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Sir John Gresham (1495 – 23 October 1556) was an English merchant, courtier and financier who worked for King Henry VIII of England, Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas Cromwell. He was Lord Mayor of London and founded Gresham's School. He was the brother of Sir Richard Gresham. ==Life== Gresham was probably born in 1495, at Holt, in Norfolk, and was descended from an old Norfolk family〔, originated by Greshon Levieux a Huguenot, ''Sir John Gresham (c.1495–1556)'' in ''Gresham, Sir Richard (c.1485–1549), mercer, merchant adventurer, and mayor of London'' by Ian Blanchard in ''Dictionary of National Biography''〕 (see section 'Gresham Family', below). Biographers have suggested that he probably attended a school kept by Augustinian canons at nearby Beeston Regis.〔 At that time, England was a Roman Catholic country and was largely dependent on the church for education. In about 1510, Gresham was apprenticed to John Middleton, a London mercer, and after serving his seven years he was admitted as a member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers. In 1519, he and his older brother William Gresham were both elected to the livery of the company. Later, John Gresham was four times Master of the Mercers' Company〔''I Will Plant Me a Tree: an Illustrated History of Gresham's School'' by S. G. G. Benson & Martin Crossley Evans (James & James, London, 2002)〕 Gresham was in partnership with his brother, Richard Gresham, in the export of textiles and in importing grain from Germany and wine from Bordeaux.〔 He also imported traded in silks and spices from the Ottoman Empire and imported timber and skins from the Baltic. He was a founding member of the Muscovy Company, formed to trade with what is now Russia. Meanwhile, he acted as an agent for Cardinal Wolsey,〔 and through him knew Thomas Cromwell.〔 Gresham invested his money in land, buying the manors of Titsey, Tatsfield, Westerham, and Lingfield on the borders of Surrey and Kent, as well as properties in Norfolk and Buckinghamshire. He lived at a great house called Titsey Place at Oxted in Surrey from 1534 until his death.〔(Titsey Place ) (accessed 9 September 2007)〕 Gresham was Sheriff of London and Middlesex in 1537–1538 and at the same time was knighted.〔 He was a member of the Royal household between 1527 and 1550, first as a gentleman pensioner and later as one of the esquires of the body of King Henry VIII.〔 In 1539, the king granted Gresham the manor of Sanderstead in Surrey, following the dissolution of the monasteries: it had previously belonged to the Minster of Winchester since the year 962. In 1541, Gresham was one of the jurors who tried Thomas Culpepper and Francis Dereham for treason - that is, intimacy with Queen Catherine Howard.〔 Both were duly beheaded at Tyburn on 10 December 1541, and their heads were put on display on London Bridge. Queen Catherine was subsequently executed on 13 February 1542. In 1546, Gresham was one of the King's commissioners to survey the properties of the chantries to be dissolved in Surrey and Sussex.〔 In 1547, Sir John Gresham became Lord Mayor of London,〔 and after the end of his term of office he continued to serve as an alderman.〔Herbert, William, ''The History of the Twelve Great Livery Companies of London'' (London, Wm Herbert, 1836) (pp. 80-81 ) at books.google.co.uk: By letters patent of 1555, the school Gresham founded at Holt was called in full "The Free Grammar School of Sir John Gresham, knight, citizen and alderman of London".〕 In 1555, a year before his death, he founded Gresham's School in the town of his birth, Holt in Norfolk. Gresham endowed the school with land and money and placed these endowments in the care of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers, which has continued to carry out his trust to the present day.〔〔 Gresham died on 23 October 1556 of a "profuse fever", and his funeral was described as "very grand and very papistical".〔''The Cabinet Portrait Gallery of British Worthies'' Vol. 4 (London: Charles Knight & Co, 1845), p. 9〕 His tomb is in the City of London church of St Michael Bassishaw.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「John Gresham」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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