John Bale

NAME John Bale

WHAT FAMOUS FOR John Bale was renowned as an English churchman, Protestant reformer, controversialist, playwright, historian, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He is particularly famous for writing King Johan, the oldest known historical verse drama in English about King John, 

BIRTH John Bale was born on November 21, 1495 in the village of Cove (later known as Covehithe), near Dunwich in Suffolk, England.

FAMILY BACKGROUND John Bale was born to humble parents, Henry and Margaret Bale, in a large family with several children. His family was poverty-stricken and could not afford any kind of education for their son. His parents despaired of giving John a livelihood and eventually took him to the Carmelite convent at Norwich when he was twelve years old.

CHILDHOOD Bale spent his childhood as a farmhand until his parents, unable to provide for him, delivered him to the Carmelite Friars at Norwich at around age twelve, as was often done at the time for children from large families. This was a common practice for families who could not support all their children.

EDUCATION At age twelve, Bale joined the Carmelite friars at Norwich and later moved to the house of "Holme" (possibly Hulne Priory near Alnwick in Northumberland). He received scholarly training and entered Jesus College, Cambridge, where he took his Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1529. He travelled to Europe, studying at Louvain and Toulouse to carry out research into the history of his order. By 1530 he had graduated with a Doctor of Theology (DTh).

CAREER RECORD His career was marked by a dramatic transition from a Catholic friar to a leading figure in the English Reformation.

1529: Served as prior of the Carmelite convent at Maldon.

1533-1538: Began to embrace Protestant views and became a vocal critic of Catholicism, leading him to abandon his monastic vows.

1540s: Became a prolific writer of plays and polemical tracts in England. Due to religious persecution, he fled to mainland Europe, spending time in Germany and Switzerland.

1552: Appointed Bishop of Ossory in Ireland by King Edward VI. His attempts to implement Protestant reforms were met with fierce resistance from the local population and clergy.

1553: Forced to flee Ireland after the accession of the Catholic Queen Mary I. He again lived in exile on the continent.

1559: Returned to England following Queen Elizabeth I's ascent to the throne.

1560: Appointed prebendary of Canterbury Cathedral, a position he held until his death.

APPEARANCE No reliable portrait survives, but he was described in some records as austere in manner, likely with the tonsure of a friar in his youth.

John Bale

FASHION As a monk, he wore the Carmelite habit. After leaving monastic life, he dressed as a Protestant clergyman.

CHARACTER Bale was outspoken, combative, and often merciless toward his opponents. Fiercely partisan and utterly unwilling to compromise, he championed Protestant reforms with a fiery zeal that matched the turbulence of his times. Nicknamed “bilious Bale” for his quarrelsome nature, he wielded a crude yet vigorous satirical style, frequently descending into scurrility. Contemporary accounts describe him as forthright, larger than life, and unafraid of controversy—an evangelical Christian who saw little value in moderation.

SPEAKING VOICE His preaching was notably controversial and effective enough to attract large crowds and the attention of church authorities. He was described as preaching "erroneous opinions" that caused "great rumours and quarrels among the people". His sermons were powerful enough to get him arrested multiple times for heresy. (1)

SENSE OF HUMOUR Bale's sense of humor was satirical and often harsh. His plays employed "crude but vigorous satire" and "frequent scurrility". He used "profane parody" in his religious works and was known for his "coarse imagery" when denouncing opponents. His humor served his polemical purposes rather than providing lighthearted entertainment. (2)

RELATIONSHIPS Bale married a woman named Dorothy around 1536, a testament to his break from Catholic tradition. Virtually nothing is known about her besides her name, though she appears to have been a widow with a son of apprentice age when Bale married her. The union was described as "long and happy".  He had children with Dorothy and fled into exile with his family multiple times.

He enjoyed the patronage of Thomas, 1st Lord Wentworth, to whom he attributed his conversion to Protestantism. 

Bale had a close relationship with the martyrologist John Foxe, who used Bale's work in his famous Acts and Monuments (Book of Martyrs).

Bale's most significant professional relationship was with Thomas Cromwell, who protected him from persecution and employed him as a playwright.

