Thomas Fowle (''c.'' 1530 – after 1597) was a

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clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

man,

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 ...

St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...

, rector of Redgrave and Hinderclay,

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

prebendary A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...

Norwich Cathedral Norwich Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, is a Church of England cathedral in the city of Norwich, Norfolk, England. The cathedral is the seat of the bishop of Norwich and the mother church of the dioc ...

. He was briefly

tutor Tutoring is private academic help, usually provided by an expert teacher; someone with deep knowledge or defined expertise in a particular subject or set of subjects. A tutor, formally also called an academic tutor, is a person who provides assis ...

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 ...

, the future

Earl of Oxford Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere, 1st Earl of Oxford, Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. De Vere family, His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half cen ...

, and was later

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

to Sir Nicholas Bacon.

Life

Fowle was educated at 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 ...

, where he

matriculated Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

from St John's in 1547, graduated BA in 1549/50 and proceeded MA in 1553. He was elected a Fellow of St John's, but under

Queen Mary I Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain as the wife of King Philip II from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She made vigorous a ...

was ejected. He then served in or near the

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as a minister to a secret congregation of

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. On 4 May 1558, Fowle began to receive a salary of ten pounds a year as tutor to the young

, then aged eight.Alan H. Nelson, ''Monstrous adversary: the life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford''
p. 25
/ref> In November of the same year, de Vere matriculated as a fellow-commoner of

Queens' College Queens' College is a 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 River Cam with the Mathematical Bridge an ...

, Cambridge. Soon after the accession of

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

in 1558, Fowle was restored to his fellowship at St John's. On 4 November 1562 he was collated as Rector of

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, but had resigned before 19 November 1563.Charles Henry Cooper, Thompson Cooper, George John Gray, ''Athenae Cantabrigienses: 1500-1585'' (1858), pp
382

452
/ref> On 22 July 1563, he was installed as second

, when it was noted that he lived at Redgrave in Suffolk, where he was both rector of the parish and

Lord Keeper The Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, and later of Great Britain, was formerly an officer of the English Crown charged with physical custody of the Great Seal of England. This position evolved into that of one of the Great Officers of S ...

Sir Nicholas Bacon.

Francis Blomefield Rev. Francis Blomefield (23 July 170516 January 1752), FSA, Rector of Fersfield in Norfolk, was an English antiquarian who wrote a county history of Norfolk: ''An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk''. It includes ...

Charles Parkin Charles Parkin (1690–1765) was an English clergyman and antiquarian. He was rector of Oxburgh in Norfolk, and assisted Francis Blomefield on his history of the county, completing it after Blomefield's death. Life The son of William Parkin of L ...

, ''An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: History of Norwich'' (W. Miller, 1806
p. 663
/ref> From 1561 to 1566, he was also Rector of Hinderclay in Suffolk. On 4 January 1569/70, Fowle became a senior fellow of St John's College. In 1570, he was part of a group of prebendaries of Norwich who "disaffected to the established order as regards matters ecclesiastical, entered into the choir of that cathedral, forcibly broke down the organs and committed certain other disorders of the like outrageous character". It was also said of him that he never went to Norwich except to collect the

stipend A stipend is a regular fixed sum of money paid for services or to defray expenses, such as for scholarship, internship, or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from an income or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work pe ...

due to him. In 1572, he was a member of a commission against

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recusants Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...

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 in 1573 with John Handson and John Grundye he was appointed by

John Parkhurst John Parkhurst (c. 1512 – 2 February 1575) was an English Marian exile and from 1560 the Bishop of Norwich. Early life Born about 1512, he was son of George Parkhurst of Guildford, Surrey. He initially attended the Royal Grammar School, Gu ...

, the

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, to take charge of "religious exercises termed prophesyings" at

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. Soon afterwards, such exercises were forbidden on the authority of Queen Elizabeth. He held his prebend at Norwich until 1581, when he resigned. He continued as rector of Redgrave until 1597. Fowle's

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mentions sons named Nicholas and Thomas. In 1586, a Thomas Fowle was Master of the school at

Botesdale Botesdale is a village and civil parish in the Mid Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. The village is about south west of Diss, south of Norwich and north east of Bury St Edmunds. The village of Rickinghall merges with Botes ...

in Suffolk.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowle, Thomas Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Fellows of St John's College, Cambridge 1530s births 16th-century English educators People from Northallerton Year of death unknown People from Redgrave, Suffolk