Education and career

He was a student

Student

A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...

 at Cambridge University and he had already entered into clergyship and had received holy orders. By private appointment Gunthorpe served as a secretary to Queen Elizabeth I. By 1452 he was the master of the arts at Cambridge University and served as a junior proctor in 1454-5. Gunthorpe traveled to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 and was in Ferrara

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

 in August 1460. He had been attending lectures of Guarino on rhetoric at Ferrara. His teacher Guarino died at the end of 1460 and this may be why Gunthorpe moved on. In January 1462 Gunthorpe was formally taken into papal service. Pope Pius II examined Gunthorpe for fitness, and the pope appointed Gunthorpe as a papal chaplain and a minor penitentiary in St. Peter’s Basilica and in the Papal Curia. From 1460-1465 Gunthorpe went through a period of post-graduate study in Italy where he perfected his Latin rhetorical style. He also learned Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 and presumably Italian, and gained experience in the international arena of the papal court.

Service under the King

Gunthorpe returned to England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1465 and became intimately integrated into the religious, diplomatic, financial, and political life of the court and government of Edward IV. Gunthorpe's involvement in Anglo-Castilian diplomacy concluded in 1470 when he was one of the ambassadors commissioned on March 14 by King Edward IV to embark upon an ultimately fruitless effort to persuade Enrique IV against the repudiation of the treaty between their kingdoms. Gunthorpe was in the royal household as a king’s chaplain by the summer of 1466.

1468-1476

In 1468, he returned to Cambridge University and was granted a baccalaureate

Bachelor's degree

A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...

 in theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

. On December 9, 1468, Gunthorpe became the king’s almoner. The almoner was the person who had charge of the king’s charities from gifts of money to the distribution of surplus food from the king’s table and the office can be traced back at least to the twelfth century. John Gunthorpe was the first person on record to have been called ‘King High Almoner’. Gunthorpe was also a warden.

In 1472, Gunthorpe became a monk at St. Stephen’s chapel and remained a monk of St. Stephen’s for the rest of his life. He was also a monk of many other chapels. However, even though he was a monk

Monk

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...

 at all of these chapels, his place of residency was with the king. In 1476 Gunthorpe became dean of the king’s household chapel. The dean had supervisory authority over every aspect of the chapel’s function.

Later life

On November 10, 1481 a group of nine men, among whom Gunthorpe was named first, obtained a royal license to found and endow a guild in the parish church of St. Mary in North Somercotes, Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

. In 1483 Gunthorpe’s patron and benefactor, while King Edward IV dies at Westminster Palace on April 9. May 10, 1483 Gunthorpe was appointed keeper under the authority of Richard of Gloucester. Richard had formally been named protector two days before and Richard as King reappointed Gunthorpe on June 27. The appointment was reiterated on July 6, the day Richard III magnificent coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey

The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...

. John was the only keeper of the Privy seal to serve Richard III. He was not seen as a very smart choice of keeper since he was the former secretary of Queen Elizabeth and Richard was fearful of a Woodville faction in 1483.

While serving keeper of the privy seal, Gunthorpe served his king in Anglo-Scottish diplomacy by truce-making in Scotland, extension of a truce with Francis II, duke of Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

, and he also helped work out a truce with the Tudor family in Brittany in October 1483 - it was extended to 1492

Why picked?

Gunthorpes geographical origins might have recommended him to Richard in 1483 and Gunthorpe was a learned man. But it was because of the perennial enigma of Richard III that brings attention to Gunthorpe. In 1485, Richard III gave Gunthorpe a present- the swans

Swans

Swans can refer to:*Swan, the birdMusic*Swans , an American band formed in 1982*Swans , an EP by the above band*Swans, an EP by the Filipino electronic act Names Are For Tombstones...

 in the waters of Somerset

Somerset

The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...

, the swans had a long association with royalty

Royal family

A royal family is the extended family of a king or queen regnant. The term imperial family appropriately describes the extended family of an emperor or empress, while the terms "ducal family", "grand ducal family" or "princely family" are more appropriate to describe the relatives of a reigning...

 and chivalry

Chivalry

Chivalry is a term related to the medieval institution of knighthood which has an aristocratic military origin of individual training and service to others. Chivalry was also the term used to refer to a group of mounted men-at-arms as well as to martial valour...

.

Tudor Authority

Richard III died on August 22, 1485 and Gunthorpe went to service under Henry Tudor - Henry VII

Henry VII of England

Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....

. Also soon after Richard III died Gunthorpe became the resident Dean of Wells

Dean of Wells

The Dean of Wells is the head of the Chapter of Wells Cathedral in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The current Dean is the Very Revd John Clarke, who lives in The Dean's Lodging, 25 The Liberty, Wells.-List of the Deans of Wells:*1140–1164 Ivo...

. As the Dean of Wells

Dean of Wells

The Dean of Wells is the head of the Chapter of Wells Cathedral in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The current Dean is the Very Revd John Clarke, who lives in The Dean's Lodging, 25 The Liberty, Wells.-List of the Deans of Wells:*1140–1164 Ivo...

, Gunthorpe’s interests extended into the judicial sphere though the court Christian within his authority.

He presided over many cases including the cases of John Pope, as well as others.

Last Years and Death

In the last year of his life, Gunthorpe found himself playing host to the king. Gunthorpe was a man of learning, a rhetorician and linguist, a priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 and theologian, and an experienced diplomat

Diplomat

A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...

 and secretary

Secretary

A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...

. Gunthorpe is not survived by substantial literary remains.
On June 5, 1498, John Gunthorpe died. He is buried in St. Katherine’s Chapel.

He answered the call of three kings to a wide variety of royal service, and moved smoothly in the highest circles of ecclesiastical and secular authority.