William Waynflete
Encyclopedia
William Waynflete born William Patten, was Bishop of Winchester
from 1447 to 1486, and Lord Chancellor
of England from 1456 to 1460. He is best remembered as the founder of Magdalen College
and Magdalen College School
in Oxford
.
(whence his surname) in about 1398. He was the eldest son of Richard Patten (alias Barbour), a merchant. His mother was Margery, daughter of Sir William Brereton of Brereton in Cheshire. He had a younger brother named John, who later became the dean
of Chichester
.
It has been alleged that he attended Winchester College
and New College, Oxford
, but this is improbable. Neither college claimed in his lifetime that he was one of its former students.
That he was at Oxford, and probably a scholar at one of the grammar schools there, before passing on to the higher faculties, is shown by a letter of the chancellor addressed to him when provost of Eton
which speaks of the university as his mother who brought him forth into the light of knowledge and nourished him with the alimony of all the sciences.
He is probably the William Barbour who was ordained acolyte
by Bishop Fleming
of Lincoln
on 21 April 1420 and subdeacon
on 21 January 1421; and as William Barbour, otherwise Waynflete of Spalding, was ordained deacon on 18 March 1421, and priest on 21 January 1426, with title from Spalding Priory.
He may have been the William Waynflete who was admitted a scholar of the King's Hall, Cambridge
, on 6 March 1428 (Exch. Q. R. Bdle. 346, no. 31), and was described as LL.B. when receiving letters of protection on 13 July 1429 (Proc. P.C. iii. 347) to enable him to accompany Robert FitzHugh, D.D., warden of the hail, on an embassy to Rome. For the scholars of the King's Hall were what we should call fellows, as may be seen by the appointment to the hall on 3 April 1360 of Nicholas of Drayton, B.C.L., and John Kent, B.A., instead of two scholars who had gone off to the French wars without the warden's leave (Cal. Close Rolls). William Waynflete, presented to the vicarage of Skendleby, Lincs, by the Priory of Bardney (Lincoln, Ep. Reg. f. ~4, Chandler, 16), on 14 June 1430, may also have been our Waynflete. There was, however, another William Waynflete, who was instituted rector of Wroxhall, Somerset, on 17 May 1433 (Wells, Ep. Reg. Stafford), and was dead when his successor was appointed on 18 November 1436 (Wells, Ep. Reg. Stillington). A successor to the William Waynflete at the King's Hall was admitted on 3 April 1434.
During this time, he was appointed by Bishop Beaufort to the mastership of St Mary Magdalen's Hospital, a leper hospital on St Giles Hill, just outside the city of Winchester. The first recorded headmaster after the foundation of the college, John Melton, had been presented by Wykeham to the mastership of this hospital in 1393 shortly before his retirement.
On 3 July 1441 Henry VI
went for a weekend visit to Winchester College to see the school for himself. Here he seems to have been so much impressed with Waynflete, that by the autumn, Waynflete had ceased to be headmaster of Winchester. In October he appears dining in the hall there as a guest, and at Christmas 1442 he received a royal livery, five yards of violet cloth, as provost of Eton.
Under the influence of Archbishop Chicheley
, who had himself founded two colleges in imitation of Wykeham, and Thomas Bekynton, king's secretary and privy seal
, and other Wykehamists, Henry VI
, on 11 October 1440, founded, in imitation of Winchester College, a college in the parish church of Eton by Windsor not far from our birthplace, called the King's College of the Blessed Mary of Eton by Windsor, as a sort of first-fruits of his taking the government on himself. The college was to consist of a provost, 10 priests, 6 choristers, 25 poor and needy scholars, 25 almsmen and a magister informator to teach gratis the scholars and all others coming from any part of England to learn grammar. On 5 March 1440–1441, the king endowed the college out of alien priories with some £500 a year, almost exactly the amount of the original endowment of Winchester.
