Thomas Savage (bishop)


Thomas Savage was a prelate and diplomat during the Tudor period.
Savage served as Chaplain to King Henry VII, becoming Archbishop of York in 1501.

Family and studies

The second son of the many children of Sir John Savage and Lady Catherine née Stanley, daughter of Lord Stanley, Sir John Savage, KG, was his elder brother.
After graduating from Oxford University, proceeding Master of Arts c. 1473, Savage was sent abroad to further his studies in divinity, first at Bologna and then, in 1477, at the University of Padua, receiving a doctorate of Canon Law before serving there as Jurist Rector. He was awarded the degree of LLD in 1495.
Through Savage marriages with the various Cheshire county families, he was related to Archbishop Lawrence Booth.

Career

Savage was appointed Rector of Davenham, Cheshire, 1470; Rector of Jacobstow, Devon, 1474; Rector of Monks Risborough, Buckinghamshire, 1484; and Rector of Rostherne, Cheshire. Such advowsons provided him with a source of income whilst he pursued his diplomatic activities abroad.
He served as English ambassador to Castile and Portugal in 1488, and then to France in 1490, where he participated to no avail in the conference at Boulogne.
On 3 December 1492, Dr Savage was nominated as Bishop of Rochester being consecrated on 28 April 1493, a post he held until 1496 when he was translated to the see of London As Bishop of London, Savage served as president of the council attendant on the king and dean of the household chapel of Henry VII, before being appointed on 18 January 1501 as Archbishop of York, which post he held until his death. While Archbishop he led the marriage ceremony of Arthur, Prince of Wales, to Catherine of Aragon. Prince Arthur died young, and his brother Henry, who became Henry VIII, then married Princess Catherine.
"A Lancastrian in politics, he was much trusted and employed by Henry VII....he was a courtier by nature, and took part in the great ceremonies of his time, the creation of Prince Henry as Duke of York, the meeting with the Archduke Philip, and the reception of Catherine of Aragon."

Death

Archbishop Savage's body is buried at York Minster where his effigy remains. His heart was later interred in the Savage Chapel of Macclesfield Church, Cheshire.

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