Adam Moleyns (died 9 January 1450),
Bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East Sussex, East and West Sussex. The Episcopal see, see is based in t ...
, was an English bishop, lawyer, royal administrator and diplomat. During the minority of
Henry VI of England
Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and 1470 to 1471, and English claims to the French throne, disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V of England, Henry V, he succeeded ...
, he was clerk of the ruling
council of the Regent.
Life
Moleyns had the living of
Kempsey from 1433. He was
Dean of Salisbury
The Dean of Salisbury is the primus inter pares, head of the cathedral chapter, chapter of Salisbury Cathedral in the Church of England. The Dean assists the archdeacon of Sarum and bishop of Ramsbury in the diocese of Salisbury.
List of deans
...
from 1441 to 1446. He became
bishop of Chichester
The Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the counties of East Sussex, East and West Sussex. The Episcopal see, see is based in t ...
on 24 September 1445, and was consecrated bishop on 6 February 1446.
[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 239] He was
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal (or, more formally, the Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) is the fifth of the Great Officers of State (United Kingdom), Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and abov ...
in 1444,
[Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 95] at the same time that he was
Protonotary of the Holy See. In 1447 he had permission to fortify the manor house at
Bexhill.
Moleyns was a correspondent of the
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini,
Pope Pius II
Pope Pius II (, ), born Enea Silvio Bartolomeo Piccolomini (; 18 October 1405 – 14 August 1464), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 August 1458 to his death in 1464.
Aeneas Silvius was an author, diplomat, ...
, who complimented him in a letter of 29 May 1444: "And I congratulate you and England, since you care for the art of rhetoric". In 1926 George Warner attributed ''
The Libelle of Englyshe Polycye'' (1435–38) to Moleyns but this theory was partly based on Warner's mistaken identification of Adam Moleyns as a member of the family's Lancashire branch. The theory of Moleyns' authorship of the poem is now rejected by most historians and scholars.
[Smith "Moleyns, Adam (d. 1450)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'']
An active partisan of the unpopular
William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, Moleyns was lynched in
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
by discontented unpaid soldiers on 9 January 1450.
[Michael Miller ''The Wars of the Roses'' chapter 37]
accessed on 25 August 200
accessed on 25 August 200
accessed on 25 August 2007
Notes
Citations
References
*
*
Further reading
*Reeves, A.C., ''Lancastrian Englishmen'' (Washington: University Press of America) 1981. One of five fifteenth-century careers outlined through documents.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moleyns, Adam
1450 deaths
Bishops of Chichester
Deans of Salisbury
Archdeacons of Salisbury
Archdeacons of Taunton
Lords Privy Seal
15th-century English Roman Catholic bishops
Year of birth unknown
Lynching deaths