John Bale was an English churchman, historian and controversialist, and Bishop of Ossory in Ireland. He wrote the oldest known historical verse drama in English, and developed and published a very extensive list of the works of British authors down to his own time, just as the monastic libraries were being dispersed. His contention that Joseph of Arimathea had brought a proto-Protestant faith to Britain that was purer than Catholicism was to have far-reaching ramifications; but his unhappy disposition and habit of quarrelling earned him the nickname "bilious Bale".
John Bale
The Bishop of Ossory is an episcopal title which takes its name after the ancient of Kingdom of Ossory in the Province of Leinster, Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church it remains a separate title, but in the Church of Ireland it has been united with other bishoprics.
Ancient stone cathedra of the Bishops of Ossory in St Canice's Cathedral.
St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, the episcopal seat of the pre-Reformation and Church of Ireland bishops.
St. Mary's Cathedral, Kilkenny, the episcopal seat of the Roman Catholic bishops.
List of bishops up to 1386. Note the change from Gaelic names to Norman and English names after the Norman conquest of Ireland