Though reckoned first headmaster of Eton, there is no definite evidence that he was. The school building was not begun till May 1442 (V.C.H., Bucks, ii. 154). William Westbury, who left New College, transferring himself to the kings service, in May 1442, and appears in the first extant Eton Audit Roll 1444–1445 as headmaster, was probably such from May 1442. If Waynflete was headmaster from October 1441 to May 1442, his duties must have been little more than nominal. As provost, Waynflete procured the exemption of the college from archidiaconal authority on 2 May, and made the contract for completion of the carpenter's work of the eastern side of the quadrangle on 30 November 1443.
On 21 December 1443 he was sworn to the statutes by Bishop Bekynton and the earl of Suffolk, the king's commissioners, and himself administered the oath to the other members of the foundation, then only five fellows and eleven scholars over fifteen years of age. He is credited with having taken half the scholars and fellows of Winchester to Eton to start the school there. In fact, five scholars and perhaps one commoner left Winchester for Eton in 1443, probably in July, just before the election. For three of them were admitted scholars of King's College, Cambridge
, on 19 July, that college, by its second charter of 10 July 1443 having been placed in the same relation to Eton that New College bore to Winchester; i.e. it was to be recruited entirely from Eton.
The chief part of Waynflete's duties as provost was the financing and completion of the buildings and establishment. The number of scholars was largely increased by an election of 25 new ones on 26 September 1444, the income being, then £946, of which the king contributed £120 and Waynflete £18, or more than half his stipend of 30 a year. The full number of 70 scholars was not filled up till Waynflete's last year as provost, 1446–1447 (Eton Audit Roll).
, on 15 April he was elected, and on 10 May provided to the see by a papal bull. On 13 July 1447 he was consecrated in Eton church, when the warden and fellows and others of his old college gave him a horse at a cost of £6, 13s. 4d., and 13s. 4d. to the boys. Subsequent visits to Winchester inspired Henry with the idea of rebuilding Eton church on cathedral dimensions. Waynflete was assigned as the principal executor of his will for that purpose, and if there was any variance between the executors, he was to determine it. From 1448 to 1450 £3336 was spent on the church, of which Waynflete with the marquis of Suffolk and the bishop of Salisbury
contributed £100 or £1,000. The troubles which began in 1450 put a stop to the work.
Waynflete, as bishop, lost no time in following the example of Wykeham and his royal patron in becoming a college founder. On 6 May 1448 he obtained licence in mortmain and on 20 August, founded at Oxford for the extirpation of heresies
and errors, the increase of the clerical order and the adornment of holy mother church, a perpetual hall, called Seint Marie Maudeleyn Halle, for study in the sciences of sacred theology and philosophy, to consist of a president and 50 scholars. Its site was not that of the present college, but of two earlier halls called Boston and Hare, where the new schools now are. Thirteen M.A.s and seven bachelors, besides the president, John Hornley, B.D., were named in the charter. The dedication to Mary Magdalen was no doubt derived from the hospital at Winchester of which the founder had been master. On St Wolstan's Day, 19 January 1448–1449, Waynflete was enthroned in Winchester Cathedral
in the presence of the king; and, probably partly for his sake, parliament was held there in June and July 1449, when the king frequently attended the college chapel, Waynflete officiating (Win. Coll. Reg. Vet.).
When Jack Cade
's rebellion occurred in 1450 Waynflete was employed with Archbishop Stafford, the chancellor, to negotiate with the rebels at St Margaret's church, Southwark
, close to Winchester House. A full pardon was promised, but on 1 August Waynflete was one of the special commissioners to try the rebels. On 7 May 1451 Waynflete, from le peynted chambre in his manor house at Southwark, asserting that his bishopric was canonically obtained and that he labored under no disqualification, but feared some grievous attempt against himself and his see, appealed to the protection of the pope. It is suggested that this was due to some disturbances at Winchester (Proc. P.C. VI. 108), where one of Cade's quarters was sent after his execution. But it is more likely, as suggested by Richard Chandler
(Life of Waynflete, 1811), that it was some Yorkist attack on him in progress in the papal court, to meet which he appointed next day 19 proctors to act for him.
