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John Incent ( – 1545) was an English clergyman in the early 16th century, during the early years of the English Reformation. Originating from the town of Berkhamsted in Hertfordshire, he studied at the University of Cambridge and later at All Souls College, Oxford, and served as Dean of St Paul's Cathedral in London between 1540 and 1545.
Incent is noted for being one of the agents of the Lord Chancellor Thomas Cromwell, responsible for the sequestration of religious properties during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and as the founder of Berkhamsted School.John Cook (2000), A Glimpse of Our History: A Short Guide Around Berkhamsted, Berkhamsted Heritage Walk leaflet, Berkhamsted Town Council. His home in Berkhamsted, built in 1500, remains in use to the present day, situated on the High Street facing St Peter's Church.
Incent's career continued to flourish: he took charge of several parishes around Winchester; became master of the Hospital of St Cross in Winchester and the Hospital of Domus Dei in Portsmouth; and he acquired a prebendal stall in St Paul's Cathedral. Upon Bishop Foxe's death in 1529, Cardinal Wolsey became Bishop of Winchester and Incent soon became Chaplain to King Henry VIII, serving during the turbulent period of Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Following the break with Rome, Incent, like many other clergy, renounced Roman Catholicism.
Incent's loyalty to the king was evident; he was a faithful supporter of the king's chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, who was a leader of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and probably played an active part in the destruction of religious houses. In 1540 he turned the Domus Dei Hospital over to the Crown for use as an arsenal in the coastal defences against France. Incent's devotion was rewarded when he was appointed by the king as Dean of St Paul's Cathedral. Cromwell, meanwhile had fallen into disfavour with the king and he was executed that same year.
Incent died some 18 months after his school opened, but it remains today as a lasting legacy of his more constructive activities. The founder died intestate and there were legal arguments originating from "Evill Persons" who claimed a financial interest in his estate. To protect the school from subsequent challenges of this nature, school was incorporated by an Act of Parliament as The Free Schole of King Edwarde the Sixte in Berkhampstedde, making the Master and the Usher into of the school property and making the Warden of All Soul's, Oxford the Visitor. The school received a common seal bearing Incent's coat of arms of crossed swords on a blue shield.
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