View source for John Taylor (Master of the Rolls)

{{short description|English Master of the Rolls}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2012}}
'''John Taylor''' (c. 1480 – 1534) was [[Master of the Rolls]] of the [[Court of Chancery]] from 1527 to 1534, following a successful career as a priest and civil servant.

Taylor would have been notable just for the circumstances of his birth: he was the firstborn of healthy [[multiple birth|triplets]] who all survived to adulthood, which was virtually unheard of in the 15th century. He was awarded doctor of decrees and of the sacred canons beyond sea at the [[University of Cambridge]] in 1520;<ref>[[Alumni Cantabrigienses|Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, from the Earliest Times to 1900]], [[John Venn]]/[[John Archibald Venn]] [[Cambridge University Press]]  [https://archive.org/details/p1alumnicantabri04univuoft/page/204/mode/2up > (10 volumes 1922 to 1953) Part II. 1752–1900 Vol. iv. ''Saal – Zuinglius'', (1927) p204 ]</ref> and [[Incorporation (academic)|incorporated]] at [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] in 1552.<ref>[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/alumni-oxon/1500-1714/pp1453-1478 Alumni Oxonienses 1500-1714, Tabbe-Thomyow]</ref>

King [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]] met John and his brothers Rowland and Nathaniel in their childhood and undertook responsibility to educate the three boys if they came to manhood; this informal act and others like it later inspired [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Queen Victoria]]'s Royal Bounty for Triplets, which continued until the reign of [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom|Elizabeth II]].  There is note in the Royal [[Privy Purse]] expenses of 1498 "for the wages of the King’s Scoler John Taillor at Oxenford."<ref>[http://www.barton-under-needwood.org.uk/jtaylor.html Notable Bartonians: John Taylor (circa 1480 to 1534)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040302153445/http://www.barton-under-needwood.org.uk/jtaylor.html |date= 2 March 2004 }}</ref>

During his lifetime, Taylor donated money towards the building of St. James Church in [[Barton-under-Needwood]], [[Staffordshire]], the village where he grew up.  Construction began in 1517 and was completed in 1533.  The [[John Taylor High School]], a specialty science school founded in Barton-under-Needwood in 1957, was named in his honor.<ref>[http://www.johntaylor.staffs.sch.uk/school_pages/50th_anniversary/50th_home.htm John Taylor High School] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912044007/http://www.johntaylor.staffs.sch.uk/school_pages/50th_anniversary/50th_home.htm |date=12 September 2008 }}</ref>

==Career==
In 1503, Taylor was ordained Rector at [[Hatfield, Hertfordshire|Bishop's Hatfield]], and then became Rector of [[Sutton Coldfield]] in 1504.  He served as one of the Royal Chaplains at [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]'s funeral, 21 April 1509, and was afterwards appointed by [[Henry VIII of England|King Henry VIII]] as the King's Clerk and Chaplain—he was later one of the commissioners to decide if Henry VIII's marriage to [[Catherine of Aragon]] was valid.  In 1511, he was made [[Clerk of the Parliaments|Clerk of the Parliament]].

Taylor was appointed as [[Archdeacon of Derby]] in 1515, then as Royal Ambassador to Burgundy and France and Prolocutor of Convocation.  In 1516, he was appointed [[Archdeacon of Buckingham]], and was conferred the degrees of Doctor of Civil Law and Doctor of Canon Law at Cambridge in 1520.  He was one of ten chaplains present at the [[Field of the Cloth of Gold]] in 1520.  In 1528 he became Archdeacon of [[Halifax, West Yorkshire|Halifax]].

From 1527 to 1534 he was [[Master of the Rolls]] of the [[Court of Chancery]].<ref>{{DNB Cite|wstitle=Taylor, John (d.1534)}}</ref> This position was the third most senior judicial position in England (after [[Lord Chancellor]] and [[Lord Chief Justice]]).

==Death and burial==
According to [[John Stow]]'s ''Survey of London'' (1598), he was buried in [[St. Anthony's Hospital, St Benet Fink]], in the [[City of London]].<ref>[[John Stow|Stow, John]],  ''Survey of London'', 1598, 1842 edition, London, ed. Thoms, William J., pp.70-1 [https://archive.org/stream/surveyoflondon00stowuoft#page/n5/mode/2up]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Masters of the Rolls}}
{{Archdeacons of Buckingham}}
{{Archdeacons of Derby}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, John}}
[[Category:1480s births]]
[[Category:1534 deaths]]
[[Category:16th-century English Roman Catholic priests]]
[[Category:Archdeacons of Buckingham]]
[[Category:Archdeacons of Derby]]
[[Category:16th-century English diplomats]]
[[Category:Masters of the Rolls]]
[[Category:15th-century English people]]
[[Category:16th-century English judges]]
[[Category:People from Barton-under-Needwood]]
[[Category:Clerks of the Parliaments]]

[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]