Aylmer, John

Aylmer, John (āl`mər), 1521–94, bishop of London. His name is also spelled Ælmer or Elmer. He was briefly chaplain to the duke of Suffolk and tutor to his daughter, Lady Jane Grey. In 1553 he was deprived of his church preferments for opposing the doctrine of transubstantiation, and he fled to Switzerland. There he aided John Foxe in making a Latin translation of the Book of Martyrs and wrote An Harborowe for Faithfull and Trewe Subjects (1559) in answer to a tract by John Knox. Returning to England after the accession of Elizabeth I, he rose in the Church of England to be (1577) bishop of London. Though he was a man of great learning, his harsh treatment of his foes made him generally disliked.