William Tracy (abt. 1460 - 1531)

Born about 1460 in Toddington, Gloucestershire, England [uncertain]

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1531 at about age 71 in Toddington, Gloucestershire, England

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Biography

William Tracy is Notable.

William was the son of Henry Tracy and Alice Baldington. ^[1] He was born in about 1460 . ^[2]

In 1489, William was overseer and a beneficiary in the will of his brother in law Edmund Langley. Edmund left him a violet gown, furred!^[3]

William and Margaret Throckmorton were married before 1501 as they are mentioned as being husband and wife in the 1501 inquisition Post Mortem of William's father Henry. ^[4]

In 1506 William and Margaret were made members of the Guild of Knowle. This was an indulgence that had been purchased from Pope Boniface IX to reward visitors and donors to the church. ^[5] The register of the guild described them as Willms Tracy essquyer and Marg, uxor de Tydington. ^[6] Clearly it was at some point after this that William became attracted to a more protestant practice of religion.

On 9 Nov 1513 William was invested as Sheriff of Gloucestershire. ^[7] The sheriff was considered the principal law enforcement officer for the county.

When William's sister Elizabeth had her will drawn up on 14 Nov 1527, William was named as one of the beneficiaries. ^[8]

William's own will dated 10 Oct 1531 was the subject of much religious controversy. ^[9]He requested burial in a strictly protestant manner, without the ceremonies of the Church of Rome. As a result, William was posthumously convicted of heresy and Thomas Parker the Chancellor of Worcester Diocese was ordered to exhume his body from its burial place, after which he had it summarily burnt without the necessary writ from the secular authorities. This was a step too far and William's son Richard Tracy, appealing to Thomas Cromwell, took action against the Chancellor of Worcester, describing the situation as a great and abominable worldly shame done unto my kindred in burning his rotten bones The Chancellor was fined £300 for his sins! ^[10]Copies of the will were circulated around London as a reformist manifesto^[11] and Foxe in his Acts and Monuments reproduced the will in its entirety as well as two letters from Richard Tracy seeking redress. ^[12]

Sources

1. ↑ Tracy, Sherman. The Tracy Genealogy, Being Some of the Descendants of Stephen Tracy of Plymouth Colony, 1623 (The Tuttle Publishing Co., Rutland, Vermont, 1936) Page 17
2. ↑ Great Britain, Public Record Office. Calendar of inquisitions post mortem and other analogous documents preserved in the Public Record Office. 2d ser. pg 305 archive.org
3. ↑ Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, and Co.Gloucestershire notes and queries. 1879 pg 18 archive.org
4. ↑ Great Britain, Public Record Office. Calendar of inquisitions post mortem and other analogous documents preserved in the Public Record Office. 2d ser. pg 305 archive.org
5. ↑ R. N. Swanson Indulgences in Late Medieval England: Passports to Paradise? Cambridge University Press, 13 Dec 2007 pg. 91. Google Books
6. ↑ William B. Bickley , Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society The Register of the Guild of Knowle in the Country of Warwick, 1451-1535: From the Original W.H. Robinson 1894 pg. 128 archive.org
7. ↑ Elrington, Christopher List of Sheriffs of Gloucestershire Trans. Bristol & Gloucestershire Archaeological Society 128 (2010), p8 214 PDF
8. ↑ Will of Elizabeth Tracy 1527 transcribed by Nina Green. Oxford Authorship Site PDF
9. ↑ Caroline Litzenberger, ‘Tracy, William (d. 1530)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2013 accessed 5 Sept 2013
10. ↑ Will of Elizabeth Tracy 1527 transcribed by Nina Green. Oxford Authorship Site PDF
11. ↑ Marshall, Peter Heretics and Believers: A History of the English Reformation Yale University Press, 2017 pg 188 Google Books
12. ↑ Foxe, John Acts and Monuments Vol 5 Books for the Ages Albany, OR USA PDF