John Morton

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This article is about the 15th century English Bishop; for other uses see John Morton (disambiguation).

John Morton (c. 1420 - September 15, 1500) was an English cleric.

Born in Dorset, he was educated at Balliol College, Oxford. In February 1477, he was sent by the Yorkist King Edward IV, together with Sir John Donne, as ambassador to the French court. Edward appointed him Bishop of Ely in 1479. The young Thomas More served as a page in Morton's household.

After the dynastic change to the Tudors in 1485, Henry VII, made then made him Archbishop of Canterbury the following year (1486-1500). Morton was by then an important foe of the preceding Yorkist regime of King Richard III, and a mentor of Sir Thomas More, who acted in revels at Morton's court at Knole, the archiepiscopal palace, and mentioned him in his work Utopia. In 1493 he was appointed titular Cardinal of the church of St. Anastasia in Rome by Pope Alexander VI. He built the "Old Palace" of Hatfield House where Queen Elizabeth I of England spent much of her girlhood.

Morton may be best known for the Catch-22 situation known as "Morton's Fork." Appointed Lord Chancellor of England in 1487, Morton said, "If the subject is seen to live frugally, tell him because he is clearly a money saver of great ability he can afford to give generously to the King. If, however, the subject lives a life of great extravagance, tell him he, too, can afford to give largely, the proof of his opulence being evident in his expenditure."

He died at Knole, Kent, in 1500. His monument was placed in the south-east part of Canterbury Cathedral's crypt, with an effigy and an arch decorated with angels, cardinal's caps, and tun barrels inscribed with MOR (a pun on his name, Mor-ton). However, this monument is a cenotaph since his actual body was buried in the crypt's central chapel of the Virgin Mary, according to his wishes.

[edit] External links

Appleton's Biography edited by Stanley L. Klos

[edit] Morton and the history of Richard III

Enthusiasts of King Richard III accuse Morton of concocting the account of Richard's murder of Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York and other crimes attributed to Richard III. Morton's account is reproduced in part in Sir Thomas More's History of King Richard III.

Political offices
Preceded by John Alcock	Lord Chancellor 1487–1500	Succeeded by Henry Deane (Keeper of the Great Seal)
Religious Posts
Preceded by Thomas Bourchier	Archbishop of Canterbury 1486–1500	Succeeded by Thomas Langton