Foxe served as Provost of King's College from 22 September 1528 until 8 May 1538, and in August 1529 was the means of conveying to the king Thomas Cranmer's historic advice that he should apply to the universities of Europe rather than to the pope.[3] After a brief mission to Paris in October 1529, Foxe in January 1530 befriended Hugh Latimer at Cambridge and took an active part in persuading the English universities to decide in the king's favour. He was sent to employ similar methods of persuasion at the French universities in 1530–1531, and was also engaged in negotiating a closer league between England and France.[1]
In 1535–36 he was sent to Germany to discuss the basis of a political and theological understanding with the Lutheran princes and divines, and had several interviews with Martin Luther, who could not be persuaded of the justice of Henry VIII's divorce.[1] Henry was unwilling to endorse the Augsburg Confession and, in 1536, the Wittenberg articles were drafted by Foxe and Lutheran clergymen as a compromise. The articles met strong opposition within convocation in June of the same year, leading Henry to personally intervene to bring about an agreement. This led to the drafting and passing of the Ten Articles by convocation.[6] In 1536, Martin Bucer dedicated his Commentaries on the Gospels to Foxe.
Death and legacy
Foxe died on 8 May 1538 and was buried in the church of St Mary Mounthaw, London. Foxe is credited with the authorship of several proverbial sayings, such as "the surest way to peace is a constant preparedness for war" and "time and I will challenge any two in the world." However, the former is a paraphrase of si vis pacem, para bellum, while the latter is more usually ascribed to Philip II of Spain.[1]
^Andrew A. Chibi, 'Fox, Edward (1496–1538)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 24 March 2017
^Haigh, Christopher (1993). English reformations : religion, politics, and society under the Tudors (Reprinted. ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 122. ISBN0198221622.
^Haigh, Christopher (1993). English reformations : religion, politics, and society under the Tudors (Reprinted. ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 126–28. ISBN0198221622.