Thomas Magnus
Thomas Magnus(1463/4–1550) was anEnglishchurchman, administrator and diplomat.
Life
[edit]Archdeacon of the East Riding of Yorkshire1504, Magnus was employed on diplomatic missions 1509–19 and 1524–7. He was present at theField of the Cloth of Gold1520, and was madePrivy councillorabout 1520. Awarded a doctorate by theUniversity of Oxford1520, he became canon ofWindsor1520–49,PrebendaryofLincoln Cathedral1522–48, paymaster of the forces and treasurer of the wars in the north 1523, and custodian ofSt Leonard's Hospital, York1529.[1]He was also the founder of the Thomas Magnus Grammar School, Newark c. 1530.
When the "Valor Ecclesiasticus" was drawn up in 1534, Thomas Magnus was warden ofSibthorpe.[2]RegardingSibthorpeCollege, "we have some evidence of the dimensions of the building in a letter written by Thomas Magnus, who was warden of the college in the reign ofHenry VIII,toCardinal Wolsey."[3]
Magnus died on 18 August 1550, and is buried inSessayin theNorth Riding of Yorkshire,his epitaph reads "Here lyeth Mr Thomas Magnus, arch-deacon of theEast Ridingin the metropolitan church ofYork,and parson of this church, which died the 18th day of August, anno domino 1550, whose soul God pardon. "[4]
Mission to Scotland
[edit]After waiting at Newcastle for instructions from Henry VIII and Wolsey, and a Scottish safe-conduct, Magnus andRoger Radclyffarrived in Edinburgh on 29 October 1524. They delivered letters toJames VandMargaret TudoratHolyroodhouseon All Saint's day. Then trumpets andshawmsblew, and the court went into the Abbey for mass, during which James V read the letters withGavin Dunbar.After mass, Magnus and Radclyff gave James a sword and a coat of cloth-of-gold, gifts from Henry VIII. James put on the coat straight away.[5]Magnus visited Margaret Tudor at Perth in March 1525, bringing certain news of the defeat ofFrancis I of FranceatPaviaand a letter from Henry VIII that made her weep uncontrollably for an hour. In April Magnus claimed that James V had told him he would rather be in England with his uncle than in Scotland, and Margaret agreed.[6]
Magnus was in Scotland in August and September 1525. He wrote that when James V received a gift of a silver dagger from theDuke of Albanyhe immediately gave it away to a person standing nearby, an apparent insult to the Duke. French ambassadors were kept waiting at Leith for three or four days rather than having a solemn reception. Magnus claimed that James moved toDalkeith Palaceto avoid the French ambassador, Pierre François de Lagarde, sieur deSaignes,President of Toulouse. The news was supposed to indicate that Scotland was moving away from French influences and the 1517Treaty of Rouenfor the king's marriage to a French princess. He wrote to Margaret Tudor who was staying north of Edinburgh that he had spoken with James' former governess or 'mistress' about her political interests.[7]In 1528 he opened the topic of James V marryingPrincess Marywith the diplomatAdam Otterburn.[8]
References
[edit]- ^Concise Dictionary of National Biography,Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992: Thomas Magnus, p. 1916
- ^Colleges: Sibthorpe,A History of the County of Nottingham: Volume 2(1910), pp. 150–152
- ^Hawton, Thorpe, Cotham, and Sibthorpe,in Cornelius Brown,A History of Nottinghamshire,1896
- ^Robert Thoroton,A History of Nottinghamshire,volume 1, page 403
- ^State Papers HenryVIII, vol. 4 part 4 (London, 1836), 208-9, Magnus & Radclyff to Wolsey, 3 November 1524.
- ^State Papers HenryVIII, vol. 4 part 4 (London, 1836), 348, 366, Magnus to Wolsey.
- ^State Papers King Henry the Eighth,vol. IV part IV (London, 1836), 395, 400, 406.
- ^State Papers King Henry the Eighth,vol. IV part IV (London, 1836), 545.