Ralph Morice was the secretary and biographer of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury.

Life

Born about 1500, he is presumed to be the younger son of James Morice, clerk of the kitchen and master of the works to Margaret, Countess of Richmond. His father, who was living in 1537, amassed a fortune and lived at Chipping Ongar, Essex. His principal duty consisted in supervising the buildings of the countess at Cambridge. The eldest son, William Morice (

fl. ''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...

1547), was gentleman-usher, first to

Richard Pace Richard Pace (c. 148228 June 1536) was an English clergyman and diplomat of the Tudor period. Life He was born in Hampshire and educated at Winchester College under Thomas Langton. He attended the universities of Padua and Oxford. In 1509, ...

, and afterwards to Henry VIII, and towards the end of Henry's reign was in gaol and in peril of his life on a charge of heresy. William was father of the ecclesiastical lawyer

James Morice James Morice (1539–1597) was an English politician. He was born 1539, the eldest son of William Morice of Chipping Ongar by Anne Isaac of Kent and educated at the Middle Temple. He was chosen as the Member of Parliament for Wareham in 1563. ...

. Ralph Morice was educated at Cambridge; he graduated B.A. in 1523, and commenced M.A. in 1526. He became secretary to Cranmer in 1528 before his elevation to the archbishopric, and continued in the office until after Edward VI's death. In 1532 he went with Hugh Latimer, his brother, and others to see James Bainham in

Newgate Prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...

before his execution. On 18 June 1537 he and his father received a grant of the office of bailiff for some crown lands, and in 1547 he was made registrar to the commissioners appointed to visit the dioceses of Rochester, Canterbury, Chichester, and Winchester. His duties while secretary to the archbishop were heavy. In a memorial, printed in the Appendix to John Strype's ''Cranmer'' and addressed to Queen Elizabeth, he speaks of writing much in defence of the ecclesiastical changes; much of his work must have been anonymous. He had the farm of the parsonage of Chartham in Kent—that is to say he put in a curate, keeping the rest of the revenues. The curate, Richard Turner, got into trouble for Protestant preaching in 1544, but Morice managed to clear him. The Turner case was part of the serious plot against Cranmer at this time; Morice worked with Anthony Denny and

William Butts Sir William Butts (c. 1486 – 22 November 1545) was a member of King Henry VIII of England's court and was the King's physician. His portrait was painted by Hans Holbein the Younger in 1543, and he was knighted in the following year. His grandd ...

at court, and played a significant part in the successful counter-attack that secured Cranmer's position with the king. Under Queen Mary, Morice was in some danger. His house was twice searched, and he lost many of his papers and had to flee. He was imprisoned, but escaped. The end of his life he passed at Bekesbourne in Kent. There he fell into poverty, and stated in one of his petitions to Queen Elizabeth that he had four daughters whom he lacked the means to marry. Three of these, however, Margaret, Mary, and Anne, were married in January and February 1571. Alyce Morice, who was buried 25 February 1562, may have been his wife. The date of his own death is uncertain

Works

Morice, from his official position, was in possession of information, and helped

John Foxe John Foxe (1516/1517 – 18 April 1587), an English historian and martyrologist, was the author of '' Actes and Monuments'' (otherwise ''Foxe's Book of Martyrs''), telling of Christian martyrs throughout Western history, but particularly the su ...

and others in their literary researches, mainly by supplying them with his ''Anecdotes of Cranmer.'' This compilation was used by Strype in his ''Memorials of Cranmer'', and was reprinted from the manuscript at

Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Corpus Christi College (full name: "The College of Corpus Christi and the Blessed Virgin Mary", often shortened to "Corpus"), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. From the late 14th century through to the early 19th century ...

, in ''Narratives of the Reformation'' ( Camden Society). Morice gave other assistance to Foxe, and wrote an account of Latimer's conversion, which is printed in Strype's ''Memorials'' and in Latimer's ''Works''. Harleian MS. 6148 consists of copies of letters written by Morice on the archbishop's business. Transcripts by Strype of some of these form

Lansdowne MS. The Lansdowne manuscripts are a significant named collection of the British Library, based on the collection of William Petty, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne. The purchase of the collection by the British Museum was in 1807.''Dictionary of National Biog ...

1045. They were published by

Henry Jenkyns Sir Henry Jenkyns (2 September 1838 – 10 December 1899) was an English lawyer and parliamentary counsel. Jenkyns was the son of Rev. Canon Henry Jenkyns, D.D., of Durham. Educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford; B.A., 1860 (First Class ...

and

John Edmund Cox John Edmund Cox (1812–1890), also Edmond, was an English cleric and antiquarian, best known as an editor of the works of Thomas Cranmer. Life He was the eldest son of John (or George) Cox of Norwich, a furniture maker. In his musical memoirs, Co ...

in their editions of Cranmer's ‘Works.’

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Morice, Ralph Year of birth missing Year of death missing 16th-century English writers 16th-century male writers English biographers People from Chipping Ongar People from Bekesbourne