In the result nothing disturbed his peaceable possession of the see. With the archbishop of Canterbury
he received Henry VI on a pilgrimage to St Thomas a Becket on 2 August 1451. When in November the duke of York encamped near Dartford, Waynfiete with three others was sent from the king's camp at Blackheath
to propose terms, which were accepted. Edward, Prince of Wales, was born on 13 October 1453 and baptized by Waynflete the next day. This year Waynflete acquired the reversion of the manor of Stanswick, Berks, from Lady Danvers (Chandler, p. 87) for Magdalen Hall. The king became insane in 1454. On the death of the chancellor, John Kemp
, archbishop of Canterbury, during the sitting of parliament, presided over by the duke of York, commissioners, headed by Waynflete, were sent to Henry, to ask him to name a new chancellor, apparently intending that Waynflete should be named. But no answer could be extracted from the king, and after some delay Lord Salisbury
took the seals.
During York's regency, both before and after the First Battle of St Albans
, Waynflete took an active part in the proceedings of the privy council. With a view to an ampler site for his college, Waynflete obtained on 5 July 1456 a grant of the Hospital of St John the Baptist outside the east gate at Oxford and on 15 July licence to found a college there. Having obtained a papal bull
, he founded it by deed of 12 June 1458, converting the hospital into a college with a president and six fellows, to which college two days later Magdalen Hall surrendered itself and its possessions, its members being incorporated into the New College of St Mary Magdalen.
of Reginald Pecock
, bishop of Chichester, who had been ordained subdeacon and deacon on the same day and by the same bishop as Waynflete himself. Only Pecock's books and not the heretic were burnt. As the heresy consisted chiefly in defending the clergy on grounds of reason instead of authority, the proceeding does not show any great enlightenment on Waynflete's part. It must have been at this time that an addition was made by Waynflete to the Eton college statutes, compelling the fellows to forswear the heresies of John Wycliffe
and Pecock.
Waynflete presided as chancellor at the parliament at Coventry in November 1459, which, after the Yorkist catastrophe at Ludlow, attainted the Yorkist leaders. It was no doubt because of this that, three days before the Yorkist attack at Northampton, he delivered the great seal to the king in his tent near Diapre abbey, a nunnery by Northampton, on 7 July 1460. It was taken with Henry and handed to the Yorkist, George Neville, bishop of Exeter
, brother of the kingmaker, earl of Warwick, in London on 25 July following.
on 8 November 1460 (Chandler, 346) was written while Henry was in Yorkist hands. The fact too that complaints laid before Edward IV himself in August 1461 of wrongful exaction of manorial rights from the tenants of the episcopal manor of East Meon., Hants, were decided in the bishop's favour in parliament in the December following (Rot. Parl. v. 475) also suggests that he was not regarded as an enemy to the Yorkists, though a personal favourite
of Henry's. A general charter of confirmation to him and his successors of the property and rights of the bishopric of Winchester on 1 July 1462 (Pat. 2 Ed. IV) points in the same direction.
It is certain that he took an active part in the restoration of Eton College; which Edward annexed to St Georges, Windsor, in 1463, depriving it of a large part of its possessions. In the earliest Audit Rolls after the restoration of the college in 1467 there are many entries of visits of Provost Westbury to the lord of Winchester, which in January 1468–1469 were for beginning the work of the church and providing money for them. Why a pardon was granted to Waynflete on 1 February 1469 (Pat. 8 Ed. IV. pt. ill. m. 16) does not appear. On the restoration of Henry VI on 28 September 1470 Waynflete welcomed him on his release from the Tower
, which necessitated a new pardon, granted a month after Edward's reinstatement on 30 May 1471 (Pat. II. Ed. IV. pat. i. m. 24), and a loan to the king of 2000 marks (£1333, 6s. 8d.). In the years 1471–1472 to 1474 Waynflete was largely engaged in completing the church, now called chapel, at Eton, his glazier, supplying the windows, and he contracted on 15 August 1475 for the rood-loft to be made on one side like to the rode bite in Bishop Wykeham's college at Winchester, and on the other like that of the college of St Thomas of Acres in London. In 1479 he built, the ante-chapel at the west-end, as it now stands, of stone from Headington, Oxford. In 1483 he founded Magdelan College School (now Skegness Grammar School
in his birth town of Wainfleet, Lincolnshire as a satellite feeder school for Magdelin College, Oxford.
