Thomas Bedyll facts for kids

Thomas Bedyll (also spelled Bedell) was an important person who worked for King Henry VIII. He was a religious leader and a royal helper. He served as the king's chaplain and was a clerk for the Privy Council, a group of the king's closest advisors. Bedyll played a key role in helping King Henry VIII separate the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church. He died around 1537.

About Thomas Bedyll

Early Life and Church Work

Thomas Bedyll studied at New College, Oxford. He earned a law degree on November 5, 1508. He held many important jobs within the church. For example, he was a canon at Lincoln Cathedral starting in 1518. He also worked as a rector in places like Bocking, Essex, and St. Dionis Backchurch.

Later, he became an Archdeacon, which is a senior church official, in several areas. He was Archdeacon of Cleveland in 1533, Archdeacon of London in 1533-1534, and Archdeacon of Cornwall in 1536. He also served as a canon at St. Paul's Cathedral and York Cathedral.

Working for the King

In 1520, Thomas Bedyll began working as a secretary for William Warham, who was the Archbishop of Canterbury. He stayed in this job until the Archbishop passed away in 1532.

Soon after, King Henry VIII hired Bedyll as one of his royal chaplains. By October 1532, he was also appointed as a clerk of the Privy Council. This meant he was a trusted advisor to the king. Bedyll quickly gained the favor of important figures like Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer. He agreed with their ideas about how the church should be run.

Helping with the King's Divorce

Thomas Bedyll's first major public tasks involved King Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. He was sent to Oxford University to get their opinions supporting the king's side.

Later, he went with Archbishop Cranmer to Dunstable. There, he helped represent the king when the Archbishop officially declared the king's first marriage invalid. Bedyll wrote several letters describing how the trial went and how the decision was made. He even helped write the final statement.

Supporting Royal Authority

In the years 1534 and 1535, Bedyll was very busy. He helped make sure that people in religious houses, like monasteries, swore an oath to accept the king as the supreme head of the church in England. This was known as the royal supremacy.

He also helped question important people like Bishop John Fisher and Thomas More. They were questioned because they refused to take the oath of royal supremacy. Bedyll also helped figure out the value of church properties across England.

When many smaller monasteries were closed down by law in 1536, Bedyll visited many of them near London. His job was to get the monks and nuns to agree to give up their houses to the king. Around the same time, he led a group that looked at official documents from the Pope. They decided which church privileges should be kept or removed. Bedyll also helped revise a special "book" that was used to explain why the Pope no longer had authority in England.

Death

Thomas Bedyll passed away in early September 1537. His death was mentioned in a letter from Richard Cromwell to his uncle Thomas Cromwell on September 5.