Simon Haynes (priest)

Simon HaynesorHeynes(died 1552) wasDean of Exeter,Ambassador to France, and a signatory of the decree that invalidated the marriage ofHenry VIIIwithAnne of Cleves.He becamePresidentofQueens' Collegeat the University of Cambridge from 1529 to 1537, and toward the end of his life, was installedCanon of WindsoratWindsor Castle.

An exposition of theBook of Common Prayer,featuring Simon Heynes, ArchbishopThomas Cranmerand others

Life

Exeter Cathedral,where Simon Heynes assumed the role ofDean of Exeter

Haynes was educated atQueens' College, Cambridge.He graduated B.A. in 1516, was elected fellow of his college in 1516, proceeded M.A. in 1519, and had a title for orders from Queens' College in February 1521. He took part in the expulsion of Dr.John Jenninsfrom the presidency of Queens' in 1518, and in 1528 was himself elected president. Being empowered by the college to make bargains and covenants at his discretion, he alienated some of the estates belonging to the society.

On 28 November 1528 Haynes was instituted to the rectory ofBarrow, Suffolk.He was one of the delegates appointed by the senate to make a determination as to the king's divorce in 1529–30; commenced D.D. in 1531, and in 1532–3 and 1533–4 served the office ofVice-chancellor.On 23 May 1533 he attested ArchbishopThomas Cranmer's instrument of divorce at Dunstable, implicatingCatherine of Aragon,and in 1534 was admittedvicarofStepney,Middlesex.During that year he and BishopJohn Skip,the chaplain of QueenAnne Boleyn,were selected by the court to preach at Cambridge againstpapal supremacy.

In 1535 Haynes was sent with diplomatChristoper Mount,an agent ofThomas Cromwell,to France as anAmbassador.The aim was to convince reformerPhilip Melanchthon,a collaborator ofMartin Luther,to come back to England. The mission eventually failed but they kept good contact. At the end of the same year he was instituted to the rectory ofFulham,Middlesex, and on 24 December was installedcanon of WindsoratWindsor Castle.

On 16 July 1537 he was electedDean of Exeter,and in that capacity he attended the baptism of PrinceEdward Tudor;and soon afterwards resigned the presidency of Queens' College. A letter in condemnation of the bill of theSix Articles,addressed by him to a member of parliament, is printed inJohn Strype'sEcclesiastical Memorials.

In 1538 Haynes andEdmund Bonner,the Bishop of London, were sent to Spain, and joinedSir Thomas Wyatt,the Ambassador there. Offended by Wyatt's treatment of them, they later charged him with holding traitorous correspondence with CardinalReginald Poleand speaking disrespectfully of the king. Haynes signed the decree of 9 July 1540 invalidating the marriage ofHenry VIIIwithAnne of Cleves,and on the following 17 Dec. the king made him one of the firstprebendaries of Westminster.

Haynes was a visitor of the university of Oxford, the college of Windsor, andExeter Cathedral,and one of the commissioners against theAnabaptists.He also assisted in the compilation of the first Englishliturgy.He died in October 1552, leaving by his wife Joan Waleron, daughter of Nicholas Waleron, (who then married ArchbishopWilliam May) two sons, Joseph and Simon.

Notes

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Stephen, Leslie;Lee, Sidney,eds. (1891). "Heynes, Simon".Dictionary of National Biography.Vol. 26. London: Smith, Elder & Co.