He died on 11 August 1486 at Bishop's Waltham
in Hampshire
. He was buried in the Magdalen Chapel at Winchester Cathedral
.
, commemorates Bishop Waynflete, and the college endows four professorial fellowships in science in his honour, which are collectively known as the Waynflete Professorships
.
There is also a Waynflete School
in Portland, Maine
, which is named after him.
There is a road named Waynflete Road in his honour in the Barton
area of Headington, Oxford.
Waynflete House is a boy's house in Eton College, named after William Waynflete.
An annual memorial service, known as the Waynflete Obit, is held in Winchester Cathedral on the anniversary of his death. The choir for the occasion is formed from members of the Waynflete Singers, who are named after the bishop.
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
from 1447 to 1486, and Lord Chancellor
Lord Chancellor
The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor, is a senior and important functionary in the government of the United Kingdom. He is the second highest ranking of the Great Officers of State, ranking only after the Lord High Steward. The Lord Chancellor is appointed by the Sovereign...
of England from 1456 to 1460. He is best remembered as the founder of Magdalen College
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
and Magdalen College School
Magdalen College School, Oxford
Magdalen College School is an independent school for boys aged 7 to 18 and girls in the sixth form, located on The Plain in Oxford, England. It was founded as part of Magdalen College, Oxford by William Waynflete in 1480....
in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
.
Early life
William was born in Wainfleet, LincolnshireWainfleet, Lincolnshire
Wainfleet All Saints is an ancient port and market town on the east coast of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the B1195 between Spilsby and Boston. The town stands on the small rivers Steeping and Limb that form Wainfleet Haven. The town is close to Skegness, Boston, Spilsby, the Lincolnshire...
(whence his surname) in about 1398. He was the eldest son of Richard Patten (alias Barbour), a merchant. His mother was Margery, daughter of Sir William Brereton of Brereton in Cheshire. He had a younger brother named John, who later became the dean
Dean (religion)
A dean, in a church context, is a cleric holding certain positions of authority within a religious hierarchy. The title is used mainly in the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.-Anglican Communion:...
of Chichester
Chichester Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, otherwise called Chichester Cathedral, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in Sussex, England...
.
It has been alleged that he attended Winchester College
Winchester College
Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...
and New College, Oxford
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.- Overview :The College's official name, College of St Mary, is the same as that of the older Oriel College; hence, it has been referred to as the "New College of St Mary", and is now almost always...
, but this is improbable. Neither college claimed in his lifetime that he was one of its former students.
That he was at Oxford, and probably a scholar at one of the grammar schools there, before passing on to the higher faculties, is shown by a letter of the chancellor addressed to him when provost of Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
which speaks of the university as his mother who brought him forth into the light of knowledge and nourished him with the alimony of all the sciences.
He is probably the William Barbour who was ordained acolyte
Acolyte
In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone who performs ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In other Christian Churches, the term is more specifically used for one who wishes to attain clergyhood.-Etymology:...
by Bishop Fleming
Richard Fleming
Richard Fleming , Bishop of Lincoln and founder of Lincoln College, Oxford, was born at Crofton in Yorkshire....
of Lincoln
Bishop of Lincoln
The Bishop of Lincoln is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The Bishop's seat is located in the Cathedral...
on 21 April 1420 and subdeacon
Subdeacon
-Subdeacons in the Orthodox Church:A subdeacon or hypodeacon is the highest of the minor orders of clergy in the Orthodox Church. This order is higher than the reader and lower than the deacon.-Canonical Discipline:...
on 21 January 1421; and as William Barbour, otherwise Waynflete of Spalding, was ordained deacon on 18 March 1421, and priest on 21 January 1426, with title from Spalding Priory.
He may have been the William Waynflete who was admitted a scholar of the King's Hall, Cambridge
King's Hall, Cambridge
King's Hall was once one of the constituent colleges of Cambridge, founded in 1317, the second after Peterhouse. King's Hall was established by King Edward II to provide chancery clerks for his administration, and was very rich compared to Michaelhouse, which occupied the southern area of what is...
