Everything about John Morton totally explained
» This article is about the 15th century English Bishop; for other uses see John Morton (disambiguation).
John Cardinal Morton (c. 1420 –
September 15 1500) was an English cleric.
Life
Born in
Dorset, he was educated at
Balliol College, Oxford. In February of 1477, he was sent by the Yorkist King
Edward IV, together with
Sir John Donne, as ambassador to the French court. Edward appointed him
Bishop of Ely on August 8, 1479 and he was consecrated on
January 31 1479. The young
Thomas More served as a page in Morton's house. After the dynastic change to the
Tudors in 1485,
Henry VII, made him
Archbishop of Canterbury the following year 1486 on
October 6. Morton was by then an important foe of the preceding Yorkist regime of
King Richard III, and a mentor of Sir
Thomas More, who acted in revels at Morton's court at
Knole, the archiepiscopal palace, and mentioned him in his work
Utopia. In 1493 he was appointed
titular Cardinal of the
church of St. Anastasia in Rome by
Pope Alexander VI. He built the "Old Palace" of
Hatfield House where Queen
Elizabeth I of England spent much of her girlhood.
Morton may be best known for the
Catch-22 situation known as "
Morton's Fork." Appointed
Lord Chancellor of England in 1487, Morton said, "If the subject is seen to live frugally, tell him because he's clearly a money saver of great ability he can afford to give generously to the King. If, however, the subject lives a life of great extravagance, tell him he, too, can afford to give largely, the proof of his opulence being evident in his expenditure."
He died at
Knole,
Kent, on
September 15 1500.
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