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Bouchier, Thomas

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Bouchier (or Boucher)

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an English prelate was born about 1404. At an early age he went to Oxford, and took up his abode at Nevils Inn. His education was inferior. His high birth seems to have brought him early into notice. He was elected chancellor of the university of Cambridge in 1428. In 1435 he received the temporalities of his see at Worcester, and in the May following was duly consecrated in the Church of Blackfriars, London, his uncle, bishop of Winchester, officiating on the occasion. He was transferred to the more opulent see of Ely, Feb. 27, 1443. It seems that, during the whole period of his occupation of the see, the young prelate was so absorbed in politics that he thought of his bishopric only as a source of income. He was promoted to the see of Canterbury in 1454, and consecrated in February, 1455. In 1464 he was created cardinal presbyter of St. Cyriacus in Thermis. His attention was now directed to the dangers to which the Church and country were exposed. He required each person to either say mass or to repeat the seven psalms with the litany. By this means he thought he might bring about a reform, and after many hard struggles with enemies he did much to improve the state of the Church. Bouchier was distinguished in his day for his moderation and candor; he was not inclined to sacrifice the welfare of his country to the exigencies of his party, and from the fact, perhaps, that he had no very definite principles or strong personal attachments, he was able to do more good than could have been done by an abler man. When he entered public life the prospects of the country were gloomy and dark. The disasters of the English in France, and the disgrace which had been brought upon the once victorious arms of England, rankled in the minds of the people. Bouchier was well termed the peacemaker; during his whole reign, he was always ready to do anything honorable to restore peace. When he closed his career the country was not in such a state of uproar, and the debt of the court was paid; nothing, at the time of his death, could exceed the splendor of the court, and no one felt more joy than himself. The last official act of archbishop Bouchier's trembling hand was "to hold the posie on which the white rose and the red were tied together." He died April 6, 1486. See Hook, Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury, 5, 269 sq.