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{{Short description|English clergyman and academic}}
{{similar names|Thomas Neville (disambiguation){{!}}Thomas Neville}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
[[File:Thomas Nevile, Trinity Coll Cambridge.jpg|thumb|right|Thomas Nevile]]
[[File:TrinityCollegeCamGreatCourt.jpg|thumb|[[Trinity  Great Court]] as remodelled by Nevile]]
[[File:Neville.svg|thumb|Arms of Neville: ''Gules, a saltire argent'']]
[[File:Canterbury, Canterbury cathedral 26.JPG|thumb|Monument with kneeling effigies of Thomas Nevile and his brother [[Alexander Neville (scholar)|Alexander Nevile]], in [[Canterbury Cathedral]]]]

'''Thomas Nevile''' ({{circa|1548}} – 2 May 1615) was an English clergyman and academic who was [[Dean of Peterborough]] (1591–1597) and [[Dean of Canterbury]] (1597–1615), [[Master of Magdalene College|Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge]] (1582–1593), and Master of [[Trinity College, Cambridge]] (1593–1615).<ref name=Venn>{{acad|id=NVL564T|name=Nevill, Thomas}}</ref>

==Origins==
He was born in Canterbury, a son of Richard Neville of [[South Leverton]], Nottinghamshire (who moved to Canterbury in his retirement),<ref name="auto">{{Cite DNB|wstitle=Neville, Thomas (d.1615)|last=Mullinger|first=James Bass|volume=40}}</ref> a son of Alexander Neville, [[Escheator]] of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in 1519–20.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/neville-sir-anthony-1508-57|title = NEVILLE, Sir Anthony (By 1508-57), of South Leverton and Mattersey, Notts. &#124; History of Parliament Online}}</ref> His mother was Anne Mantell, a daughter of Sir Walter Mantell of [[Nether Heyford]], Northamptonshire. His brother was the scholar [[Alexander Neville (scholar)|Alexander Neville]] (1544–1614).<ref name="auto"/> He bore the same arms as the prominent and ancient [[Neville family]], [[Earl of Westmorland|Earls of Westmorland]]. The origins of the Neville family of South Leverton are unclear, but an early ancestor was Thomas Neville, Recorder of Nottingham and Member of Parliament for [[Nottingham (UK Parliament constituency)|Nottingham]] in 1472.<ref name="auto1"/>

==Career==
Nevile matriculated at [[Pembroke College, Cambridge]] in [[Dual dating|1564/5]], becoming a Fellow in 1570.<ref name=Venn /> During a long and distinguished career he held a succession of prestigious ecclesiastical posts  including the Deanery of both Peterborough and Canterbury, that allowed him to build substantial personal wealth. Within Cambridge, his popularity in the Court of [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth]] meant he found similar success there, both as Master of Magdalene College and as [[List of Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge|Vice Chancellor]] of the university in 1588. Then, in February 1593 Elizabeth appointed him to succeed [[John Still]] to the Mastership of Trinity, and it is for his mastership of Trinity that he is now best remembered.

The college he inherited was little more than the architectural remains of the colleges that had united to form Trinity, and he set about using both his personal wealth and influence to create a setting unrivalled in academic England. To quote [[George Macaulay Trevelyan|Trevelyan]], "If Henry VIII founded Trinity, Nevile built it".

Over the next decade he razed a number of existing buildings to clear the space for the area now known as [[Trinity Great Court|Great Court]]. This included moving Great Gate, the entrance gate to the college, 20 metres east brick by brick, and resulted in one of the largest enclosed courts in Europe.

In his final years he built an additional court, [[Nevile's Court, Trinity College, Cambridge|Nevile's Court]], paid for entirely by himself.

A monument showing two kneeling effigies representing Thomas and his brother Alexander survives in Canterbury Cathedral.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk/nevil-dean-biog|title=Dean Nevil – Canterbury Historical and Archaeological Society|accessdate=22 October 2022}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
*[http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/index.php?pageid=172 The Master of Trinity] at [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]

==External links==
{{Commonscatinline}}
* {{cite book |last1=Hutchinson |first1=John |title=Men of Kent and Kentishmen |date=1892 |publisher=Cross & Jackman |location=Canterbury |page=106 |edition=Subscription  |chapter=[[s:Men of Kent and Kentishmen/Thomas Nevile|Thomas Nevile]]}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Degory Nicholls]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of Masters of Magdalene College, Cambridge|Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge]]
        |years=1582–1593}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Richard Clayton (Magdalene)|Richard Clayton]]}}

{{s-bef|before=[[John Still]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of masters of Trinity College, Cambridge|Master of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
        |years=1593–1615}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Richardson (translator)|John Richardson]]}}

{{s-rel|en}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Richard Fletcher (bishop)|Richard Fletcher]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Dean of Peterborough]]
       |years=1590–1597}}
{{s-aft|after=[[John Palmer (Master of Magdalene College)|John Palmer]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Richard Rogers (bishop)|Richard Rogers]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Dean of Canterbury]]
       |years=1597–1615}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Charles Fotherby (Dean)|Charles Fotherby]]}}
{{s-end}}
{{Deans of Peterborough}}
{{Deans of Canterbury}}
{{Masters of Trinity College, Cambridge}}
{{Masters of Magdalene College, Cambridge}}
{{Vice-Chancellors of the University of Cambridge}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nevile, Thomas}}
[[Category:16th-century births]]
[[Category:1615 deaths]]
[[Category:Masters of Trinity College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Masters of Magdalene College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:16th-century English Anglican priests]]
[[Category:17th-century English Anglican priests]]
[[Category:Deans of Canterbury]]
[[Category:Deans of Peterborough]]
[[Category:Vice-chancellors of the University of Cambridge]]


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