Richard Fletcher (1544/5,

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

– 15 June 1596) was a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

priest and bishop. He was successively Dean of Peterborough (1583–89), bishop of Bristol (1589–93),

Bishop of Worcester The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary (officer), head of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Worcester, Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title can be traced back to the foundation of the diocese in the ...

(1593–95) and

Bishop of London The bishop of London is the Ordinary (church officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of London in the Province of Canterbury. By custom the Bishop is also Dean of the Chapel Royal since 1723. The diocese covers of 17 boroughs o ...

(1595–96). Fletcher was educated at

Norwich School Norwich School (formally King Edward VI Grammar School, Norwich) is a private selective day school in the close of Norwich Cathedral, Norwich. Among the oldest schools in the United Kingdom, it has a traceable history to 1096 as an episcop ...

and at

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, matriculating in 1562, graduating B.A. 1566. Moving to Corpus Christi College, where he gained a fellowship in 1569, he graduated M.A. 1569, B.D. 1576, D.D. 1580. He was the father of playwright John Fletcher. During Fletcher's time as Dean of Peterborough Cathedral he was present at the execution of

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

on 8 February 1587, described by Fraser as "pray(ing) out loud and at length, in a prolonged and rhetorical style as though determined to force his way into the pages of history" (1969:584), and presided over her initial funeral and burial at

Peterborough Cathedral Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew, and formerly known as Peterborough Abbey or St Peter's Abbey, is a cathedral in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, in the United Kingdom. The seat of the Church ...

. Fletcher was elected Bishop of Bristol on 13 November 1589 and

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

on 14 December 1589. He was translated to the bishopric of Worcester on 10 February 1593, and to the bishopric of London on 10 January 1595. Fletcher died in office on 15 June 1596.

References

Sources

* *

External links

* Usher, Brett
‘Fletcher, Richard (1544/5–1596)’
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 3 Jan 2008 * 1545 births 1596 deaths Bishops of Bristol Bishops of London Bishops of Worcester 16th-century Church of England bishops Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Deans of Peterborough People educated at Norwich School People from Watford {{ChurchofEngland-bishop-stub