Sir John Prise (also Prys, Price; ) (1501/2–1555) was a Welsh

public notary A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...

, who acted as a royal agent and visitor of the monasteries. He was also a scholar, associated with the first Welsh printed publication '' Yn y lhyvyr hwnn''. He was a

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

(MP) of the

Parliament of England The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England from the 13th century until 1707 when it was replaced by the Parliament of Great Britain. Parliament evolved from the Great Council of England, great council of Lords Spi ...

for

Breconshire Brecknockshire ( or ), also known as the County of Brecknock, Breconshire, or the County of Brecon, was one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It was created in 1536 under the Laws in Wales ...

in 1547;

Hereford Hereford ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, England. It is on the banks of the River Wye and lies east of the border with Wales, north-west of Gloucester and south-west of Worcester. With ...

October 1553;

Ludlow Ludlow ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire (district), Shropshire, England. It is located south of Shrewsbury and north of Hereford, on the A49 road (Great Britain), A49 road which bypasses the town. The town is near the conf ...

April 1554; and Ludgershall November 1554.

Life

John was the son of Rhys ab Gwilym by Gwenllian, daughter of Howel Madoc, and was born in

Brecon Brecon (; ; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the county town of Breck ...

. He was educated at

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

, and became a notary public and receiver of the king. From a statement of Rowland Lee, it appears that Prise had been some time in the service of the

Earl of Arundel Earl of Arundel is a title of nobility in England, and one of the oldest extant in the English peerage. It is currently held by the Duke of Norfolk, and it is used (along with the earldom of Surrey) by his heir apparent as a courtesy title ...

as constable of Cloon Castle in Ireland, and that for his employment he was promoted to be one of

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; – 28 July 1540) was an English statesman and lawyer who served as List of English chief ministers, chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false cha ...

's agents. In May 1532, when the Earls of Westmorland and Cumberland and Sir Thomas Clifford searched

Cuthbert Tunstall Cuthbert Tunstall (otherwise spelt Tunstal or Tonstall; 1474 – 18 November 1559) was an England, English humanist, bishop, diplomat, administrator and royal adviser. He served as Bishop of Durham during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI of ...

's house at

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

, Price looked into the manuscripts, and made a report to Cromwell. In 1533 he was employed under Cromwell. In 1534 he was registrar of Salisbury Cathedral. In April 1535 he took part in the proceedings against the

Carthusians The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians (), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own rule, called the ...

as to the royal supremacy. He officiated in the same way at the trial of

John Fisher John Fisher (c. 19 October 1469 – 22 June 1535) was an English Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Rochester from 1504 to 1535 and as chancellor of the University of Cambridge. He is honoured as a martyr and saint by the Catholic Chu ...

and

Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry VII ...

. He took part in the major visitation of the monasteries of 1535, alongside

Sir Thomas Legh Sir Thomas Leigh or Legh (1545) was an English jurist and diplomat, who played a key role as agent of Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell in the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Life The younger son of John Leigh, lord of the manor of Frizington, C ...

. When the

Pilgrimage of Grace The Pilgrimage of Grace was an English Catholic popular revolt beginning in Yorkshire in October 1536 before spreading to other parts of Northern England, including Cumberland, Northumberland, Durham and north Lancashire. The protests occurre ...

was quelled, he assisted in trying the rebels. For his services he received in 1537–38 a joint lease of

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...

rectory, and a lease of

Brecon Priory Brecon Cathedral (), in the town of Brecon, Powys, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Swansea and Brecon in the Church in Wales and seat of the Bishop of Swansea and Brecon. Previously the church of Brecon Priory and then the Parish Church of S ...

and rectory. He also bought

St Guthlac's Priory St Guthlac's Priory (or the Benedictine Priory of Saints Peter, Paul and Guthlac) was a Benedictine priory in Hereford, England. It was originally founded in the early 12th century near the Church of St Guthlac in town. After the church was ruined ...

. In a petition of 1538 he asked for the manor of

West Dereham West Dereham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It covers an area of and had a population of 450 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk ...

. He took part in public affairs, for example in the union of England and Wales, drafting or suggesting the petition on which the statutes were framed. He was Sheriff of Breconshire in 1541, and lived chiefly at Brecon Priory. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

on 22 February 1547, served as

knight of the shire Knight of the shire () was the formal title for a member of parliament (MP) representing a county constituency in the British House of Commons, from its origins in the medieval Parliament of England until the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 ...

for

in 1547, and made one of the

council for the Welsh marches The Council of Wales and the Marches () or the Council of the Marches, officially the Court of the Council in the Dominion and Principality of Wales, and the Marches of the same was a regional administrative body founded in Shrewsbury. ...

in 1551. He and his son Richard were patrons of Hugh Evans, and are said to have introduced him to Shakespeare; Richard gave Evans the living of Merthyr Cynog, Brecon, in 1572. Evans died in 1581, and made Richard Price the overseer of his will. He married Joan, daughter of John Williams of Southwark, and had a family of five sons and two daughters.

Works

Prise was encouraged as a scholar by William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and became a collector of manuscripts. He wrote: * ''Historiae Britannicae Defensio'', composed about 1553, published by his son Richard in 1573, and dedicated to Lord Burghley; in part a protest against

Polydore Vergil Polydore Vergil or Virgil (Italian: Polidoro Virgili, commonly Latinised as Polydorus Vergilius; – 18 April 1555), widely known as Polydore Vergil of Urbino, was an Italian humanist scholar, historian, priest and diplomat, who spent much of ...

. It defended the traditional historical accounts of

Brutus of Troy Brutus, also called Brute of Troy, is a mythical British king. He is described as a legendary descendant of the Trojan hero Aeneas, known in medieval British legend as the eponymous founder and first king of Britain. This legend first appears ...

and

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

in early British history. * ''Description of Cambria'', translated and enlarged by Humphrey Lhuyd, and published as part of the '' Historie of Cambria'' by

David Powel David Powel (1549/52 – 1598) was a Welsh Church of England clergyman and historian who published the first printed history of Wales in 1584. Life Powel was born in Denbighshire and commenced his studies at the University of Oxford when he was ...

, 1584; other editions 1697, 1702, 1774, and 1812. * ''Fides Historian Britannicae'', a correction of Polydore Vergil (Brit. Mus. Cotton MS. Titus, F. iii. 17). * A tract on the restitution of the coinage, written in 1553; dedicated to Queen Mary (MS. New Coll. Oxon. Arch. MS. 317, iii.); in this tract he refers to a larger treatise on the same subject, which is not extant. He is also said to have translated and published the Lord's Prayer, Creed, and Ten Commandments in Welsh, for the first time, in ''Yn y lhyvyr hwnn'' (1546).

Modern editions

References

History of Parliament-Breconshire
*

Life

Works

Modern editions

References

Further reading