Thomas Bickley (1518–1596) was an English churchman, a

Marian exile The Marian exiles were English Protestants who fled to Continental Europe during the 1553–1558 reign of the Catholic monarchs Queen Mary I and King Philip.Christina Hallowell Garrett (1938) ''Marian Exiles: A Study in the Origins of Elizabeth ...

who became Warden of

Merton College, Oxford Merton College (in full: The House or College of Scholars of Merton in the University of Oxford) is one of the Colleges of Oxford University, constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the ...

and Bishop of Chichester

Life

He was born at Stow, Buckinghamshire, and began his education as a chorister in the free school of

Magdalen College, Oxford Magdalen College (, ) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by William of Waynflete. Today, it is the fourth wealthiest college, with a financial endowment of £332.1 million as of 2019 and one of the s ...

. He afterwards became a demy, and in 1541 was elected a Fellow of the college. He acquired a reputation as a reformer and preacher of reformed doctrine, and soon after the accession of Edward VI was appointed one of the king's chaplains at Windsor. During the reign of

Mary I of England Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...

he went to France, where he spent most of his time in study at Paris and Orléans. Returning to England after the accession of Elizabeth I, he enjoyed rapid promotion, being made, within ten years, chaplain to Archbishop Matthew Parker, rector of Biddenden in Kent, of Sutton Waldron in Dorset,

archdeacon of Stafford The Archdeacon of Lichfield (called Archdeacon of Stafford until 1980) is a senior cleric in the Diocese of Lichfield who is responsible for pastoral care and discipline of clergy in the Lichfield archdeaconry. The archdeaconry was erected – as ...

, chancellor in Lichfield Cathedral, and Warden of Merton College, Oxford. He was made bishop of Chichester in 1585. Some of the returns to articles of inquiry made at his visitations have been preserved amongst the episcopal records. He died in 1596, and was buried in Chichester Cathedral on 26 May. A tablet to Bickley's memory is attached to the north wall of the lady chapel, surmounted by a small kneeling effigy of the bishop.

References

Attribution

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bickley, Thomas 1518 births 1596 deaths Wardens of Merton College, Oxford Bishops of Chichester Archdeacons of Stafford People from Biddenden 16th-century Church of England bishops English Protestants 16th-century Protestants Marian exiles People educated at Magdalen College School, Oxford