MONEY AND FAME Bale achieved considerable fame (and notoriety) as one of the most prominent Protestant controversialists of his era. He received various church livings including Thorndon in Suffolk, Bishopstoke in Hampshire, and Swaffham in Norfolk. As Bishop of Ossory he would have received episcopal revenues, though his tenure was brief. His various exiles suggest he had access to sufficient funds for international travel, likely through his patrons.

Bale achieved a degree of notoriety and fame as a leading Protestant propagandist. His fame was polarized; he was revered by fellow reformers and reviled by his Catholic adversaries. 

FOOD AND DRINK Little is known, but like many clerics of his day, he likely lived modestly.

MUSIC AND ARTS Bale was deeply involved in the dramatic arts, both as a playwright and theatrical producer. He led a troupe of actors who performed allegorical morality plays in support of Protestantism, supported by Thomas Cromwell. His plays included musical elements, with each act of God's Promises ending with a song, and he noted that "the quality of the music will make or break a production". (3)

He wrote at least 24 plays, including religious dramas and the historically significant King Johan.

LITERATURE Bale was extraordinarily prolific as a writer and bibliographer. His major literary works included The Image of Both Churches (a commentary on Revelation), The Actes of Englysh Votaryes, biographical catalogs of English writers including Illustrium maioris Britanniae scriptorum (1548), and numerous plays. He compiled the first rudimentary history of English literature and developed an extensive bibliography of British authors. His Vocacyon of John Bale is considered one of the earliest examples of autobiography in English.

HOBBIES AND SPORTS Writing was his chief pursuit, particularly drama and polemic

SCIENCE AND MATHS Not a focus of his work, though he respected learning and scholarship.

CONVERSION John Bale's conversion from Catholicism to Protestantism occurred around the mid-1530s, a pivotal period in his life and career. Originally a Carmelite friar, prior, and university-trained theologian, Bale broke his allegiance to the Catholic Church as reforming ideas gained traction in England. Influenced by his patron Thomas Wentworth and the wider spread of Lutheran thought, Bale abandoned his monastic vows, took up a post at Thorndon as a secular priest, and married a widow named Dorothy in 1536—a dramatic step for a former friar.

His conversion was not merely personal; it was marked by public controversy and risk. Preaching fiercely against Catholic doctrines such as the invocation of saints, transubstantiation, and papal authority, Bale was repeatedly called before church authorities for heresy and imprisoned. His friendships with reformers like John Leland and powerful patrons including Thomas Cromwell provided protection that allowed him to escape conviction and begin a new phase as a leading Protestant dramatist, polemicist, and preacher.

Bale became a significant figure in the early English Reformation, leveraging drama, pamphleteering, and biblical commentary to propagate Protestant theology and denounce "papistry" and traditional Catholic practices. His dramatic public break with Catholicism, marriage, and relentless polemics made him both notorious and influential among Tudor Protestant circles.

PHILOSOPHY & THEOLOGY John Bale had a knack for certainty. Once a Carmelite friar, he swapped Catholic scholasticism for the fire and thunder of Protestant reform, and he never looked back. Subtlety wasn’t his strong suit—he saw the papacy not as a misunderstanding to be ironed out, but as the Antichrist itself. Monasticism? Empty ritual. Catholic ceremonies? Dangerous illusions. He was convinced he’d found the truth in Reformation doctrine, and he defended it with the sort of gusto that left little room for small talk.

His favourite playground was the Book of Revelation. Where others peered anxiously into the future, Bale was busy pointing at the present. The Antichrist, he declared, was not some sinister figure waiting in the wings—it was Rome, plain and simple. His commentary The Image of Both Churches laid this out with vigour, and it went on to shape much of Protestant thinking for generations.

Bale even believed he was living in the very pages of Revelation itself, somewhere around the opening of the sixth seal—a moment of divine upheaval, when Scripture was finally prised out of Rome’s grasp. It was heady stuff, and he embraced it wholeheartedly, with a mix of passion, paranoia, and absolute conviction. 

POLITICS Bale's political views were closely aligned with the English Reformation and royal supremacy. He supported Henry VIII's break from Rome and later Edward VI's more radical Protestant policies. 

His play King John was designed to flatter Henry VIII by presenting historical precedent for attacking papal tyranny. However, he became disappointed with Henry's religious conservatism, particularly after the Six Articles Act of 1539. He fled England twice due to political-religious persecution and spent years in exile on the continent. 

