BONNER, Edmund, English prelate: b. about 1500; d. London, 5 Sept. 1569. For his skill in canon law he was patronized by Cardi nal Wolsey, on whose death he acquired the favor of Henry VIII, who made him one of his chaplains and sent him to Rome on busi ness connected with his divorce from Queen Catharine. In 1535 he was made archdeacon of Leicester. In 1538 he was nominated bishop of Hereford, being then Ambassador at Paris, but before his consecration he was translated to the see of London. In 1542-43 he was am bassador to the Emperor Charles V. After Edward VI's accession in 1547 he was deprived of his bishopric for non-obedience in connec tion with the injunctions and the 'Book of Homilies.' He was shortly afterward restored, but still continuing to act with contumacy, he was, after a long trial, once more deprived of his see and committed to. the .Marshalsea
(1549), from which prison, on the accession of Mary, he was released and once more re stored in 1553. During this reign a most san guinary persecution of the Protestants took place,. many of whom Bonner was instrumental in bringing to the stake, though it appears he was hardly severe enough to meet the wishes of the King and Queen. When Elizabeth suc ceeded he went with the rest of the bishops to meet her at Highgate but was coldly re ceived. He remained, however, unmolested until his refusal to take the oath of supremacy, on which he was committed to the Marshalsea (1560), where he remained a prisoner for nearly 10 years, until his death. He was buried at midnight, to avoid any disturbance on the part of the populace, to whom he was extremely obnoxious.