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- This article is about the 15th century English Bishop; for other uses see John Morton (disambiguation).
John Morton (c. 1420 - September 15, 1500) was an English cleric.
Born in Dorset, he was educated at Balliol College, Oxford.
Bishop of Ely and then Archbishop of Canterbury (1486-1500) during the reign of Henry VII, Morton was an implacable foe of the preceding Yorkist regime, most notably King Richard III, and a mentor of Sir Thomas More, who acted in revels at Morton's court at Knole, the archepiscopal palace, and mentioned him in his work Utopia. In 1493 he was appointed titular Cardinal of the church of St. Anastasia in Rome by Pope Alexander VI. He built the "Old Palace" of Hatfield House where Queen Elizabeth I of England spent much of her girlhood.
Morton may be best known for the Catch-22 situation known as "Morton's Fork." Appointed Lord Chancellor of England in 1487, Morton said, "If the subject is seen to live frugally, tell him because he is clearly a money saver of great ability he can afford to give generously to the King. If, however, the subject lives a life of great extravagance, tell him he, too, can afford to give largely, the proof of his opulence being evident in his expenditure."
He died at Knole, Kent, in 1500, and was buried in the south-east part of Canterbury Cathedral's crypt.
Morton and the history of Richard III
Enthusiasts of King Richard III accuse Morton of concocting the account of Richard's murder of Edward V and his brother Richard, Duke of York and other crimes attributed to Richard III. Morton's account is reproduced in part in Sir Thomas More's History of King Richard III.
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