Thomas Merke

Thomas Merke
Bishop of Carlisle
Church	Catholic
Appointed	before 23 April 1397
Term ended	1409
Predecessor	Robert Reed
Successor	William Strickland
Orders
Consecration	23 April 1397
Personal details
Died	1409

Thomas Merke (or Merks; died 1409) was an English priest and Bishop of Carlisle from 1397 to 1400.

Educated at Oxford University, Merke became a Benedictine monk at Westminster Abbey and was consecrated bishop about 23 April 1397.^[1] He served Richard II as ambassador to various German princes in 1397, was one of the commissioners who negotiated the dowry of Isabella of Valois in 1398, and accompanied the king to Ireland in 1399.

Merke supported Richard against the usurper Henry IV and in 1400 was imprisoned in the Tower of London and deprived of his bishopric as a result. Although released and conditionally pardoned the following year, he was not restored to the bishopric, instead serving as a deputy and acting bishop in the Diocese of Winchester several times. He was one of those churchmen who sided against Pope Gregory XII at Lucca in 1408. He died in 1409.^[1]

Merke's role in supporting his King is represented in William Shakespeare's play Richard II.

Citations

1 2 Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 235

References

Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.

Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Robert Reed	Bishop of Carlisle 1397–1400	Succeeded by William Strickland

Bishops of Carlisle

Pre-Reformation	Æthelwold Paulinus of Leeds Bernard Hugh of Beaulieu Walter Mauclerk Silvester de Everdon Thomas Vipont Robert de Sancta Agatha Robert de Chauncy William Langton Ralph of Irton John de Halton William Ayremyn John Ross John Kirkby John Horncastle Gilbert Welton Thomas Appleby Robert Reed Thomas Merke William Strickland Roger Whelpdale William Barrow Marmaduke Lumley Nicholas Close William Percy John Kingscote Richard Scroope Edward Story Richard Bell William Senhouse Roger Leyburn John Penny John Kite Robert Aldrich Owen Oglethorpe

Post-Reformation	Richard Barnes John May Henry Robinson Robert Snoden Richard Milbourne Richard Senhouse Francis White Barnaby Potter James Ussher Richard Sterne Edward Rainbowe Thomas Smith William Nicolson Samuel Bradford John Waugh Sir George Fleming Richard Osbaldeston Charles Lyttelton Edmund Law John Douglas Hon Edward Venables-Vernon Samuel Goodenough Hon Hugh Percy Hon Henry Villiers Hon Samuel Waldegrave Harvey Goodwin John Bardsley John Diggle Henry Williams Thomas Bloomer Cyril Bulley David Halsey Ian Harland Graham Dow James Newcome

Authority control	WorldCat Identities VIAF: 93606134 LCCN: n85029994

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