CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

John Low (bishop)

Bishop of Rochester

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ6245396 ↗
Source-derived summary

John Low or John Lowe (c. 1382–1467) was a medieval Bishop of St Asaph and then Bishop of Rochester, in Wales and England respectively. He was an Augustinian friar and opponent of the Lollard movement.

He was born in Worcestershire, descended from Henry and Isabella Lowe of Lindridge, Worcestershire, who lived in the reign of King Richard II. He became an Augustinian hermit, and studied at Droitwich. He studied at Lincoln where he was ordained a deacon on 20 December 1403. He was created a Doctor at Oxford before coming to the Augustine House in London in 1420. He was provincial of England for the Augustinian order from 1427 to 1433.

About 1432 he was confessor to King Henry VI. He was created Bishop of St. Asaph, Wales, by a papal bull dated 17 August 1433, being consecrated on 1 November 1433. He assisted in the foundation of Eton College in 1442 and King's College, Cambridge in 1444.

Editorial summary

“John Low (bishop)” enters the record as bishop of Rochester. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what John, bishop and Bishop can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1382, 1467, 1403, 1420—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1385. Its strongest next move is a source search built around John, bishop and Bishop.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“John Low (bishop)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, John, bishop and Bishop provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6245396. VIAF identifies the subject as 231852344. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1382, 1467, 1403 and 1420.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “John Low (bishop)”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow John Low (bishop) primary sources, John Low (bishop) archive and John research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “John Low (bishop)”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “John Low (bishop)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.