Bale's political theology expressed strong support for royal authority over papal authority and English independence from Rome.

SCANDAL Bale's conversion from Catholicism to Protestantism and subsequent marriage created significant scandal, as he had broken his monastic vows. His inflammatory preaching repeatedly got him in trouble with authorities - he was arrested for heresy in 1534 and 1537. His plays and writings were considered so controversial that he had to flee England twice to avoid persecution. His aggressive approach to reforming Ireland as Bishop of Ossory created such hostility that his life was threatened and he had to escape Dublin disguised. 

MILITARY RECORD No military service. His battles were theological and literary.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FITNESS Bale lived to the relatively advanced age of 67-68 in an era when life expectancy was much lower, suggesting reasonably good health for most of his life. However, when he returned from his second exile in 1559, he was described as having "his constitution shattered and his energies decayed". No specific illnesses or medical conditions are recorded in the historical sources. (4)

HOMES Bale’s homes chart the map of a restless life lived in step with the shifting tides of the Reformation. As a young Carmelite friar, he passed through houses at Norwich, Maldon, Ipswich, and Doncaster, cloistered in the routines of monastic discipline. Once he abandoned his vows and embraced Protestant reform, his life took on a less settled rhythm. Married and outspoken, he made his way to Thorndon in Suffolk and later Bishopstoke in Hampshire—domestic settings that reflected his new role as a controversial married priest.

The storms of politics and religion drove him abroad more than once. Between 1540 and 1547 he found precarious refuge in Germany, and again from 1553 to 1559 in Basel, Switzerland, after Mary I’s accession made England unsafe for men of his convictions. His return to the British Isles brought him briefly to the Bishop’s Palace in Kilkenny, Ireland, during his short and troubled tenure as Bishop of Ossory.

John Bale at the Bishop’s Palace in Kilkenny, by Perplexity

At last, with Elizabeth on the throne, Bale came home for good. His final years were spent in Canterbury, where a prebendal stall at the cathedral offered a measure of stability after decades of upheaval. From cloisters to exile, from bishop’s palace to cathedral close, his residences tell the story of a man always caught between faith, controversy, and the shifting ground of his age.

TRAVEL Bale was extensively traveled due to both scholarly pursuits and religious persecution. As a young scholar, he traveled to Louvain and Toulouse for research. He made two major exiles to continental Europe - first to Germany (1540-1547) following Cromwell's fall, and second to Holland and then Basel, Switzerland (1553-1559) after Mary I's accession. 

John Bale’s journey to Ireland as Bishop of Ossory in 1552-1553 ended dramatically—he was forced to flee after the death of Edward VI when the local population turned against him for his Protestant reforms. According to Bale’s own autobiographical account, the Vocacyon, after escaping a murderous mob upon the accession of Queen Mary and the restoration of Roman Catholicism, he sailed from Dublin to return to England. During this escape, his ship was captured by pirates, and he was briefly held captive and sold into slavery before eventually making his way to safety on the continent. 

These travels made him one of the most internationally experienced English churchmen of his era.

DEATH John Bale died in November 1563 at Canterbury, Kent, at the age of 67-68. He spent his final years (1559-1563) as a prebendary of Canterbury Cathedral, having declined to resume his bishopric after returning from his second exile. He was buried in Canterbury Cathedral,. His death occurred during the early years of Elizabeth I's reign, after he had witnessed the religious upheavals of four different monarchs.

APPEARANCES IN MEDIA Bale's play King Johan was performed before Queen Elizabeth I at Ipswich in 1561. In 2019, excerpts from King Johan were performed at St. Stephen's Church, Canterbury - the first time the play had been performed in that location in over 480 years. 

Bale himself has not featured prominently in modern popular culture, but King Johan is studied in theatre history as a precursor to Shakespeare’s history plays.

His works have been republished by various scholarly societies, including the Parker Society and Camden Society. Modern scholars continue to study his contributions to early English drama and Reformation history.

ACHIEVEMENTS First English historical play (King Johan).

Major bibliographer of English literature.

Protestant polemicist whose works influenced religious debate.

Briefly Bishop of Ossory, making him one of the few Reformation-era playwrights to hold high ecclesiastical office.

Sources: (1) Winchester University Press (2) Encyclopadia Britannica (3) Beyond Shakespeare (4) Select Works of John Bale