John Colet

Born about 1467; died Sept. 16,1519, in Sheen, Surrey. English humanist and theologian; one of the forerunners of the Reformation.

Colet is known as the head of the Oxford circle of humanists. He gave a critical interpretation of Biblical texts in the course of lectures delivered beginning in 1497 at Oxford University which were devoted to the epistles of St. Paul. Colet exerted a significant influence on the formation of the world views of Thomas More and Erasmus of Rotterdam. In 1505 he became the dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. In 1509 he opened a school connected with the cathedral; the school was founded on humanistic principles of education. In 1513 he became the chaplain at the court of Henry VIII. Without breaking with Catholicism, Colet exposed the morals of the clergy and opposed secret confession, the worship of icons, clerical celibacy, and monasticism.