, on 6 March 1428 (Exch. Q. R. Bdle. 346, no. 31), and was described as LL.B. when receiving letters of protection on 13 July 1429 (Proc. P.C. iii. 347) to enable him to accompany Robert FitzHugh, D.D., warden of the hail, on an embassy to Rome. For the scholars of the King's Hall were what we should call fellows, as may be seen by the appointment to the hall on 3 April 1360 of Nicholas of Drayton, B.C.L., and John Kent, B.A., instead of two scholars who had gone off to the French wars without the warden's leave (Cal. Close Rolls). William Waynflete, presented to the vicarage of Skendleby, Lincs, by the Priory of Bardney (Lincoln, Ep. Reg. f. ~4, Chandler, 16), on 14 June 1430, may also have been our Waynflete. There was, however, another William Waynflete, who was instituted rector of Wroxhall, Somerset, on 17 May 1433 (Wells, Ep. Reg. Stafford), and was dead when his successor was appointed on 18 November 1436 (Wells, Ep. Reg. Stillington). A successor to the William Waynflete at the King's Hall was admitted on 3 April 1434.
Early career
In 1429, Waynflete became headmaster of Winchester College, a position which he held until 1441.During this time, he was appointed by Bishop Beaufort to the mastership of St Mary Magdalen's Hospital, a leper hospital on St Giles Hill, just outside the city of Winchester. The first recorded headmaster after the foundation of the college, John Melton, had been presented by Wykeham to the mastership of this hospital in 1393 shortly before his retirement.
On 3 July 1441 Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
went for a weekend visit to Winchester College to see the school for himself. Here he seems to have been so much impressed with Waynflete, that by the autumn, Waynflete had ceased to be headmaster of Winchester. In October he appears dining in the hall there as a guest, and at Christmas 1442 he received a royal livery, five yards of violet cloth, as provost of Eton.
Under the influence of Archbishop Chicheley
Henry Chichele
Henry Chichele , English archbishop, founder of All Souls College, Oxford, was born at Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, in 1363 or 1364...
, who had himself founded two colleges in imitation of Wykeham, and Thomas Bekynton, king's secretary and privy seal
Lord Privy Seal
The Lord Privy Seal is the fifth of the Great Officers of State in the United Kingdom, ranking beneath the Lord President of the Council and above the Lord Great Chamberlain. The office is one of the traditional sinecure offices of state...
, and other Wykehamists, Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
, on 11 October 1440, founded, in imitation of Winchester College, a college in the parish church of Eton by Windsor not far from our birthplace, called the King's College of the Blessed Mary of Eton by Windsor, as a sort of first-fruits of his taking the government on himself. The college was to consist of a provost, 10 priests, 6 choristers, 25 poor and needy scholars, 25 almsmen and a magister informator to teach gratis the scholars and all others coming from any part of England to learn grammar. On 5 March 1440–1441, the king endowed the college out of alien priories with some £500 a year, almost exactly the amount of the original endowment of Winchester.
Though reckoned first headmaster of Eton, there is no definite evidence that he was. The school building was not begun till May 1442 (V.C.H., Bucks, ii. 154). William Westbury, who left New College, transferring himself to the kings service, in May 1442, and appears in the first extant Eton Audit Roll 1444–1445 as headmaster, was probably such from May 1442. If Waynflete was headmaster from October 1441 to May 1442, his duties must have been little more than nominal. As provost, Waynflete procured the exemption of the college from archidiaconal authority on 2 May, and made the contract for completion of the carpenter's work of the eastern side of the quadrangle on 30 November 1443.
On 21 December 1443 he was sworn to the statutes by Bishop Bekynton and the earl of Suffolk, the king's commissioners, and himself administered the oath to the other members of the foundation, then only five fellows and eleven scholars over fifteen years of age. He is credited with having taken half the scholars and fellows of Winchester to Eton to start the school there. In fact, five scholars and perhaps one commoner left Winchester for Eton in 1443, probably in July, just before the election. For three of them were admitted scholars of King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
, on 19 July, that college, by its second charter of 10 July 1443 having been placed in the same relation to Eton that New College bore to Winchester; i.e. it was to be recruited entirely from Eton.
