William Mowse (d. 1588) was an English lawyer and Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge

Trinity Hall, Cambridge

Trinity Hall is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. It is the fifth-oldest college of the university, having been founded in 1350 by William Bateman, Bishop of Norwich.- Foundation :...

.

Life

He graduated LL.B. at Cambridge in 1538, took holy orders, and in 1552 proceeded LL.D. In the latter year, through the interest of Thomas Cranmer

Thomas Cranmer

Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from...

 and William Cecil

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley

William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , KG was an English statesman, the chief advisor of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State and Lord High Treasurer from 1572...

, he obtained the mastership of Trinity Hall on the removal of Walter Haddon

Walter Haddon

Walter Haddon LL.D. was an English civil lawyer, much involved in church and university affairs under Edward VI, Queen Mary, and Elizabeth I...

. On the accession of Mary (6 July 1553) he took an active part in ousting Edwin Sandys

Edwin Sandys (archbishop)

Archbishop Edwin Sandys was an English prelate.He was Anglican Bishop of Worcester , London and Archbishop of York during the reign of Elizabeth I of England...

 from the vice-chancellorship, but was himself ousted from Trinity Hall to make way for the reinstatement of Stephen Gardiner

Stephen Gardiner

Stephen Gardiner was an English Roman Catholic bishop and politician during the English Reformation period who served as Lord Chancellor during the reign of Queen Mary I of England.-Early life:...

. The same year he was incorporated at Oxford, and in the following year was appointed regius professor of civil law

Regius Professor of Civil Law (Oxford)

The Regius Chair of Civil Law, founded in the 1540s, is one of the oldest of the professorships at the University of Oxford.-Foundation:The Regius Chair of Civil Law at Oxford was founded by King Henry VIII, who established five such Regius Professorships in the University, the others being the...

 there.

In July 1555 he subscribed the Marian articles of religion, and on Gardiner's death, 12 November, the mastership of Trinity Hall was restored to him. By Cardinal Pole in 1556 he was appointed advocate of the court of Canterbury, and on 7 November1557 he was admitted a member of the College of Advocates. On 12 December 1558 he was instituted to the rectory of Norton or Greensnorton, Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire is a landlocked county in the English East Midlands, with a population of 629,676 as at the 2001 census. It has boundaries with the ceremonial counties of Warwickshire to the west, Leicestershire and Rutland to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire to the south-east,...

. Though deprived of the Oxford chair and of the mastership of Trinity Hall soon after the accession of Elizabeth I, Mowse was in 1559 constituted vicar-general and official of the Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

, dean of the arches, and judge of the court of audience. In 1560 he was instituted to the rectory of East Dereham, Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

. In 1564 he sat on a commission, appointed 27 April, to try admiralty causes arising from depredations alleged to have been committed by English privateers on Spanish commerce. He died in 1588. By his will, dated 30 May 1586, he was a liberal donor to Trinity Hall.

Mowse was an able lawyer and a scholar, on friendly terms with Sir John Cheke. thought worthy of his friendship. He assisted in the compilation of John Lesley

John Lesley

John Lesley was a Scottish Roman Catholic bishop and historian. His father was Gavin Lesley, rector of Kingussie, Badenoch.-Early career:...

's Defence of the Queen of Scots.