John May (Meye) (died 1598) was an English academic and churchman, who became

Bishop of Carlisle The Bishop of Carlisle is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Carlisle in the Province of York. The diocese covers the county of Cumbria except for Alston Moor and the former Sedbergh Rural District. The Episcop ...

. He was also the vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge and served the

House of De Vere The House of de Vere was an old and powerful English nobility, English aristocratic family who derived their name from Ver, Manche, Ver (department Manche, canton Gavray), in Lower Normandy, France. History The family's Normans, Norman f ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

Life

He was a native of

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

and brother of William May. He matriculated as a pensioner of

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

, on 2 May 1544. He was appointed bible-clerk of his college, and in 1550 proceeded B.A., being elected fellow in 1550. He commenced M.A. in 1553, and acted as bursar of the college during 1553, 1554, and 1555. Queens' was split in religious sympathies in the Marian period, and May belonged to the Catholic group rather than the reformers. At midsummer 1557, he was ordained priest, and on 16 November following he was instituted to the rectory of

Aston Sandford Aston Sandford is a small village and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, about east of Haddenham and northwest of Princes Risborough. It is in the civil parish of Kingsey within the Buckinghamshire Council unitary authority area. T ...

, owned by

Edward de Vere Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (; 12 April 155024 June 1604), was an English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after patron o ...

, resigning in 1558. In 1559 he was elected to the mastership of

Catharine Hall, Cambridge St Catharine's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. Founded in 1473 as Katharine Hall, it adopted its current name in 1860. The college is nicknamed "Catz". The college is located in the historic city-centre ...

. In 1560 he commenced B.D., and was collated to the rectory of

Long Stanton St. Michael Longstanton is a village and civil parish in South Cambridgeshire, England, north-west of Cambridge city centre. Longstanton occupies . Longstanton was created in 1953 from the two parishes of Long Stanton All Saints and Long Stanton St Michae ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

. In 1562 Archbishop

Matthew Parker Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 to his death. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with Thomas Cranmer ...

collated him to the rectory of

North Creake North Creake is a village and civil parish in the north west of the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 414 in 184 households at the 2001 census, reducing to 386 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of loca ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

; and he held also the moiety of the rectory of Darfield,

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

. About 1564 he obtained a canonry of Ely, which he held until May 1582. Also, in 1564 he was created D.D. In 1565 he was nominated one of the Lent preachers at court. On 26 September in that year he was collated by Archbishop Parker to the rectory of St. Dunstan-in-the East, London, which he vacated in January 1574. He was admitted to the

archdeaconry of the East Riding of Yorkshire The Archdeacon of the East Riding is a senior ecclesiastical officer of an archdeaconry, or subdivision, of the Church of England Diocese of York in the Province of York. It is named for the East Riding of Yorkshire and consists of the eight rura ...

by proxy on 3 August 1569, in person on 8 October 1571, and retained it until the end of 1588. He served the office of vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge for the year from November 1569, and was in a commission to visit

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

, in a state of confusion over the conduct of Dr. Philip Baker, the Provost. Through the influence of

George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury, 6th Earl of Waterford, 12th Baron Talbot, KG, Earl Marshal (c. 1522/1528 – 18 November 1590) was an English magnate and military commander. He also held the subsidiary titles of 15th Baron Strange o ...

, May was raised to the see of Carlisle, being consecrated on 29 September 1577. He obtained the Queen's licence to hold his other preferments ''

in commendam In canon law, commenda (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastica ...

'', but had long-term financial troubles. From his correspondence with Shrewsbury, he appears to have taken a serious interest in Scottish affairs. On 15 February 1593, the Queen presented William Holland to the rectory of North Creake, which May still held, and there arose a suit in the

Queen's bench The King's Bench (), or, during the reign of a female monarch, the Queen's Bench ('), refers to several contemporary and historical courts in some Commonwealth jurisdictions. * Court of King's Bench (England), a historic court of common law in ...

; it was held that the rectory might be treated as void by reason of May having been subsequently inducted to Darfield. May died at

Rose Castle Rose Castle is a Manor house, fortified house in the parish of Dalston, Cumbria, Dalston, Cumbria, England. It was the residence of the Bishop of Carlisle, bishops of Carlisle from 1230 to 2009, and has been a peace and reconciliation centre sinc ...

on 15 February 1598, being about seventy years of age. He was buried at

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...

, according to the parish register of

Dalston, Cumbria Dalston is a large village and civil parish in Cumbria, England, on the B5299 road south-west of Carlisle. The village is on the River Caldew, just to the north of where the Roe Beck joins it. Dalston railway station is on the Cumbrian ...

, a few hours after his death, which was probably caused by the plague.

Works

May wrote some plays, now lost, which were acted by the members of Queens' College in 1551 and 1553. He was concerned in the compilation of the statutes given to the university by Elizabeth in 1570. Among the Tanner manuscripts in the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1602 by Sir Thomas Bodley, it is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second-largest library in ...

are some notes of a sermon which he preached at

Paul's Cross Paul's Cross (alternatively "Powles Crosse") was a preaching cross and open-air pulpit in St Paul's Churchyard, the grounds of Old St Paul's Cathedral, City of London. It was the most important public pulpit in Tudor and early Stuart England, ...

in 1565.

Family

His wife was Amy, daughter of William Vowel of Creake Abbey, Norfolk, and widow of John Cowel of Lancashire. By her he had issue: John of Shouldham, Norfolk, who married Cordelia, daughter of Martin Bowes of Norfolk; Elizabeth, wife of Richard Bird, D.D.; Alice, wife of Richard Burton of Burton, Yorkshire; and Anne, wife of Richard Pilkington, D.D., rector of Hambleden, Buckinghamshire.

Notes

References

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20110714131915/http://matterdalematters.multiply.com/journal/item/113/Founding_of_chapelry {{DEFAULTSORT:May, John Bishops of Carlisle Archdeacons of the East Riding Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Fellows of Queens' College, Cambridge Masters of St Catharine's College, Cambridge 16th-century births 16th-century Church of England bishops Clergy from Suffolk Year of birth missing 1598 deaths Vice-chancellors of the University of Cambridge 16th-century English dramatists and playwrights