Fisher, St John 1469-1535
English prelate and humanist

Born in Beverley, Yorkshire, he was educated at Michaelhouse, Cambridge, of which he became Master (1497). He was made chaplain to Margaret, Countess of Richmond, Henry VII's mother, in 1502. In 1503 he was appointed first Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity, and in 1504 Chancellor of Cambridge University and Bishop of Rochester. He zealously promoted the New Learning, and advocated reformation from within. He resisted the Lutheran schism, and in 1527 he firmly pronounced against Henry VIII's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. In 1534 he was accused of treason and, for refusing the Oath of Succession, was sent with Sir Thomas More to the Tower. In May 1535 Pope Paul III made him a cardinal, and on 17 June he was tried for refusing to recognize Henry as head of the Church of England. On 22 June he was beheaded on Tower Hill, London. He was canonized in 1935, and his feast day is 9 July.