The chief part of Waynflete's duties as provost was the financing and completion of the buildings and establishment. The number of scholars was largely increased by an election of 25 new ones on 26 September 1444, the income being, then £946, of which the king contributed £120 and Waynflete £18, or more than half his stipend of 30 a year. The full number of 70 scholars was not filled up till Waynflete's last year as provost, 1446–1447 (Eton Audit Roll).
Bishop of Winchester
So greatly did Waynflete ingratiate himself with Henry that when Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, Henry's uncle, died on 11 April 1447, the king wrote to the chapter of Winchester, instructing them to elect Waynflete as bishop. On 12 April he was given the custody of the temporalitiesTemporalities
Temporalities are the secular properties and possessions of the Christian Church. It is most often used to describe those properties that were used to support a bishop or other religious person or establishment. Its opposite description would be the spiritualities.In the Middle Ages, the...
, on 15 April he was elected, and on 10 May provided to the see by a papal bull. On 13 July 1447 he was consecrated in Eton church, when the warden and fellows and others of his old college gave him a horse at a cost of £6, 13s. 4d., and 13s. 4d. to the boys. Subsequent visits to Winchester inspired Henry with the idea of rebuilding Eton church on cathedral dimensions. Waynflete was assigned as the principal executor of his will for that purpose, and if there was any variance between the executors, he was to determine it. From 1448 to 1450 £3336 was spent on the church, of which Waynflete with the marquis of Suffolk and the bishop of Salisbury
Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset...
contributed £100 or £1,000. The troubles which began in 1450 put a stop to the work.
Waynflete, as bishop, lost no time in following the example of Wykeham and his royal patron in becoming a college founder. On 6 May 1448 he obtained licence in mortmain and on 20 August, founded at Oxford for the extirpation of heresies
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
and errors, the increase of the clerical order and the adornment of holy mother church, a perpetual hall, called Seint Marie Maudeleyn Halle, for study in the sciences of sacred theology and philosophy, to consist of a president and 50 scholars. Its site was not that of the present college, but of two earlier halls called Boston and Hare, where the new schools now are. Thirteen M.A.s and seven bachelors, besides the president, John Hornley, B.D., were named in the charter. The dedication to Mary Magdalen was no doubt derived from the hospital at Winchester of which the founder had been master. On St Wolstan's Day, 19 January 1448–1449, Waynflete was enthroned in Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...
in the presence of the king; and, probably partly for his sake, parliament was held there in June and July 1449, when the king frequently attended the college chapel, Waynflete officiating (Win. Coll. Reg. Vet.).
When Jack Cade
Jack Cade
Jack Cade was the leader of a popular revolt in the 1450 Kent rebellion during the reign of King Henry VI in England. He died on the 12th July 1450 near Lewes. In response to grievances, Cade led an army of as many as 5,000 against London, causing the King to flee to Warwickshire. After taking and...
's rebellion occurred in 1450 Waynflete was employed with Archbishop Stafford, the chancellor, to negotiate with the rebels at St Margaret's church, Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
, close to Winchester House. A full pardon was promised, but on 1 August Waynflete was one of the special commissioners to try the rebels. On 7 May 1451 Waynflete, from le peynted chambre in his manor house at Southwark, asserting that his bishopric was canonically obtained and that he labored under no disqualification, but feared some grievous attempt against himself and his see, appealed to the protection of the pope. It is suggested that this was due to some disturbances at Winchester (Proc. P.C. VI. 108), where one of Cade's quarters was sent after his execution. But it is more likely, as suggested by Richard Chandler
Richard Chandler
Richard Chandler was an English antiquary.Chandler was educated at Winchester and at Queen's College, Oxford and Magdalen College, Oxford....
(Life of Waynflete, 1811), that it was some Yorkist attack on him in progress in the papal court, to meet which he appointed next day 19 proctors to act for him.
