Edmund Bonner

Edmund Bonner (1500?- 5th September, 1569), Bishop of London, was an English bishop. Initially an instrumental figure in the schism of Henry VIII from Rome, he was antagonized by the reforms introduced by Somerset and reconciled himself to Roman Catholicism. He became notorious as Bloody Bonner for his role in the persecution of heretics under the government of Mary I of England, and ended his life as a prisoner under Queen Elizabeth.

Early life

He was the son of Elizabeth Frodsham, who was married to Edmund Bonner, a sawyer of Hanley in Worcestershire. John Strype (Eccles. Mem. III. i. 17 2-173) printed an accounting, with many circumstantial details, stating that Bonner was the natural son of George Savage, rector of Davenham, Cheshire, and that his mother married Bonner only after the future bishop's birth. This account was disputed by Strype's contemporary, Sir Edmund Lechmere, who asserted (ib. Annals, I. ii. 300) that Bonner was of legitimate birth.

Related Topics:
Worcestershire - John Strype

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He was educated at Broadgates Hall, now Pembroke College, Oxford, graduating bachelor of civil and canon law in June 1519. He was ordained about the same time, and admitted doctor of civil law (DCL) in 1525.

Related Topics:
Pembroke College, Oxford - 1519 - 1525

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