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THOMAS A KEMPIS: Doctrinale Juvenum
PREFACE
The Author of the Book.
Richard de Bury (1281-1345), so called from being born near Bury
St. Edmunds, was the son of Sir Richard Aungerville. He studied
at Oxford; and was subsequently chosen to be tutor to Prince
Edward of Windsor, afterwards Edward III. His loyalty to the
cause of Queen Isabella and the Prince involved him in danger.
On the accession of his pupil he was made successively Cofferer,
Treasurer of the Wardrobe, Archdeacon of Northampton, Prebendary
of Lincoln, Sarum, and Lichfield, Keeper of the Privy Purse,
Ambassador on two occasions to Pope John XXII, who appointed him
a chaplain of the papal chapel, Dean of Wells, and ultimately, at
the end of the year 1333, Bishop of Durham; the King and Queen,
the King of Scots, and all the magnates north of the Trent,
together with a multitude of nobles and many others, were present
at his enthronization. It is noteworthy that during his stay at
Avignon, probably in 1330, he made the acquaintance of Petrarch,
who has left us a brief account of their intercourse. In 1332
Richard visited Cambridge, as one of the King's commissioners, to
inquire into the state of the King's Scholars there, and perhaps
then became a member of the Gild of St. Mary--one of the two
gilds which founded Corpus Christi College.
In 1334 he became High Chancellor of England, and Treasurer in
1336, resigning the former office in 1335, so that he might help
the King in dealing with affairs abroad and in Scotland, and took
a most distinguished part in diplomatic negociations between
England and France.
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