In the result nothing disturbed his peaceable possession of the see. With the archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
he received Henry VI on a pilgrimage to St Thomas a Becket on 2 August 1451. When in November the duke of York encamped near Dartford, Waynfiete with three others was sent from the king's camp at Blackheath
Blackheath, London
Blackheath is a district of South London, England. It is named from the large open public grassland which separates it from Greenwich to the north and Lewisham to the west...
to propose terms, which were accepted. Edward, Prince of Wales, was born on 13 October 1453 and baptized by Waynflete the next day. This year Waynflete acquired the reversion of the manor of Stanswick, Berks, from Lady Danvers (Chandler, p. 87) for Magdalen Hall. The king became insane in 1454. On the death of the chancellor, John Kemp
John Kemp
John Kemp was a medieval English cardinal, archbishop of Canterbury, and Lord Chancellor of England.-Biography:Kemp was son of Thomas Kempe, a gentleman of Ollantigh, in the parish of Wye near Ashford, Kent...
, archbishop of Canterbury, during the sitting of parliament, presided over by the duke of York, commissioners, headed by Waynflete, were sent to Henry, to ask him to name a new chancellor, apparently intending that Waynflete should be named. But no answer could be extracted from the king, and after some delay Lord Salisbury
Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury
Richard Neville, jure uxoris 5th Earl of Salisbury and 7th and 4th Baron Montacute, KG, PC was a Yorkist leader during the early parts of the Wars of the Roses.-Background:...
took the seals.
During York's regency, both before and after the First Battle of St Albans
First Battle of St Albans
The First Battle of St Albans, fought on 22 May 1455 at St Albans, 22 miles north of London, traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses. Richard, Duke of York and his ally, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, defeated the Lancastrians under Edmund, Duke of Somerset, who was killed...
, Waynflete took an active part in the proceedings of the privy council. With a view to an ampler site for his college, Waynflete obtained on 5 July 1456 a grant of the Hospital of St John the Baptist outside the east gate at Oxford and on 15 July licence to found a college there. Having obtained a papal bull
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
, he founded it by deed of 12 June 1458, converting the hospital into a college with a president and six fellows, to which college two days later Magdalen Hall surrendered itself and its possessions, its members being incorporated into the New College of St Mary Magdalen.
Lord Chancellor
Meanwhile Waynflete himself had been advanced to the highest office in the state, the chancellorship, the seals being delivered to him on 11 October 1456 by the king in the priory of Coventry in the presence of the duke of York, apparently as a person acceptable to both parties. On 27 October 1457 he took part in the trial and condemnation for heresyHeresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
of Reginald Pecock
Reginald Pecock
Reginald Pecock was an English prelate, Scholastic, and writer.-Life:Pecock was probably born in Wales, and was educated at Oriel College, Oxford....
, bishop of Chichester, who had been ordained subdeacon and deacon on the same day and by the same bishop as Waynflete himself. Only Pecock's books and not the heretic were burnt. As the heresy consisted chiefly in defending the clergy on grounds of reason instead of authority, the proceeding does not show any great enlightenment on Waynflete's part. It must have been at this time that an addition was made by Waynflete to the Eton college statutes, compelling the fellows to forswear the heresies of John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe
John Wycliffe was an English Scholastic philosopher, theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformer and university teacher who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century. His followers were known as Lollards, a somewhat rebellious movement, which preached...
and Pecock.
Waynflete presided as chancellor at the parliament at Coventry in November 1459, which, after the Yorkist catastrophe at Ludlow, attainted the Yorkist leaders. It was no doubt because of this that, three days before the Yorkist attack at Northampton, he delivered the great seal to the king in his tent near Diapre abbey, a nunnery by Northampton, on 7 July 1460. It was taken with Henry and handed to the Yorkist, George Neville, bishop of Exeter
Bishop of Exeter
The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The incumbent usually signs his name as Exon or incorporates this in his signature....
, brother of the kingmaker, earl of Warwick, in London on 25 July following.
