Thomas Rotherham

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Portrait of Thomas Rotherham from "Historic Notices of Rotherham", by John Guest,1875.

Thomas Rotherham, also known as Thomas (Scot) de Rotherham (August 24, 1423 – May 29, 1500), was an English cleric and statesman.

Born in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, Thomas was the eldest son of Sir Thomas Rotherham, of Brookgate in Rotherham, and his wife, Alice Scot. He was first educated as a young boy by a teacher of grammar, who came, according to Thomas, "I know not by what fate save it was the Grace of God". Afterwards he was sent to the newly founded Eton College in order to prepare for university entrance.

He attended King's College, Cambridge, becoming a Bachelor of Divinity and a Fellow of Kings, and lectured on Grammar, Theology and Philosophy. After his ordination as a priest he served in many powerful positions in the Church, becoming Prebendary of Lincoln in 1462 and of Salisbury in 1465. He was appointed Bishop of Rochester in 1468, Bishop of Lincoln in 1472, and then Archbishop of York from 1480 to 1500.

King Edward IV appointed him Keeper of the Privy Seal in 1467. In 1468 he became ambassador to France and joint ambassador to Burgundy in 1471. He was Lord Chancellor of England twice, from 1474 to 1483 and again briefly in 1485.

After Edward's death, there followed a struggle for the throne. Edward V was deposed and Richard, Duke of Gloucester, became Richard III. Thomas Rotherham was imprisoned in the Tower of London for his loyalty to Elizabeth Woodville, Edward's Queen. Under Henry VII he was deprived of the Chancellorship. After this he retired from most public work. He died of the plague at Cawood, near York). His remains were transferred to a magnificent marble tomb in York Minster in 1506.

[edit] Endowments

Thomas Rotherham built part of Lincoln College, Oxford University and increased its endowment; at Cambridge, where he was four times Chancellor and Master of Pembroke Hall, he helped to build the University Library.

In 1480 he endowed a Chapel of Jesus within Rotherham parish church, with a priest to sing masses for the souls of his ancestors. He founded The College of Jesus in Rotherham as a memorial to his first teacher. The foundations of the red brick College were laid at his birthplace in Brookgate in March 1482 and a licence was granted on 22 January 1483 "for the honour and glory of the name of Jesus Christ to found a perpetual College".

The statutes of the College were dated 1 February 1483. The College of Jesus was to consist of a Provost and three Fellows, all to be in Holy Orders, who must attend church on Sundays and Holy Days. The Fellows were to teach grammar and train the six choristers of Jesus in song and music. They were also to teach promising boys who did not aspire to the priesthood, reading, writing and reckoning, free of charge. If the boys continued to show merit they could learn the rudiments of grammar and music. The college was later dissolved around 1550 by Edward VI and all its possessions seized by the crown. Very little now remains of the original building, although the street is still known as College Street.

He is still remembered in the name of Thomas Rotherham College, which is the post-1967 descendant of Rotherham Grammar School for Boys, which had its origins in the original College of Jesus.

[edit] References and external links

• "Archbishop Rotherham (known as Thomas Scot, Archbishop of York, 1423-1500) Lord High Chancellor of England and of Cambridge University" by H. Leigh Bennett, (Henry Leigh) pub 1901.
• "Historic Notices of Rotherham" by John Guest, pub 1875.
• Thomas Rotherham, Rotherham Unofficial Website
• Rotherham Medieval Trail