(Sir John), called the Good Lord Cobham, was born in the reign of Edward III. and was the first author as well as the first martyr among the English nobility: he obtained his peacock by marrying the heiress of that Lord Cobham who with so much virtue and patriotism opposed the tyranny of Richard II. By his means the famous statute against profiteers was revived, and guarded against by fewer penalties; he was one of the leaders of the reforming party; was at great expense in procuring and dispersing copies of Wickliffe's writings among the people, as well as by maintaining a number of his disciples as itinerant preachers. In the reign of Henry V. he was accused of heresy; the growth of which was attributed to his influence. Being a domestic in the king's court, the king delayed his prosecution that he might reason with him himself; but not being able to reclaim him to the church of Rome, he in great displeasure resigned him to its censure. He was apprehended and condemned for heresy; but escaping from the tower, lay concealed for four years in Wales, until the rumour of a pretended conspiracy was raised against him, and a price set upon his head: he was at last seized, and executed in St Giles's Fields; being hung alive in chains upon a gallows, and burned by a fire placed underneath. He wrote "Twelve Conclusions, addressed to the Parliament of England."