Edmund Freke

Edmund Freke
Edmund Freke
Bishop of Worcester
Church	Church of England
Diocese	Diocese of Worcester
Installed	1584
Term ended	1591 (death)
Predecessor	John Whitgift
Successor	Richard Fletcher
Other post(s)	Bishop of Rochester & Archdeacon of Canterbury (1572–1575); Bishop of Norwich (1575–1584)
Personal details
Born	c. 1516; Essex
Died	1591 (aged 74–75)
Nationality	English
Denomination	Anglican
Alma mater	Cambridge University

Edmund Freke (also spelled Freake or Freak; c. 1516–1591) was an English dean and bishop.

Life

He was born in Essex, and educated at Cambridge,^[1] gaining his M.A. there c. 1550.^[2]

In 1565 he was appointed Canon of the sixth stall at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, a position he held until 1572.

He was Dean of Salisbury and Dean of Rochester from 1571 to 1572 when he became Bishop of Rochester and was simultaneously Archdeacon of Canterbury in commendam.^[3] In 1575, he became Bishop of Norwich.^[4] There, unlike his predecessor John Parkhurst, he campaigned hard to impose uniformity in his diocese.^[5]^[6]

In 1579 he tried and then burnt a Norfolk plowwright, Matthew Hamont, for heresy.

In 1584, he became Bishop of Worcester.^[4] He was also appointed Lord Almoner, a position he held until his death.^[7]

^ "Archdeacons of Canterbury | British History Online".
^ "Freake, Edmund (FRK550E)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
^ British History Online: Archdeacons of Canterbury 1541–1857: Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae, volume 3: Canterbury, Rochester and Winchester dioceses (1974), pp. 15-17. Date accessed: 10 January 2010.
^ ^a ^b Concise Dictionary of National Biography
^ Christopher Durston, Princes, Pastors and People: The Church and Religion in England, 1529-1689 (1991), p. 133.
^ Ralph Houlbrooke, Godly Reformers and their Opponents in Early Modern England: Religion in Norwich, c.1560-1643, The English Historical Review 2007 CXXII(497), pp. 751-753.
^ Usher, Brett. Lord Burghley and Episcopacy, 1577-1603.

Church of England titles
Preceded by Edmund Gheast	Bishop of Rochester 1572–1576	Succeeded by John Piers
Preceded by John Parkhurst	Bishop of Norwich 1575–1584	Succeeded by Edmund Scambler
Preceded by John Whitgift	Bishop of Worcester 1584–1591	Succeeded by Richard Fletcher