ABSTRACT
Thereisanoldsayingmeanttoconveycertainty(or,perhaps,inevitability):'assureasGodisinGloucester'.BishopJohnHooperwould nothaverecognizeditsmeaningwhenhetookupresidenceinhis dioceseinthespringof1551.Thediocese,asweshallsee,washardly onthecuttingedgeoftheReformation.When,in1549,heleftthe comfortablesurroundingsofZurichandthecirclethathadgathered aroundHeinrichBullinger,itwas,nodoubt,withthepromiseofa chancetoputhisreformedideasintopracticeinEngland.Hearrivedin Londonthatsummerwithinstantaccesstothemostpowerfulmenin thegovernmentofEdwardVI:helivedinthedukeofSomerset'shouseholdandwasonfriendlytermswiththeearlofWarwick.And,soon afterhisreturn,heservedthegovernmentwellbytestifyingagainst BishopBonneratthetrialthatledtohisdeposition.Itwasanactthat wouldcomebacktohauntHooperwhenBonnerregainedhisposition underQueenMary,but,forthetimebeing,Hooperenjoyedthepatronageofthemighty.
