Morton, JOHN, Cardinal

Morton, JOHN, Cardinal, and Archbishop of Canterbury, was born at Milborne St Andrew, in Dorsetshire, about 1420, studied at Cerne Abbey and Balliol College, and practised as advocate in the Court of Arches. Holder of various ecclesiastical preferments and a member of Privy-council, he adhered with great fidelity to Henry VI., yet by Edward IV. was made Master of the Rolls and Bishop of Ely. Richard III. imprisoned him, but he escaped, and joining Henry VII. was by him made Archbishop of Canterbury and chancellor (1486). In 1493 he became a cardinal; and he died 15th September 1500. Sir Thomas More was a page in his house. See Hook's Lives of the Archbishops, and Life of Morton by Woodhouse (1895).