Foxe, Richard (c. 1448-1528)

English cleric, bishop of Winchester from 1501. He joined the future Henry VII while he was in exile in France; when Henry claimed the English throne, Foxe became a close adviser to the king and was appointed Lord Privy Seal 1487-1516.

Foxe's political influence declined during the reign of Henry VIII, but he founded Corpus Christi College, Oxford, in 1517, as a centre for teaching studia humanitatis. The foundation included a lecturer in Greek and attracted the Spanish humanist Juan Luis Vives as one of its first teachers (at the expense of Thomas Wolsey).

Foxe was well acquainted with humanists, including Desiderius Erasmus, to whom he acted as patron in 1506, and Thomas Linacre, who presented him with a copy of his Galen translation. Foxe was also an architectural patron, rebuilding part of Winchester cathedral in Renaissance style.