Later life
Whether, as alleged by some, Waynflete fled and hid himself during the period covered by the battle of Wakefield and Edward's first parliament in 1461, is very doubtful. A testimonial to his fidelity written by Henry to the popePope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
on 8 November 1460 (Chandler, 346) was written while Henry was in Yorkist hands. The fact too that complaints laid before Edward IV himself in August 1461 of wrongful exaction of manorial rights from the tenants of the episcopal manor of East Meon., Hants, were decided in the bishop's favour in parliament in the December following (Rot. Parl. v. 475) also suggests that he was not regarded as an enemy to the Yorkists, though a personal favourite
Favourite
A favourite , or favorite , was the intimate companion of a ruler or other important person. In medieval and Early Modern Europe, among other times and places, the term is used of individuals delegated significant political power by a ruler...
of Henry's. A general charter of confirmation to him and his successors of the property and rights of the bishopric of Winchester on 1 July 1462 (Pat. 2 Ed. IV) points in the same direction.
It is certain that he took an active part in the restoration of Eton College; which Edward annexed to St Georges, Windsor, in 1463, depriving it of a large part of its possessions. In the earliest Audit Rolls after the restoration of the college in 1467 there are many entries of visits of Provost Westbury to the lord of Winchester, which in January 1468–1469 were for beginning the work of the church and providing money for them. Why a pardon was granted to Waynflete on 1 February 1469 (Pat. 8 Ed. IV. pt. ill. m. 16) does not appear. On the restoration of Henry VI on 28 September 1470 Waynflete welcomed him on his release from the Tower
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
, which necessitated a new pardon, granted a month after Edward's reinstatement on 30 May 1471 (Pat. II. Ed. IV. pat. i. m. 24), and a loan to the king of 2000 marks (£1333, 6s. 8d.). In the years 1471–1472 to 1474 Waynflete was largely engaged in completing the church, now called chapel, at Eton, his glazier, supplying the windows, and he contracted on 15 August 1475 for the rood-loft to be made on one side like to the rode bite in Bishop Wykeham's college at Winchester, and on the other like that of the college of St Thomas of Acres in London. In 1479 he built, the ante-chapel at the west-end, as it now stands, of stone from Headington, Oxford. In 1483 he founded Magdelan College School (now Skegness Grammar School
Skegness Grammar School
The Skegness Grammar School is a selective grammar school, a sixth form centre and a specialist school with two disciplines, firstly as a sport college and since 2006 also a mathematics and computing college, located in Skegness Lincolnshire for children aged between eleven and eighteen...
in his birth town of Wainfleet, Lincolnshire as a satellite feeder school for Magdelin College, Oxford.
He died on 11 August 1486 at Bishop's Waltham
Bishop's Waltham
Bishop's Waltham is a small town in Hampshire, England situated at the head of the River Hamble. It is home to the ruins of Bishop's Waltham Palace, an English Heritage monument.-History:...
in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. He was buried in the Magdalen Chapel at Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral
Winchester Cathedral at Winchester in Hampshire is one of the largest cathedrals in England, with the longest nave and overall length of any Gothic cathedral in Europe...
.
Commemoration
The Waynflete Building at Magdalen College, OxfordMagdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
, commemorates Bishop Waynflete, and the college endows four professorial fellowships in science in his honour, which are collectively known as the Waynflete Professorships
Waynflete Professorships
The Waynflete Professorships are four professorial fellowships at the University of Oxford endowed by Magdalen College and named in honour of the college founder William of Waynflete, who had a great interest in science...
.
There is also a Waynflete School
Waynflete School
Waynflete School is a private, coeducational, college preparatory day school for early childhood education to twelfth grade, in Portland, Maine. Established in 1898, it is one of three independent private schools in the greater Portland area....
in Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
, which is named after him.
There is a road named Waynflete Road in his honour in the Barton
Barton
Barton is an archaic English word meaning lands of the manor or meadow and may refer to several places or people:-Australia:* Barton, Australian Capital Territory, Canberra...
area of Headington, Oxford.
Waynflete House is a boy's house in Eton College, named after William Waynflete.
An annual memorial service, known as the Waynflete Obit, is held in Winchester Cathedral on the anniversary of his death. The choir for the occasion is formed from members of the Waynflete Singers, who are named after the bishop.