Pecock, Reginald

Pecock or Peacock, Reginald (pē`kŏk), c.1395–c.1460, English bishop and writer. He obtained the bishopric of St. Asaph in 1444 and transferred to Chichester in 1450. A learned, active, and controversial figure, Pecock is important as one of the first English writers to use the vernacular. He is the author of the Repressor of Over-much Blaming of the Clergy (c.1455), against the Lollards, and of other works. Because his religious views opposed the conventional theological thought of the time, he was accused of heresy and had to make public abjuration and resign his bishopric.