Becon, Thomas

(c. 1512–67)

   Theologian.

   Becon was born in Norfolk. He was educated at the University of Cambridge and was a pupil of Hugh latimer. After ordination he served congregations in Kent and London and in 1547 he became a chaplain at the court of King Edward vi. A committed Protestant, he supported the Reformation and was imprisoned in the Tower of London during the reign of the Roman Catholic Queen mary. He managed to escape and fled to Germany. At the accession of Queen Elizabeth I in 1559, he returned to England and became a Canon of Canterbury Cathedral. His writings enjoyed great popularity in the sixteenth century. He is best remembered today for his ‘Homily against adultery’ in the Book of Homilies.

   D.S. Bailey, Thomas Becon and the Reformation of the Church of England (1952).