Thomas Slythurst (died 1560) was an English academic and

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

priest. He was the first President of

Trinity College, Oxford Trinity College (full name: The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity in the University of Oxford, of the foundation of Sir Thomas Pope (Knight)) is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in E ...

. He lost his positions in 1559, on the accession of

Elizabeth I of England 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 ...

, by his refusal to take the

Oath of Supremacy The Oath of Supremacy required any person taking public or church office in the Kingdom of England, or in its subordinate Kingdom of Ireland, to swear allegiance to the monarch as Supreme Governor of the Church. Failure to do so was to be trea ...

. It has been said that he died in the

Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamle ...

, but this is contested.Clare Hopkins, ''Trinity: 450 Years of an Oxford College Community'' (2005), p. 45.

Life

Slythurst was born in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. He was B.A. Oxon, 1530; M.A., 1534; B.D., 1543; and supplicated for the degree of D.D., 1554-5, but never took it. He was rector of Chalfont St. Peter,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, from 1545 to 1555, canon of Windsor 1554, rector of Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks, 1555. He was deprived of these three preferments in 1559. On 11 November 1556, he was appointed with others by

Convocation A convocation (from the Latin ''wikt:convocare, convocare'' meaning "to call/come together", a translation of the Ancient Greek, Greek wikt:ἐκκλησία, ἐκκλησία ''ekklēsia'') is a group of people formally assembled for a specia ...

to regulate the exercises in theology on the election of

Cardinal Pole Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal and the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558 during the Marian Restoration of Catholicism. Early life Pole was born at Stourt ...

to the chancellorship.

Notes

References

;Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Slythurst, Thomas 1560 deaths 16th-century English scholars Canons of Windsor Presidents of Trinity College, Oxford Year of birth unknown 16th-century English Roman Catholic priests