For these and other services Bonner had been rewarded by the grant of several livings, and in 1535 he was made archdeacon of Leicester.
He was already king's chaplain; his appointment at Paris had been accompanied by promotion to the see of Hereford, and before he returned to take possession he was translated to the bishopric of London (October 1539) Hitherto Bonner had been known as a somewhat coarse and unscrupulous tool of Cromwell,a sort of ecclesiastical Wriothesley.
Both he and Gardiner had in fact sought fresh licences to exercise their ecclesiastical jurisdiction from the young king; and, if he was supreme enough to confer jurisdiction, he was supreme enough to issue the injunctions and order the visitation to which Bonner objected.
It was on this question that Bonner came into conflict with Edward's government.
The fall of Somerset in the following month raised Bonner's hopes, and he appealed from Cranmer to the council.