Nicholas Close (died 1452) was an English

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

. Close is widely regarded as having been born in

Westmorland Westmorland (, formerly also spelt ''Westmoreland''R. Wilkinson The British Isles, Sheet The British IslesVision of Britain/ref>) is an area of North West England which was Historic counties of England, historically a county. People of the area ...

, in Birkbeck Fells, but may have been of Flemish descent. He was educated at

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 ...

, being elected a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

in 1443, one of the first six fellows on the foundation. He held the curacy of St John Zachary, a church demolished to make way for

King's College Chapel King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bu ...

, the construction of which he was appointed overseer by Henry VI.

Career

He served as a commissioner to Scotland in 1449. He was provided to the see of Carlisle in January 1450, and consecrated on 15 March 1450.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 236 On 19 March he was granted an

indult In Catholic canon law, an indult is a permission or privilege, granted by the competent church authority – the Holy See or the diocesan bishop, as the case may be – for an exception from a particular norm of church law in an individual case ...

from the King "for life and as long as he is bishop of Carlisle, to visit his city and diocese by deputy (he being hindered so much by the service of Henry, king of England that he cannot conveniently do so in person)." Also in 1450 he was elected to the then annual position of

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

of the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He was

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 ...

from 1450 to 1452, and was then translated to

Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield The Bishop of Lichfield is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lichfield in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers 4,516 km2 (1,744 sq. mi.) of the counties of Powys, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Warwi ...

on 30 August 1452, serving for a short time before his death in late October 1452.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 254

Citations

References

* Chancellors of the University of Cambridge Year of birth missing 1452 deaths 15th-century English Roman Catholic bishops Alumni of King's College, Cambridge Fellows of King's College, Cambridge Bishops of Carlisle Bishops of Coventry and Lichfield Archdeacons of Colchester {{Use dmy dates, date=July 2017