Stephen Gardiner

Stephen Gardiner (c. 1493 - November 12, 1555) was an English bishop and Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I of England.

Early Life

He was born in Bury St Edmunds, but the date of his birth is suspect. His father is known to have been John Gardiner, a substantial cloth merchant of the town where he was born (see his will, printed in Proceedings of the Suffolk Archaeological Institute, i. 329), who took care to give him a good education. His mother Helen was reputed to be an illegitimate daughter of Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford.

Related Topics:
Bury St Edmunds - Helen - Jasper Tudor, 1st Duke of Bedford

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In 1511 Gardiner, still a boy, met Erasmus in Paris (Nichols's Epistles of Erasmus, ii. 12, 13). He had probably already begun his studies at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he distinguished himself in the classics, especially in Greek. He then devoted himself to the canon and civil law, in which subjects he attained so great a proficiency that no one could dispute his pre-eminence. He received the degree of doctor of civil law in 1520, and of canon law in the following year.

Related Topics:
1511 - Erasmus - Paris - Trinity Hall, Cambridge - Greek - Civil law - 1520 - Canon law

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