1493. Traditionally, Morton has been known as the
inventor of “Morton’s Fork,” a sophistical dilemma
imposed on both rich and poor by Henry’s tax commissioners in order to extort
funds for the crown. The rich were told that they could afford to contribute,
and the poor were accused of having concealed wealth.
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